CRITIC’S PICK: “Tejera’s play, light on plot, rests on unraveling the uneasy dynamic between the three, and on the meticulousness with which the playwright renders the petty signifiers in their world...These acute character details create a rich triptych of the ails of a social milieu that’s precise in stroke, impressionistic in structure.”
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“All the characters, to a degree, feel underwritten. Toro and Andrea exist mostly as collateral damage in Juan’s self-destruction...To Tejera's credit, neither their lofty debate nor their awkward patter feels like a playwright's hand at work; he has a knack for authentic dialogue...with a little deepening of character, ‘Toros’ has potential to charge forward.”
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“...a trio of wealthy, aimless 20-somethings, tend to regard Tica the dog with a range of pity and neglect. They’re tangled up in their own dramas and resentments and ignorant of the very strange things happening right at their feet.”
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“Whatever you end up thinking about 'Toros' as a whole, there’s one element you surely won’t forget...Danny Tejera’s new play boasts the spectacle of veteran stage actor Frank Wood playing … a dog. Not an anthropomorphized version of a dog: an actual dog that barks and whines. It’s an amusing conceit, but it’s a measure of how wispy the rest of the play is that Wood’s unusual turn ends up being the most memorable aspect of the production.”
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“ ‘Toros’ is in the tradition of angry and youthful plays...Tejera's drama may not have the smoldering rage of his predecessors, but there are enough sparks to make him a playwright worth following.”
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“Perhaps the entire play would be more involving in the hands of a different director than Gaye Taylor Upchurch. In addition to not guiding her talented cast properly, she finds no better solution for Tejera’s staccato script than starting and ending each scene with a sudden blackout. In fact, at my performance, most of my audience didn’t even realize the last scene was actually the final one until Wood came out to take a bow!”
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Gaye Taylor Upchurch’s production of Toros by Danny Tejera is a study of psychopathology among three privileged millennials living in Spain just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It features admirable performances by a trio of young actors and a riveting turn by New York stage veteran Frank Wood as a female golden retriever on her last legs. Though desultorily paced, the 90-minute comedy-drama has compelling moments and is played in an intriguing environment devised by scenic designer Arnulfo Maldonado and lighting designer Barbara Samuels.
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