Anaconda

This is a message to the selfish woman who felt she had to send a text while sitting in the FRONT ROW of last night's show of "Anaconda" Please don't TEXT in the middle of a play. Get a clue! And maybe in future, try to have a little consideration for all the people around you, not to mention the actors working hard on stage to entertain. How unbelievably rude! We all noticed you leaving before the play had finished, too. Why did you even come to the show in the first place? -end rant-... full review

Loved it. Superb script. Great acting. The lead actor, even with a few accent slips, really nailed the journey of a character with so many dimensions. His dual objective to do the right thing and also lay his checkered past to rest are both such rich motives, but they also conflict with each other as well...is it really doing the right thing if he does it to redeem himself? Such a fantastic internal struggle, which very much resonated with me and really layered the character. His wife was played by a sassy blonde actress, who stole the show with her picture perfect comic timing, even through the meatiest of dramatic moments. The whole ensemble should be commended for their truthful portrayal of these great characters. I could see how som... full review

This is the best drama I've seen so far at the fringe, really compelling stuff. The writing was sharp, poignant and the actors matched the stakes wonderfully. I think it's the first show at the fringe I've left wanting more, this 60 minute one-act should (and hopefully will) be turned into a two-act play. The scenes are tight and each revelation digs you deeper into the heart and mind of the motivations for each of the characters. The dialogue was always high stakes and yet it remained believable honest and real, a difficult feat to achieve. Definitely worth catching, can't wait to see what else the playwright puts together in the future.... full review

Even though I knew the very real subject matter before entering, I was still surprised by the plotting and story development by the writer, Sarah Doyle. Rather than attempt to recreate the events, the play's narrative follows the fallout of the main character, as he attempts to wrestle with obvious guilt over the events that Anaconda is based loosely upon. Though the specifics of the terrible incident(s) are very localised, the themes of guilt, redemption, trust, love and abuse of power, are universal. As such, the play lends itself perfectly well to an American setting, regardless of the events having taken place in Australia. Anaconda raises morality questions that you will find difficult to answer, but that's the point. Morality just... full review

Anaconda left me speechless. The writing, direction, acting, subject matter... I can't think of anyone who doesn't need to see this show. It's a modern classic. Arthur Miller in our time. ... full review

I would be quick to caution the more conservative Los Angeles theatre crowd about this show, but Sarah Doyle's Anaconda, while almost too minimalist and under staged, is smart, edgy, and well crafted. The show takes it's audience on an unexpected journey through the world of a Defense Attorney , who's life comes crashing down after he's asked to take on a case connected to his dark past. It's slow to start, but certainly picks up when it needs to. With stand-out performances from it's supporting cast of Jordan Ballard and Jeremy Glazer, and a gripping, emotional final scene courtesy of power house Jonathan Roumie, patrons have something that they can certainly look forward to, in addition to a tight, intriguing script. ... full review

Anaconda by Sarah Doyle. Review by Pauline Adamek. ***This review first appeared on www.ArtsBeatLA.com *** Following last year’s presentation at the Fringe, Feeling Feeling, writer/director Sarah Doyle ventures into far darker territory with Anaconda. Hers is a controversial play based on a sordid abuse and bullying scandal that erupted at an Australian private high school – Sydney’s Trinity Grammar – as recently as 2000. Doyle has relocated the action to New York for the Fringe (wobbly US accent from our lead notwithstanding), but apparently plans to revert back to the story’s Sydney origins for its Australian season next year. Running a taut one hour and 10 minutes, this is a hard-hitting drama complemented by powerful perfor... full review

Anaconda was a wonderfully intense experience. Powerful performances, a FANTASTIC cast and great script. My worry going in was that it woukd draw too heavily on the drama of the traumatizing event and not on the personal stories of the characters involved (I guess I've had too much Hollywood blockbuster junk filling my brain lately). This was not the case at all. I was completely engrossed in each character's story; their all-too-human struggles were conveyed with a very refreshing honesty and clarity. My only complaint is that I would have really loved more stage time for Becker and Tove so we could delve more into how they were affected by past incidents. But everyone was fantastic.... full review

I strongly recommend taking the time to see this show. It is rare to see something this well written, directed and preformed on the theatre circuit of LA. I felt like I was back in NYC sitting in one of its many amazing black box theaters watching a new gritty play being preformed Off-Off Broadway and having that feeling that next time I saw the play it would be at the Booth or Al Hirschfeld Theatre with a ticket price that would dent the wallet. The subject matter is quite poignant and current, Sarah Doyle has based the play on true events and taken it to a new thought provoking level. At some point accents went a little a stray but the characters did not. The actors brought dignity and realism to the characters that raised strong feelin... full review