The Battle of Spanktown
"The execution here is delightful. Big kudos are due to Heidi Handelsman for her direction. The performances are all funny and distinct. The casting is marvelous, some of the actors looking as if they have stepped right out of the pages of Punch."
Carolyn Raship
Caviglia's Cabinet of Curiousities
"The production's real charm is in the playing - and here, it scores big. Director Heidi Handelsman has drawn from her cast a dozen boffo turns in a style that owes a lot of the art of the clown. This gang is having a lot of fun, and it's infectious."
Trav S.D.
Downtown Express
"Simply put: The Battle of Spanktown was a DELIGHT. The skilled hand of director Heidi Handelsman had me literally pointing at one of the many talented actors on the stage, poking my friend in the ribs, saying, 'Look at that. Did you see what that guy did?'"
Michael Niederman
New York Theater Review
More about The Battle of Spanktown
Carolyn Raship
Caviglia's Cabinet of Curiousities
"The production's real charm is in the playing - and here, it scores big. Director Heidi Handelsman has drawn from her cast a dozen boffo turns in a style that owes a lot of the art of the clown. This gang is having a lot of fun, and it's infectious."
Trav S.D.
Downtown Express
"Simply put: The Battle of Spanktown was a DELIGHT. The skilled hand of director Heidi Handelsman had me literally pointing at one of the many talented actors on the stage, poking my friend in the ribs, saying, 'Look at that. Did you see what that guy did?'"
Michael Niederman
New York Theater Review
More about The Battle of Spanktown
Group
"About 5 minutes into Group, I realized this was one of the ‘must-see’ shows of this year’s Fringe Festival. Daniel McCoy’s prowess as a playwright and storyteller shines in this piece about six souls stuck in purgatory, desperately trying to come to terms with the baggage that traps keeps them from going through to ‘the other side.’ The entire ensemble is riveting... I highly recommend you get your tickets today as this show will surely sell out as word of this gem gets out..."
Joanna Bowzer
New York Theater Review
Joanna Bowzer
New York Theater Review
Bird House
"The four main female leads in this play are nothings short of extraordinary. Ms. Marks has created a tiny world with its own rules, flavors, tragedies, triumphs, heartbreak and tenderness but Cotton Wright, Christina Shipp, Kylie Goldstein and Wendy Scharfman bring this world into your heart and make it believable. Under Heidi Handelsman’s direction each woman’s performance is so nuanced, so rich, so layered and textured that this unbelievable world becomes believable. They invest so fully in this reality that you find there is absolutely nothing strange about it at all."
Karen Tortora-Lee
Neighborbee Blog
"There are some evenings at the theater that just make being a critic worthwhile. After wading through many not so great nights, a show will come along like a breath of fresh air and make you feel not like a critic, but like an audience member having a magical evening at the theater. This is why we do what we do….
Director Heidi Handelsman did a seamless job of envisioning the impossible…, and writer Kate Marks has accomplished what other writers only dream about."
Ashley Griffin
TheatreOnline.com
"Heidi Handelsman has conjured this fantasy so fully that even though we see the puppeteers through the life-size windows of this hand-crafted bird house…, we remain raptly dreaming."
Aaron Riccio
That Sounds Cool
More about Bird House
Karen Tortora-Lee
Neighborbee Blog
"There are some evenings at the theater that just make being a critic worthwhile. After wading through many not so great nights, a show will come along like a breath of fresh air and make you feel not like a critic, but like an audience member having a magical evening at the theater. This is why we do what we do….
Director Heidi Handelsman did a seamless job of envisioning the impossible…, and writer Kate Marks has accomplished what other writers only dream about."
Ashley Griffin
TheatreOnline.com
"Heidi Handelsman has conjured this fantasy so fully that even though we see the puppeteers through the life-size windows of this hand-crafted bird house…, we remain raptly dreaming."
Aaron Riccio
That Sounds Cool
More about Bird House
Mary Brigit Poppleton is Writing a Memoir
"Under the nimble direction of Heidi Handelsman, the first act bounces along as Mary Brigit undertakes her mission: fake a pregnancy, gain her family's attention, and write a bestseller. The ensemble delivers stylized performances in keeping with Heather Cohn's set, which uses a series of candy-colored tables on wheels to form everything from school desks to a dining room table. Mary Brigit occasionally reads aloud from her memoir; its arch language contrasts with the play's pop-cultural sensibility and lends insight into her desire to be part of a grandiose world. Handelsman keeps the material light and the pace up, never overemphasizing Mary Brigit's rhetorical questions ("Am I pregnant...Does it matter?") and providing space for the audience to recognize the ridiculousness of the situation. Her father's rapid succession of clichéd reactions ("Congratulations! -- I'll beat you! -- I'll beat him!") embodies the play's irreverent questioning of authenticity."
Li Cornfeld
Off Off Online
"Playwright Madeline Walter has a flair for comedy that director Heidi Handelsman exploits fully. The cast keeps the audience laughing, nearly non-stop…
The play isn't all laughs, though, especially in the second act. As Mary Brigit struggles with the consequences of the spiral of lies she's told, we are treated to a truly poignant scene between Mary Brigit and her would-be baby's father….
By the end of the show, one can't help but have fallen in love with the charming Mary Brigit and the world she inhabits. Though Mary Brigit herself may not think her life is very interesting, I'm sure the audience (at least at the performance I saw) would beg to differ."
Gyda Arber
NYTheatre.com
"The subject of Madeline Walter's play--fictionalizing one’s life instead of fictionalizing one’s memoir--may lead you to expect a James Frey-heavy social commentary on current literary trends. But “Mary Brigit Poppleton is Writing a Memoir” leaves the opinionated banter aside, opting for an ugly-duckling, betrue-toyourself teen piece. Originally written for an undergraduate playwriting course, “Mary Brigit” still has the earnest feel of a college production, but this sometimes works to its advantage. Walter’s dialogue is witty and her likable characters get laughs despite being clichés (a Long Island ditz in neon and stretch pants, a superreligious brother wearing a “Chicks dig me because I dig Jesus” T-shirt). The enthusiastic actors offer tight performances, leaving you wanting to give this play the benefit of the doubt."
Rebecca Messner
Time Out New York
Li Cornfeld
Off Off Online
"Playwright Madeline Walter has a flair for comedy that director Heidi Handelsman exploits fully. The cast keeps the audience laughing, nearly non-stop…
The play isn't all laughs, though, especially in the second act. As Mary Brigit struggles with the consequences of the spiral of lies she's told, we are treated to a truly poignant scene between Mary Brigit and her would-be baby's father….
By the end of the show, one can't help but have fallen in love with the charming Mary Brigit and the world she inhabits. Though Mary Brigit herself may not think her life is very interesting, I'm sure the audience (at least at the performance I saw) would beg to differ."
Gyda Arber
NYTheatre.com
"The subject of Madeline Walter's play--fictionalizing one’s life instead of fictionalizing one’s memoir--may lead you to expect a James Frey-heavy social commentary on current literary trends. But “Mary Brigit Poppleton is Writing a Memoir” leaves the opinionated banter aside, opting for an ugly-duckling, betrue-toyourself teen piece. Originally written for an undergraduate playwriting course, “Mary Brigit” still has the earnest feel of a college production, but this sometimes works to its advantage. Walter’s dialogue is witty and her likable characters get laughs despite being clichés (a Long Island ditz in neon and stretch pants, a superreligious brother wearing a “Chicks dig me because I dig Jesus” T-shirt). The enthusiastic actors offer tight performances, leaving you wanting to give this play the benefit of the doubt."
Rebecca Messner
Time Out New York
The Curse of the Horned Babby
"Superbly directed by Heidi Handelsman and written to our fancy by Lisa Dillman, The Curse of the Horned Babby takes us to the theater of our childhoods, to the art of storytelling and magic, where all we need is imagination."
Shelley Molad
NYTheatre.com
"Under Heidi Handelsman's precise direction, the cast delivers outstanding performances... Babby shows a hilarious and fantastic display of skill."
Cindy Pierre
Talkin' Broadway
Shelley Molad
NYTheatre.com
"Under Heidi Handelsman's precise direction, the cast delivers outstanding performances... Babby shows a hilarious and fantastic display of skill."
Cindy Pierre
Talkin' Broadway
Flyers and Other Tales
"Director Heidi Handelsman elegantly deploys a talented ensemble of six performers who tackle multiple roles with grace."
Andy Propst
Backstage.com
Andy Propst
Backstage.com
