SOCIAL ISSUES, PUPPETS, YELLOW SWINGS AND BIG CHANGES: THE 2023 WRAP UP

*STRONG SEASON SHOUTOUT*
“On the theater scene, Catastrophic’s 30th anniversary season has been superb.” -Sherry Cheng
*SHOW SO GOOD YOU HAD TO SEE TWICE*
“I actually did see something twice this season–Catastrophic Theatre’s Waiting for Godot. It was so good I wanted to introduce my teenage daughter to it right away. Jason Nodler directed the original cast from 10 years ago and they embodied their characters with irrepressible life force. Everyone was at the top of their game.” -Sherry Cheng
*FAVORITE TRENDS OF THE SEASON*
“I’m going to get very specific with this one, but my vote for Houston theater trend of the year was the casting of puppets to play children in adult plays with living, human actors playing the rest of the parts and the puppeteer also playing the child character. I know that sounds complicated and it was. The Oldest Boy at Main Street Theater, Wolf Play at Rec Room, Medea from Classical Theatre and The Turn of the Screw all had puppets representing child characters. (…) I have no idea what this trend means but it made for a reminder of the art that goes into puppet creation, how puppeteers are often actors themselves and how deeply we can invest our emotions into pieces of cloth, wood, felt and styrofoam.” -Tarra Gaines