No Boundarys

A good, visceral, story by Noel Olken. I think it's tough in general to sink into one man shows, but Noel does a great job of really making his journey and environments tangible and engaging through good use of lighting, sound, props, action and staging. Condolences to Jeff Gardner's sound design, which was a major aspect to making this piece work so well. For the majority of the show, the audience acts as a friend sitting across a camp fire as Noel tells engaging stories that would be typical for a night out in the woods. I could practically smell the smoke from the campfire as Noel topped off another one of his stories with a little whisky and some wowie. Then, just when it feels like we might pass out by the fire right next to him, he... full review

This show has good atmosphere in parts. The beginning was a little slow and a little hard to get into, and I was not sure exactly what the "point" was, not that there needs to be one. He talked about his father a lot, which I also didn't necessarily get, but it was interesting to hear about a father so much on Father's Day, and consider my own relationship to my own father. My favorite bits were when he touched on the oneness of life, and the energy that we all are, as he was tripping- I spoke with him later and he said that's a great part because he can improvise it. That's probably another reason I liked that part so well. The ending was ok- but I think it was a little detached from the rest of the show. I found myself thinking, "was... full review

Noel Olken can tell a good story and has a lot to say. There is a great framework in "No Boundarys" to explore the questions of reality and grief inherent at this specific time. The first half of the show, however, could spend more time setting up who he is and more of the role his father played in his life, so that any change means as much to the audience as it does to him. The revelations near the end just don't play, because we don't have any real sense of what he was fighting against or for in the first place. With some wonderful images and Jeff Gardner's (always) illuminating sound-scape, the possibilities are all there; Olken now just needs to take the leap and show us more of the demons or questions at the beginning that prompt the ca... full review