Reviews and Interviews

Below are a selection of reviews of productions I directed plus some interviews that I took part in.

Indecent

“Paula Vogel plays can be bursting with wildly different elements. She can shift from intimate relationship moments to grand historical themes or from poetic speeches to deliberately corny jokes. Her work isn’t easy to stage. At Playhouse on Park, Kelly O’Donnell maneuvers the switching tones, paces and languages beautifully.” read full review

“Staging "Indecent," director Kelly O'Donnell comes to Playhouse on Park with a keen sense of stagecraft and exploration, which, in turn, makes her the ideal candidate to bring Vogel's epic play to life. Here, she embellishes the context and clatter of the playwright's storytelling with skill and conscience, shepherding the key story points and their multi-rolling evolution with choreographed precision, movement, ripple and refreshing dynamic. ” read full review

From the Desk of Jim Ruocco

“What makes Indecent work so well in the Playhouse on Park production directed by Kelly O’Donnell is the way the staging foregrounds the theatrical troupe enacting the play. The vivid staging, with wonderfully atmospheric musical interludes led by music director Alexander Sovronsky, draws us into Asch’s play. The staging at Playhouse on Park is impressively achieved. The poetic use of showers of sand and showers of rain creates striking visual effects. The control of movement and blocking throughout this incredibly active play is superlative.

The New Haven Review

The Agitators

“Director Kelly O’Donnell, a co-founder of New York’s progressive Flux Theatre Ensemble, complements the non-realistic design elements by keeping the action human and up close. The actors weep and hug and dance. When they squabble, it’s still a dance.” read full review

“Obviously chemistry is key in productions with only two actors. Luckily under Kelly O’Donnell’s thoughtful and sensitive direction, both Gabriel Lawrence and Sam Rosentrater complement each other beautifully.” read full review

Connecticut Critics’ Circle

Hearts Like Fists

“Parody and punches fly in Adam Szymkowicz’s “Hearts Like Fists. The combination is madcap. Pretty hysterical too.The director, Kelly O’Donnell, manages to ride herd on the proceedings, building a fine, fizzy momentum. Hurting for a laugh? These Crimefighters should save the day.” read full review

“One of the funniest shows I’ve seen this year. The cast is wonderful, and under Kelly O’Donnell’s nuanced direction, all perform to the peak of their abilities. The comedy fires on all cylinders from the beginning and almost never lets up.” read full review

Broadway World

“And remarkably, despite the many craft ways in which director Kelly O'Donnell has replicated a comic book feel for the New York stage production of Hearts Like Fists, it never feels lowbrow or churlish at all…O'Donnell ensures that her terrific ensemble maintains a brisk pace for Fists, one of the more riotous and satisfying theatrical productions to emerge all season long.” read full review

New York Press

Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood

“Creative staging by Kelly O’Donnell in conjunction with Will Lowry’s malleable sets allows the cast to run through the forest, sword fight, and defend themselves on multiple occasions with bow and arrow. Taking a page from the Peter and the Starcatcher playbook the show thrives on its own playfulness and silly energy while still tying everything up at the end.” read full review

Theatre is Easy

“Director Kelly O’Donnell stages this touching romp with ballet-like precision and grace even as the characters mug and brawl. Along the way they repeatedly transform the simple, elegantly rough set from forest to prison to castle walls, using little more than a few planks of wood and Jessica Greenberg’s artful lighting. ” read full review

BlogCritics

Three Christs

“3 Christs” is more tragedy than comedy, and the tragedy is Rokeach’s. Mr. Hurt does a fine job of making him both well-meaning and hubristic. For most of the play, he veers from one ethically dubious stance to another. Under Kelly O’Donnell’s direction, he introduces each adjustment in protocol with the flourish of a magician. read full review

The Epoch Times

“The strength of one’s beliefs take center stage in SM Dale and Barry Rowell’s fascinating 3Christs. Kelly O’Donnell’s direction is strong, though the show could use a bit of tightening here and there. The decision to use a church as the playing space was an inspired touch that becomes especially effective in the show’s closing moments.” read full review

Jane the Plain

"Kelly O’Donnell incorporates elements into the staging that are almost dance-like but with enough rough energy to make it seem natural.”
full review

“Kelly O’Donnell once again directed an ensemble cast with the same innovative physicality she utilized in the Flux Theatre Ensemble production of Dog Act.”

Dog Act

“Liz Duffy Adams has a few tricks that put her a notch above your average Brechtswept wasteland: A genuinely crystalline ear for rough, poetic dialogue; a handful of simple, honest themes–possibilities for kindness in a savage world, guilt as a luxury and a form of selfishness–in lieu of sprawling world-building; and, most crucially, the savage talents of the Flux Theater Ensemble. Director Kelly O’Donnell keeps things moving so briskly, you barely notice the play’s forty minutes longer than it needs to be. Apocalypses, methinks, should be short and sweet.” read full review

New York Magazine

Ah, The review that nearly broke me. I’m grateful for it because I’ve learned so much since then.

“As directed by Kelly O’Donnell, the production works overtime to entertain. Whatever can be played to the hilt is, so that Ms. Adams’s more enjoyable bursts of layered language are given little breathing room.” read full review

Jacob’s House

“Kelly O’Donnell’s savvy and fluid direction keeps the show moving effortlessly from present to past on Jason Paradine’s evocative set, which is filled with atticlike elements: trunks, sleds, a fold-up bed; and Kia Rogers’s practical lighting achieves a neat black-and-white bleaching effect at the end.”
full review

The Jewish Daily Forward

Interviews

  • Interview with Christopher Arnott of the Hartford Courtant about my production of Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson - Apt 2B

  • TV interview on Good Day Connecticut about my production of Indecent.

  • Interview by Luz Lorenza Twigg for my Columbia Thesis show, New World Radio

  • Interview with Adam Szymkowicz and myself by The Oregonian for the workshop of his play, Kodachrome

  • TDF “Meet the Theatre” Interview with Flux Theatre Ensemble

  • Interview with Zack Calhoon on his Visible Soul blog

  • Free form interview by Lawrence Krubner of Smashmouth