Bjorn Bolinder

In Corpo

June 30, 2023

Press materials promise a work that is inspired by Kafka's "The Castle" and Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener." Both are name checked – the lead character is called K, played by a clear-voiced Zoe Siegel, and there is even a Bartleby (Austin Owens Kelly, doing triple duty on synthesizer and later acoustic guitar) who says "I prefer not to" very often – but "In Corpo" also owes something to Vaclav Havel's "The Memorandum" with its depiction of bureaucracy gone mad. Of course, not even Havel could have envisioned the tyranny of the complex password, something "In Corpo" uses to excellent comic effect. The show is at its best when it satirizes things that everyone has to deal with, such as passwords and inane tasks. [more]

Take Shape

April 5, 2022

An astronaut in a space station, a YouTube cooking show, evicted apartment residents and a romance on the rocks are a few of the dramatic and antic incidents depicted in "Take Shape," an entertaining full-length program of mime. It’s presented by the Broken Box Mime Theater (BKBX), which was founded in 2011, and whose mission is “to activate the imagination of our audiences, to contemporize the art of mime, and to remind us all of the simple power of storytelling.” "Take Shape" is a collaboration by the company’s members, many of whom appear in rotation at various performances. This creative troupe is comprised of Nick Abeel, Becky Baumwoll, Ismael Castillo, Julia Cavagna, Géraldine Dulex, Blake Habermann, David Jenkins, Marissa Molnar, Kristin McCarthy Parker, Tasha Milkman, Regan Sims, Jae Woo and Josh Wynter. [more]

The Antelope Party

November 14, 2021

Meyer’s darkly comic script is ultimately terrifying, a nod to Orwell and a brilliantly satirical parable which is uncannily prescient in today’s political climate. Director Jess Chayes brings the best out of each of the actors, and finely shapes the delicate arc which begins with laughs and rainbows and descends into fear and suspicion. The costumes by Kate Fry keenly capture each character. The sets by Yu-Hsuan Chen efficiently reflect the simplicity and humble economy of the characters’ environment, and effect some extremely smart scene transitions, one which was so clever it evoked a quiet murmur from the audience. [more]

Blackbird

September 20, 2021

In his thankless role as Ray, Grossman’s performance is perpetually defensive, harried and out of breath. As unlikable a character as Ray is expected to be, Grossman doesn’t quite manage to bring enough variation, warmth, or earnestness to the part to engender the compassion or believability needed to sustain it. Ravera seems physically uncomfortable in the character of Una. She speaks her lines with intention, but she awkwardly drags herself around the stage as though she’s never worn heels before, and her body belies her words, words which are sometimes lost in her thick accent and lack of projection. It’s surprising to see tears come to her eyes when there doesn’t seem to be enough organic truth coming out of her lines to warrant them. [more]

SKIN

January 25, 2019

Broken Box Mime Theater’s SKIN is a collection of short plays loosely centered around its one-word title. The pieces run the gamut in terms of subject matter, approach and tone. Or course, many theatergoers may have an implicit bias against the very idea of mime. This is understandable if unfair. Mime has long been viewed by many, in the U.S. anyway, as little more than pretentious preening and outsized gesturing by grimacing folks in clown makeup. More often than not, it’s seen as a joke. But this show has a fun, cool, buoyant vibe that reminds audiences that the genre needn’t be just a punchline, but something that can actually pack a punch. [more]

See Reverse

February 22, 2017

Presented by the acclaimed Broken Box Mime Theater, "See Reverse" consists of ten short pieces with some even shorter vignettes sometimes in between. Lasting close to two hours with an intermission, it’s a lot of mime. [more]