Shows: Mainstage

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"HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ASSASSINATED"
By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
The Austin American-Statesman
October 31, 2006

The latest creation from the ever-clever Rude Mechanicals, "Have You Ever Been Assassinated?" at the Off Center, has plenty going for it. For starters, there's an engaging premise: vaudeville as a lens through which America historically described its multiple cultural identities. All the racial and ethnic stereotyping that percolated in popular entertainments — and still does — left a lasting mark on the country's definition of itself, after all.

That was enough to get the Rudes thinking and workshopping, and Rebecca Beegle to take charge of writing a script. Director Carlos Treviño molded it into an attention-grabbing 80-minute production that whips along through an imagined last day of vaudeville in Austin, as a troupe of performers confronts a complex newcomer in their midst — and also their own demise.

Treviño extracts razor-smart performances from the ensemble cast. Indeed, just their sheer physicality impresses: Leilah Stewart's ingenious set of scaffolding and platforms arranged as a theater backstage area became a veritable jungle gym as actors hurtled themselves around.

Alas, muscular acting, impressive physicality, an innovative set, Buzz Moran's usual good sound effects and a spot-on score from Graham Reynolds don't all add up, in the end, to a fully accomplished show.

What was missing was a script that could reach beyond its own experiments with language, get past its own self-referenced cleverness and insider jokes to reach the audience. After all, enjoyable as the entertainments can be, without the audience, there's no show.