ABOUT | TICKETS | WEBISODES | PICTURES | FAQ & A w/ MARK JACKSON | PRESS & REVIEWS

Press & Reviews

Reviews:
“You could throw a lot of adjectives at The Companion Piece, a world-premiere creation by director Mark Jackson, actor Beth Wilmurt and their crew: wily, zany, exciting, perplexing, silly and utterly beautiful. But they don’t quite create the picture of just what the Companion experience is. …The Companion Piece, directed with Jackson’s signature precision and inventiveness, is a disarmingly delightful show to watch, but it’s even more interesting to think about afterward. Now how often can you say that about something this entertaining?”
 
           - THEATERDOGS.NET

“It's hard to know what to expect next at The Companion Piece… It's a show full of pleasures… But if the sequence of acts seems random, Companion leaves a playful lingering sensation of pieces falling into place with a purpose… Jackson uses the whole, deep Artaud stage, pacing the bits, bickerings and missteps with sharp synchronicity.”

            - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

"Stuffed with charm and surprising insight... The Companion Piece blends the fantasies and creative quandaries of the actor, the collaborative process, and the choices actors (and, as you soon realize, people) make to follow their hearts, tying them together in a way that seems random and nonlinear until the curtain goes down and your brain begins to click through the whacked-out whimsy to find the channels of meaning."

            - 7x7 MAGAZINE

“Comical and existential, The Companion Piece is a charmingly inventive new work of devised theater... Clever, frequently hilarious, and gently moving… It produces one captivating scene after another, often with the simplest of means.”

           - SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN

“Beth Wilmurt and Mark Jackson have produced The Companion Piece with a frantic, madcap glory that gives striking insights to the creative process… The Companion Piece thrives in metaphor... A poignant story of identity and success.”

           - SF BAY TIMES

“Will surely be one of the most intriguing productions of 2011. …In its quirky rhythms, audacious inventiveness, and masterful stagecraft, there are flashes of true brilliance. …It’s difficult to convey the amount of beauty, humor, and skill in these routines, with their misleading sense of haphazardness. It’s clear how much care has been lavished on what we’re seeing. While on one level the narrative seems disjointed and scattered, as mercurial as a person’s moods, on another we see how finely wrought it is, how much work and intelligence went into making it that way."

            - SCENE 2

“I loved The Companion Piece, not least because of the glittering sheen of Jake Rodriguez’s vaudevillian and the ease and charm of Wilmurt and Kuckenbaker as the struggling couple. I also loved the casual, go-for-broke inventiveness of the enterprise, in scenes that range from a madcap intensity to touching quietude… A funny, touching meditation on getting along and working it out…”

            - PIEDMONT POST

“What is thrilling about watching The Companion Piece is how this 80-minute show has been developed through constantly taking dramatic risks.”

            - MY CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

“Director Mark Jackson, and performers Beth Wilmurt, Chris Kuckenbaker and Jake Rodriguez are among the most captivating theatre artists in the Bay Area. This world premiere devised theatre production is hilarious, physically exhilarating and in places deeply moving. …Vital and inspiring and totally worth seeing.”

            - LIES LIKE TRUTH

“Jake Rodriguez shines as a snazzy old-time vaudeville performer while and Christopher Kukenbaker (together with Wilmurt) does a superb job of entertaining the audience...”

            - HUFFINGTON POST

"I saw The Companion Piece at Z Space last week. It's a profound, wildly imaginative, cathartic piece of theatre. Hats off to Z Space and the whole ol' school Art Street gang (Jake Rodriguez, Chris Kuckenbaker, Mark Jackson and the inimitable Beth Wilmurt). I literally found myself gasping for air I was laughing so hard one moment and then squirming with discomfort at the intimacy and emotional rawness of another scene. Find the time to check this out."
          - Patrick Dooley, Artistic Director of Shotgun Players

Please be advised that these many of these reviews CONTAIN SPOILERS
Robert Hurwitt of the SF Chronicle: "Vaudeville for 2"
Chad Jones of Theater Dogs: "The Companion Piece or 'I glove you whore'"
Amber Adrian of 7x7 "The Companion Piece at Z Space"
Robert Avila of the SF Bay Guardian "Two's a Crowd?"
Albert Goodwyn of SF Bay Times "The Companion Piece for Vaudeville at Z Space"
Joe Mader of Scene 2 "Only Connect: Z Space's The Companion Piece"
George Heymont of My Cultural Landscape "Life Upon the Wicked Stage"
Chloe Veltman of Lies Like Truth: "Weekend Roundup: From Vaudeville to Viols"
George Heymont of the Huffington Post "Haiku Reviews: Silent Films To The Role Of Sir"

Other Press:
Golden Gate [X] Press: "The power of love expressed through long-forgotten genre"
San Francisco Chronicle's 96 Hours: "The Companion Piece: About Relationships"
San Francisco Arts Monthly "A Comic Exploration of How We Connect" (Alt. Text Link)
San Francisco Chronicle's "2011 arts forecast: Theater"

Media Inquiries: Mona Baroudi, mona.baroudi@sbcglobal.net