Here's what some people said about the workshop version they saw at The Home Of:
All I can say is, I moved to NYC to have theatrical experiences like those which you provide...and you can quote me.
Matt Ehlers
While I'm sure not everyone was fortunate enough to have stumbled upon Be Story Free as I did that night--on a whim, having followed a friend's offhand gibe over happy hour about some rumored "support group" for story addicts--just to witness what unfolded within that unsuspecting backroom of a Brooklyn rowhouse one was fortunate enough.
Then again, that word, "witness", it feels awfully inappropriate; only halfway through the first act could I safely conclude that I'd accidently happened not upon some meeting of Storyholics-Anonymous but rather a theater whose fourth wall they hadn't merely removed with presumptuous post-modern irreverence, but set directly under the spotlight where it would remain from curtain rise to curtain call (that is, were there a curtain to do so). A sharp and well-versed cast spent the entire evening straddling that very wall and its uncertain shape, fondling it, screaming at it, lamenting and savoring its very grip upon them--upon us--the same way an alcoholic does their own thirsty affliction.
In a time when entertainment has stretched beyond the stage and now beeps and flashes within our pockets and purses and even on screens mounted above public urinals, the question of the fourth wall has become far from obsolete but, as Be Story Story Free makes vividly and captivatingly obvious, more pertinent, complex and misunderstood than ever before.
At times dense in its philosophical musings and overwhelming in a phantasmargoria of rapid vignettes, video projections and live musical accompaniment, Be Story Free's medium suits well its message and insists that one return; even if a certain verisimilitude of happenstance is lost the second time around, still, I hope to have another chance to witness--or rather take part in what unfolds upon what might be called, as I've yet to come up with a better term for it, a stage.
Evan Wiig
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I attended "Be Story Free" twice. I thought it was one of the best Bromley plays ever (and I have attended nearly all). The entire premise was ingenious, thought provoking and relevant to the lives of all...the manner in which it was presented (as a "self-help" seminar) was extremely clever. I loved the videos and felt that they tied the words together and clarified the concept at yet another level. The acting was exceptional. Highly recommended!
Barbara Poe
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- unlike any avante-garde theatrical experience I've ever had
- exhilarating, baffling, and a whirlwind of an adventure.
- a linguistic labyrinth that takes the audience to the startling realization that is harder to shake off than an St. Patrick's Day hangover.
- seeing the performers startled by the semi-random assignments of scenes/monologues was genius and increased the stakes for me as a viewer.
Charles Hendrics
Raves about Inverse Theater and Kirk Wood Bromley:
Robert Lopez, Tony-Award winning composer of Avenue Q and Book of Mormon: "Kirk's writing is some of the most crafted, interesting stuff in the New York theater. And it's almost as much fun to read his plays as it is to see them -- he's one of the few playwrights whose work can be considered literature."
Greg Kotis, Tony-Award winning composer of Urinetown: "Kirk Bromley is one of the most intrepid, visionary playwrights working in New York today. His work should be produced."
The New York Times: “Very impressive! A nonstop parade of puns, tweaked aphorisms, and linguistic gymnastics…a barrage of jokes that hit more than they miss.” and..."It sparkles and shines. It rants and raves. Its language is sublime." and "Full of lyricism."
The New Yorker: "Inventive drama…perfect!”
The Los Angeles Times: "Near perfect!" and “Bromley writes with witty bite and bawdy flair …a wonderful blend of wordsmithing and wackiness.”
LA Weekly: "Shakespeare on mushrooms!" and “So many quippy, quotable lines, they fell off my notepad.” and "a bona-fide modern classic."
Backstage: "Genius...as stimulating visually as it is intellectually...the banter, reflection, and fantasy in his text possess all the vitality and zaniness of 120 actors" and “Startlingly clever and wise; in comparison, all prose plays seem facile.”
New York Magazine: "Bromley is the beloved Bard of downtown theater."
The Village Voice: "Poignant and thrilling…egregiously absurd…the inspired blocking and choreography keep things lively” and "The Verse Play Champion" and “The Vanguard Versifier!"
Time Out NY: “Remarkably intelligent… complex…witty…could be on a comparative Shakespeare class syllabus” and “An overflowing smorgasbord of verbiage and imagination" and "The Best Musical in the Fringe!" and "an uncommonly talented cast" and "a talented up-and-comer."
Show Business: "Bromley is beyond reproach."
BBC: "The best play on London's stages."
TalkingBroadway.com: "Theatre at its best" and "Fiercely political...shattering and unsettling...a celebration of excess...a post-apocalyptic anti-drug theme park filled with animatronics."
What's On London: “A quite extraordinarily brilliant piece of theater."
San Francisco Bay Guardian: “A brilliant barrage of wordplay and low comedy...exceptional."
NYTheatre.com: “Extraordinary... brilliant...breathtaking...exhilarating” and “Intense originality and passionate intelligence” and "The most important new American play of the season" and “For originality, clarity and depth of vision, humor, and utter humanity, who can match this big-souled poet?" and “If you prize the kind of theatre where language flexes its muscles to challenge your intellect, where pure poetry produces gasp-inducing flights of fancy, where ideas leap ingeniously all over the stage making connections you never quite saw before—then this is the show you will want to see this month.”
American Theater Magazine: “This verse play speaks directly to its audience’s concerns and in its dialect."
The New York Sun: "Great talent! Topnotch! Real flashes of brilliance!"
offoffonline: "Immensely imaginative."
