The reviews are in and In the Forest, She Grew Fangs is a SMASH. Rave reviews all around, from critics and audiences alike. Make your plans to see this show now as it must close November 15^th!

BUY TICKETS HERE:               https://www.boxofficetickets.com/bot/wa/event?id=288893

 Portland Monthly:
“Fortunately, the play is not just timely, it’s good, and Defunkt does Spotswood’s script more than justice. Confident direction from Andrew Klaus-Vineyard... The lead performances are brimming with charisma. In the Forest succeeds largely because it doesn’t shy away from the variance and the gray areas inherent to a teen-bullying epidemic that, though its victims are high school kids, is not a “high school problem.” Spotswood gives us a violent and bloody condemnation of a society that still seems content to sit back and watch as the emotional and psychological effects of bullying percolate through our young people. It’s crucial material, and Defunkt tackles it fearlessly.”

Artswatch: 

“Intense and hypnotic... In the Forest is notable partly because director Andrew Klaus-Vineyard and his cast and designers use the compact Back Door space so well. And for a story with such a gothic sense of good and evil and retribution, Spotswood’s version is surprisingly subtle and complex. We see layers and levels of abuse, some of it malicious, some of it thoughtless, and the silent scars that run as deep as claw-slashes across a face. The whole thing has an intimate hothouse effect, as if the story just grabbed you by the throat and pulled you in for a good theatrical mauling.”

Artclectic PDX:

“Opening night was sold out and I attended that performance directed by Andrew Klaus-Vineyard. I am still trying to process the myriad of emotional responses that the performance conjured up in me and trying to answer a few questions about what I experienced that night. These are two clear indicators that the playwright, the actors, the director and the crew did their individual work brilliantly and cohesively in my book: I can't stop thinking about the play.”

Dennis Sparks Reviews:

“This is the 15^th Season for this very successful black-box theatre and, if this play is any indication of things to come, then they will have many more years of good fortune. Klaus-Vineyard, the director, has assembled quite an impressive team and it just became the hottest ticket in town.  Season for this very successful black-box theatre and, if this play to produce this show And he has his cast, wisely, underplay their characters in a story that could easily have been over-acted. Modica is excellent as Granny, especially in her monologues. Quite honestly, I could have listened to her telling stories all night.”

WWeek:

 “The rapidly shifting power dynamics, coupled with snappy dialogue, mirror the widening gyre of teenage life, and prove an apt reminder: In the scariest stories, you never discover who's the real monster.”

We look forward to seeing you at the theater!

  

The Defunktionals
http://www.defunktheatre.com/

 

2014-2015 Season sponsored by Ronni Lacroute/Willakenzie Estate, Ellyn Bye, James F and Marion L Miller Foundation

All good things must come to an end. It has been a distinct pleasure to create something as well received and glittery fun as Mattachine Social.  I had been carrying around the name since 1997 when it was once the title of a solo record and somehow years later it would resurface in the wake of my dissolving my short lived French band A is for Accident with the lovely Julie Baird.  I returned to my career in film , recording sporadically over the following year only to find myself with a handful of actual songs, not films scores in late 2010.  I met Justin Warner through the Hump! Festival where we both had films submitted (the origin story we have both told a hundred in interviews at this point). I invited Justin to sing on a track “Alexander” I had written and then another “Scorpio Rising” Justin added a verse. And suddenly we were writing songs… “Last Night “ followed then “Risers” . I enlisted guitarist Ben Jansen whom I knew socially and the original seed of Mattachine Social played their first show at Crush. Miss Tammy Whynot was our MC who quickly became our Nico. We were often jokingly Tammy and the Whynots.  Mattachine Social began as a way for me to focus my education in feminist and queer theory into pop music; LGBT history into song.  If you ever decided to find out more about Kenneth Anger, Alexander the Great, Charles Darwin, or any of the lovers mentioned in the song “Lovers” then mission accomplished.