Man's Dominion

Man’s Dominion is a tour-de-force created out of nothing more than a fake clown nose, a true story and a lot of real talent. Playwright David Castro crafted this spellbinding journey from a series of monologues based on the real event of an elephant lynching in Tennessee in 1916. Tim Powell brings his characters to life with a deft juggling of accents and physicality that allows him the luxury of understated performance. His easy command of the stage lulls us into giving ourselves over to the journey. The unexpected contribution from Michele Simms/ Madison Flannery provides pitch-perfect counterpoint. And if Powell’s performance is a one-man three-ring circus, director Dennis Neal is the ringmaster, working invisibly but precisely to craft t... full review

This is what Theatre is about. A thought provoking, mature piece that thoroughly engages an audience from beginning to end. David Castro has picked a subject that is at once fascinating and horrifying. He cleverly weaves a story through the use of various narrators (or witnesses) all played by Tim Powell. This tour de force performance by Tim Powell does not dazzle us with its theatricality but rather its humanity. Dennis Neal elegantly directs with specific use of minimum props, staging and stage craft. This is a piece of bare bones brilliance.... full review

Man’s Dominion by David Castro. Review by Pauline Adamek. ***This review first appeared on www.StageRaw.com *** A TV writer/producer for most of his lengthy career, David Castro has now tried his hand at playwriting, and the resulting one-person play, Man’s Dominion, is not as emotionally gripping as one might expect from the subject matter. Castro was seized by the tragic turn-of-the-century tale of a circus elephant’s lynching. In a small Tennessee town in 1916, an Indian elephant named Mary lashed out at an inexperienced and brutal trainer, stamping on his head. For this murderous act, the beast was hanged. The playwright adopts the typical, no-frills approach of having a sole actor inhabit a virtually bare stage and adopt numerous... full review