Reviews

STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE ON

"One of the year’s ten most noteworthy plays…it is clear that when Mr. Curchack is on stage, imagination knows no limitations. His art is firmly rooted in technique, ranging from Noh to Kathakali, from classic mime to Method acting…Mr. Curchack is so polymorphous in performance that at the end of the show, one might expect to see a dozen participating artists take a bow instead of one unmasked, seraphic-looking theatrical virtuoso."
-- Mel Gussow, The New York Times (Reprinted 1998 in Gussow’s book, Theatre on the Edge)

"Fred Curchack is definitely some kind of genius…a virtuoso man of the theatre. The things he doles with voice, masks, shadows, mime and comic timing are separately masterly, and collectively bewilderingly accomplished. Curchack is clearly on top of his art, and creating a genuinely new form of theatre…Everything in the production is a direct illumination of themes in The Tempest."
-- Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail, Toronto

"Best of the Week…Fred Curchack – writer, editor, director, musician, mask-maker, lighting technician and solo performer extraordinaire – delivers a don’t-miss tour-de-force performance in Stuff As Dreams Are Made On, his sly, visually astonishing deconstruction of Shakespeare’s The Tempest."
-- Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times

"Top of the all-time Top Ten List…Curchack is an almost miraculous performance artist…His performance has the stylization of Japanese theater, the cheap laughs of the commedia…It seems to have been made out of bits of rubber and string, and yet it’s as astonishing as a rose plucked from the air…The Jungian idea that one person’s psyche contains man and mask, father and daughter, good spirit and bad monster, even ventriloquist and dummy, is one of the central, animating images in Stuff. The real wonder of it is the way Curchack envelops all of these levels at once: He questions his art, delves into Shakespeare’s words, plays with the performer-audience relationship and cracks hilarious asides…Stuff is truly dreamlike in that its images touch us deeply in several ways at once."
– Jerome Weeks, Dallas Morning News

"Paradoxically, the most gorgeous visual effects in the recent crop of Tempests might well be the light-and-shadow pictures of Fred Curchack’s solo production, which makes astonishing use of poor-theatre techniques to create illusions and magic…Curchack’s performance, through which Shakespeare’s poetry speaks strongly, if with an unfamiliar thrust and flavor, serves as a reminder that The Tempest’s larger challenge is the reconstruction of a truly human moral drama." -- Frederick Turner, American Theatre

"…what Curchack is up to in Stuff As Dreams Are Made On is essentially unlike any other solo show. It is, first of all, an ambitious adaptation of The Tempest. Marshalling his formidable training in cross-cultural performance techniques (Noh theatre, Indian Kathakali, Balinese Topeng, African dance, Growtowski’s Polish Theatre Lab), Curchack gives himself the challenge of matching the inexpressible beauty of Shakespeare’s verse with non-verbal theatrical gestures – and he succeeds impressively… More than a deconstruction of Shakespeare, however, Curchack’s performance is an examination of the actor’s art: the power and the pain of impersonation, the humiliation of playing for an audience and the hostility that engenders, the comforting schizophrenia of adopting different identities as an actor and the terror of returning to the inescapable self…Fred Curchack reminds us of the power of live theater with the fiery magnetism of his images, whose resonance is deep within us. And in this catastrophic period when we are both coddled and threatened by machines, he pushes himself beyond all limits to demonstrate the divine possibilities of the human body.
-- Don Shewey, Prelude, Portland Maine

"Fred Curchack is a genius, an inspired lunatic…Curchack seems to have used Prospero’s magic island as an apt vehicle for an investigation of the nature of theater itself which, in Curchack’s case is sheer magic…it will take your breath away."

"On the scale of one to 10 – 10 being incredible, elegant, guerrilla, gonzo, in-your face theater – Fred Curchack cracked the thermometer last night…It becomes an adventure just keeping up with the actor…One minute he is deranged Marcel Marceau, next he is Noh girl, next a Sex Pistol, next a snakeoil salesman, then a social critic, a slapstick comic, a slick dude, a shadow, gone. Curchack’s mastery of shadow play and light would be reason enough to see him. He uses theater to amaze, illuminate, empower…if you like wizardry, conjuration and wonderment, by all means don’t miss Stuff As Dreams Are Made On."
-- Wayne Lee, The Seattle Times

"If you think that theatre has lost its magic, Fred Curchack is just the man to change your mind…It’s often bizarre, frequently breathtaking, occasionally puzzling but always delightful. It also allows the audience to play with its own senses of wonder, illusion, imagination and surprise. Stuff As Dreams Are Made On explores the world of an actor trying to play all the roles in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. But the play is also an exploration of the power of theatre and the awe-inspiring effects that can be created with a few simple ingredients and a wonderful imagination…Curchack proves himself a master at presenting the unexpected…for anyone who wants to be surprised, challenged and, above all, entertained, it shouldn’t be missed." – Barbara Crook, The Citizen, Ottawa, Canada

"Funny, remarkable, offensive and scary, and clearly exhibiting all those qualities deliberately, Curchack celebrates one-man versatility on two very different levels…The point is not to celebrate Shakespeare or stage poetry – although that inevitably happens, too – as much as it is to take everybody as close as possible to some sort of psychic-esthetic edge. It’s a challenge well worth taking."
– Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune

"Fred Curchack, the astounding theater artist…is as much an archaeologist as he is a fearless scout on the future frontiers of theater. With a few laughably simple tools – Bic lighters, a doll, homemade masks, throwaway flashlights – he plunges deep into our collective subconscious, breaks through the centuries’ crust of theatrical convention, to recapture that tingling awe at the moment of the theater’s birth. He brings The Mystery back…This playfulness transforms Shakespeare’s romance into a kind of action-adventure tale that’s enthralling for viewers of all ages and stations, but it barely weakens the play’s classical integrity – in fact, certain passages of verse were clearer and more alive than I’ve ever heard them because Curchack emblazoned them with unforgettable images." – Dan Hulbert, Dallas Times Herald

"Curchack’s one-man foray into Shakespeare is both hilarious and provocative, at once demystifying The Tempest while creating magic and illusion that Prospero himself would envy…Into the bargain, he takes a few whacks at modern lit-crit, tickles performance-art pretensions and, with virtuoso force, shows how magically rich the theater still can be."
-- Mike Steele, Minneapolis Star and Tribune

"Astonishment is the stuff of wit and heart, intelligence and soul. Astonishment is the "Stuff As Dreams Are Made On"…You’ve never seen anything quite like it…Don’t know your Shakespeare? Don’t worry about it. The way Curchack tells it in just over an hour, a blend of contemporary hip and classical precision, equal parts intellect and eroticism, you’ll not only get the point; I suspect you’ll leave with a yearning to check out the original. It would be an injustice to examine "Stuff" too closely, to ruin Curchack’s surprise after surprise after surprise. Curchack doesn’t so much deconstruct The Tempest as explode it and then patch it back together with integrity, mystery and fun. Part of Curchack’s magic is that he distills theater to its essence: character and drama…"Stuff" is the creation of an unfettered imagination."
-- Jackie Demaline, Times Union, Albany, N.Y.

"Like Shakespeare’s magus Prospero, performer Fred Curchack orchestrates one dazzling feat of wonder after another…A most fascinating, often sublimely funny theatrical collage." – Maggi Kramm, Saint Paul Pioneer Press

"Dallas’ resident theatrical genius…Curchack thinks deeply about the theater and writes well for it. And he is one of the greatest actors I have ever seen…his Prospero and Ariel are performances worthy of the finest Shakespearian actor...it’s clear that going too far is part of Curchack’s strategy in trying to reach the deepest part of the minds and souls of his spectators. And Fred Curchack does do that."
-- Lawson Taitte, WRR, Dallas

"I do not use the word sorcerer idly…It is an absolutely stunning piece of work…the next time I see the original Tempest, I will do so with a new appreciation of the text and the characters…Curchack is a master of shadow art…The effect is archaic, astonishing – and about six times more sophisticated in effect than most artists achieve with a roomful of equipment…A stunningly beautiful, funny, frightening, magical show of masks, shadow art, eerie sound and special effects all created with one unamplified voice and a handful of props…Don’t miss it."
-- Nancy Scott, San Francisco Examiner

"… sublime theatrical alchemy of acting, video, movement, puppetry, original texts, and profound invention. … Curchack and Kearns use this Chinese-box device like a booby trap to ensnare their audience in a web of verisimilitude and artice that delightfully confounds even as it exsplores to the hilt the myriad relationships that might exist between a man and a woman. … Imagine Jorge Luis Borges' short stories onstage, with a tip of the hat to … All That Jazz, Monty Python … Antonin Artaud … and down it all with a Woody Allen chaser and you have a fair approximation of the intoxicating delights of Lear's Shadow. … Curchack's Cinnabar appearances are usually one-man atomicexplosions, but this time he is aided and abetted by an accomplished accomplice -- the equally combustible Kearns. … The stage-borne magnetism that crackles between her and Curchack is one of the productions greatest assets. … an inspiring experiment that buoys the soul while illustrating its limitations."
-- Daedalus Howell, The Bohemian, Sonoma County, Ca.

"…a tour-de-force of theatre, dance, video, puppetry -- and dementia. … successfully interweaves a contemporary plot with the Shakespeare tragedy … Kearns marvelously matches Curchack's unbridled enthusiasm … she is a uniquely talented actress … Curchack makes Lear, Hamlet and Orpheus personal, by getting into their heads - though maybe he simply gets into our heads, wherein lie infinite possibilities of imagination and understanding. … It is required viewing for scholars of Shakespeare, as much as it is a punchy on-ramp to newcomers."
-- Christy Hughes-Babb, The Met, Dallas

"A dynamic crossbreed of theater, dance, music, and video, Curchack’s Hamlet is a deft whittling down of Shakespeare’s five-act behemoth of madness and fratricide into a 90-minute tour de force.…the actor’s Hamlet borders on the sublime … hilarious and characteristic of Curchack’s delightful irreverence … maintains the integrity of its original, including its complicated story arc. Many stage-borne interpretations attempt to personalize the play, but few actually succeed in making it personal, which Curchack achieves with aplomb. Curchack’s Hamlet is bloody good theater and is as much required viewing for scholars of Shakespeare as it is a puchy on-ramp to newcomers of the bard’s oeuvre."
– Daedalus Howell, The Sonoma County Independent

"Mr. Curchack gives free reign to the raging specters of his expansive ego and populous psyche. Shakespeare has enough facets to allow full expression of all these personae, and that becomes the point. Mr. Curchack is the vessel for Shakespeare, and Shakespeare is the vessel for Mr. Curchack.… there’s no explaining Mr. Curchack’s spell casting. How does he act so ridiculous and arrive at sublimity… reveling in and transcending ‘all things rank and gross in nature.’"
– Tom Sime, The Dallas Morning News

"You’d be a ‘Fool’ if you missed this…casts a spell of enchantment only Curchack could conjure. HE’S MAGIC."
-- Misha Berson, The Seattle Times

"Critics’ Choice…His astonishingly able, inventive, and often bizarre tour-de-force is like nothing you’ve ever seen and will leave you gasping at the sheer originality of his approach…an utterly artful show."
-- Paul Birchall, Los Angeles Reader

"Theater Pick of the Week…an extraordinary orator, creator-designer-adapter…Curchack’s magic is ultimately personal rather than technical, leaving the audience gasping with awe and admiration." -- Tom Provenzano, L.A. Weekly

"X-Rated Excellence … a hilarious tale … brilliant one-man extravaganza … the audience slowly recovers from convulsive laughter … The circuitous plot has more twists than a French braid, but Curchack conveys the work to the audience with panache and zeal … Curchack is a consummate storyteller and invests the show with every ounce of his considerable talent and acumen as a performer. … The rhetorical acrobatics are a phenomenon in and of themselves … ultimately makes a poignant statement about the nature of love.
--Daedalus Howell, The Sonoma County Independent

"Daring Descent … Curchack plumbs desire in 'Love Acts' … hilarious erotic adventures … Mr. Curchack applies all his formidable powers of imagination to a tale designed to "make the Kama Sutra look like the Republican convention." … his encounters grow ever more bizarre and madly funny. … And what makes the evening so effective and mesmerizing is the gathering conviction that we're probing into the essence, the dark heart of the initially unassuming personage onstage. As shocking as the outpourings are, there's a kind of gradeur to them and a sense of purging that's exhilarating if, mercifully, vicarious."
-- Tom Sime, The Dallas Morning News

"Fred Curchack, one of America's foremost performance artists, whips up an orgy of self-confrontation with Live Love Acts … Cheerful lunacy abounds amidst the literary allusions … Curchack may be America's least pretentious, most benevolent performance artist … It's safe to say that Curchack, a resident professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, is this city's most accomplished theater artist … Driving narrative and potent imagery prove that Curchack the writer is as formidable as Curchack the Shakespearean medium. … Fred Curchack is growing as an artist -- not up, as he likes to say, but growing down, so deep into a subconscious of common sensations that he just might bump into you along the way."
-- Jimmy Fowler, The Dallas Observer

"Curchack has effectively reworked the Don Juan myth and added his own stamp, but even more impressive is the way he tells a story. He strings words together exquisitely, and spits them out in gorgeously poetic language … Here's a guy who could read from the White Pages and never lose your interest. … His euphemisms for 'the copulatory arts' are brilliant. 'I've made a new career out of kissing and telling,' he says in the show. That's fine, as long as he keeps telling it this superbly."
-- Mark Lowry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"Curchack has forged an erudite and tumultuous production that ponders the interrelation of art and artist, the fleeting notion of identity, and a generation’s fear of inconsequence."
-- Daedalus Howell, The Sonoma County Independent

"almost unbearably lovely…Dallas’ most distinguished theatrical resident…Mr. Curchack the writer has provided a long, upbeat ending, Mr. Curchack the videographer found a superb visual realization, and Mr. Curchack the actor speaks the lines with a simplicity and dignity that can bring tears to the eyes."
-- Lawson Taitte, The Dallas Morning News

"TOP 10 of 1997…Stellar performance artist Fred Curchack invested his newest piece with a strong plot that tapped deeply into ancient myth."
-- Lawson Taitte, Dallas Morning News

"sublime…sexy, funny, serious, interesting and illuminating…this show is worth a return trip."
-- Sarah Lord, The Daily Record, Baltimore

"as exciting…as poetic an evening of theater as we have ever had…frightening, silly, funny, breathtakingly beautiful"
-- Lawson Taitte, WRR-Dallas

"an extraordinary feat of shape-shifting, a man with just a few gadgets and props guiding the audience on a hallucinatory tour of his (and possibly their own) crowded consciousness…a risky, visceral experience that transcends its diverse sources…a bit like Joseph Campbell joining forces with Fellini." -- Tom Sime, Dallas Observer

"I sometimes think Fred Curchack is the only serious theatrical artist I know or know about…He uses the old myths to get at what is deepest in himself, so we have the whole Fred, thoughts and emotions, body and soul…If you too are serious about art and about life, you can’t afford to miss PURGATORY."
-- Lawson Taitte, WRR-Dallas

"filter it through a sensibility halfway between Albert Brooks and Norman O. Brown, and even Dante can become raunchily hilarious." -- Ross Wetzsteon, The Village Voice, N.Y.

"extraordinary…a rich and original theatrical imagination…one of the most visually exciting shows to hit town in years."
-- Dennis Harvey, San Francisco Weekly

"The piece is an inspired, wild ride that is funny and cathartic."
-- Tom Sime, The Dallas Observer

"theatrical genius…visually stunning and frequently very moving…supremely talented artist."-- Lawson Taitte, The Dallas Morning News