"eightythree down" reviews
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Eightythree Down by J.Stephen Brantley, directed by Daniel Talbott. At Under St. Marks, September 1st - September 17th, 2011.
Nominated for 6 New York Innovative Theatre Awards, including Outstanding Actor in a Lead Role (Brian Miskell), Outstanding Ensemble, and Outstanding Premiere Production of a Play.
With Ian Holcomb and Melody Bates. © 2011 Hunter Canning
"Tense, electric drama — developed under the guidance of the great Craig Lucas — starring Brian Miskell as an adorably awkward closet case who gets a jolt of excitement and empowerment when a coke-addled gal pal drops by his parents’ house on New Year’s Eve of 1983 with a heat-packing sociopath and an aggressive bisexual Brit."
- Brandon Voss, The Advocate
"83 Down is a closet story dressed in coming-of-age drag. The direction is tight, and the actors keep the intensity high for a full hour. This is, without a doubt, edge-of-your-seat theater. Brian Miskell’s cringing naïveté mitigates…his ultimate transformation from wilting wall flower to gun wielding bitch."
- Will Kenton, Cultural Capitol
With Ian Holcomb. © 2011 Hunter Canning
"Ian Holcomb and Brian Miskell give equally subtle performances as Stuart and Martin, and their characters, particularly Martin, show impressive growth over the work's short arc. Their scenes together are the highlight, as Miskell gives Martin great vulnerability."
- Suzy Evans, Backstage
"A brief sex scene between Stuart and Martin is both exciting and disturbing, due to superb work by Holcomb and Miskell...
"Miskell's Martin is outstanding. Timid and cringing, socially awkward, alone on New Year's Eve, he could easily become pathetic. But Miskell creates a fully fleshed-out character…Shocked out of his torpor by sex and violence, Martin can either crumble to nothing or finally grow. Though the resolution is no surprise to the audience, the beauty of Miskell's performance is that it is clearly a surprise to Martin."
- Byrne Harrison, StageBuzz.com
With Ian Holcomb and Melody Bates. © 2011 Hunter Canning
"Our underdog protagonist Martin, well-played by Brian Miskell, is a sheltered 27 year old living in his parents’ basement in Great Neck…Miskell’s Martin is an eighties version of the nerdy social introvert, begging comparisons with Jesse Eisenberg’s performance in The Social Network. His charming innocence provides the conflict in the play, as these wild characters have clearly disrupted his personal sanctuary."
- Bess Rowen, Off-Off Online
"The four-person cast of Eightythree Down strikes the right balance between volatile hysteria and emotional realism. The fast-paced story is performed in real time and the tension grows accordingly as the hour before midnight moves from bizarre to funny to threatening."
- John Peacock, Flavorpill
© 2011 Hunter Canning
"First-rate ensemble cast…Director Daniel Talbott took full advantage of his powerhouse cast's range and openness and the entire hour is filled with not just emotional ferocity, but with turbulent physicality..."
"As the sheltered suburbanite Martin, Miskell is far more than adequate. His character’s feeling of inadequacy and frustration is endearing and nearly palpable."
- Terra Vetter, Theatre is Easy
"Energy, pace, nuanced and well crafted acting."
- Jody Christopherson, New York Theatre Review
"Martin barely gets a word in, except to accuse Dina of being an 'interruptive species.' But in the end, her mess of a life — violent, dangerous but filled with love – urges him to start his own. His transformation carries the emotion and climax of the play."
- Svetlana Kitto, The Local East Village