More Architecting Press Reactions
“Enthralling and infuriating, funny and tragic, intelligent and downright lunatic – it is impossible to have a simple response to this extraordinary production… One leaves the theatre thrilled by a company so determined to push the boundaries of theatrical possibility.”
–Telegraph, London
“We are constantly told that theatre is the medium of the present tense, but this company refines that notion with terrific insight and flair. What emerges in this marvelous show underlines how sharply TEAM understand that theatre is like a magnified version of the eye of the needle through which this complex weave of consciousness is threaded. And they demonstrate this wisdom in the wit, verve and pained insight with which they bring past, present, and future in a glorious mélange of jumble and judicious ordering onto the stage at the same time…Visionary in concept and execution, this show reminds you of Tony (Angels in America) Kushner and sometimes of Robert (The Dragons’ Trilogy) Lepage.”
–The Independent, London
“Architecting is a riveting examination of American attitudes about race, homes, money, and gumption…the entire play is masterfully constructed.”
–Backstage
The piece is politically engaged on a gratifyingly minute level…Moreover, Architecting rewards careful attention…demonstrating adroit use of technology; a clever sense of humor; and cultural literacy. These may be the solutions that will keep the theater from devouring itself over the next few years.”
–Variety
“It’s a stunning effort from a company totally at ease documenting America.”
–Metro, London
“A sensationally timely piece of American self-analysis and deconstruction… Architecting represents a brilliant, witty, surrealist encounter – part cabaret, part movie-fantasy, part dramatic poem… a craggy, complex gem of a show, that says a huge amount about our screen-image-driven, American-dominated civilization, and the point of crisis it has reached. And it does so while also achieving some extraordinary moments of humour and beauty and pure theatrical energy, in which the still, sad music of humanity – and the true erotic pulse of heart meeting heart, difference meeting difference – can be heard beneath all the clattering roar of our old and dying world.”
-The Scotsman, Scotland
“A Tour de Force of subtlety… what a joy it is to see new writing that transmits what it islike to live in the 21st century…[Architecting] is on the side of moral complexity, pluralism, nuance, all of them virtues that need every advocate they can get. The TEAM stands for the Theatre of the Emerging American Moment, and it feels right and healthy that that moment should be explored by such young hearts and minds, and with such intelligent vigour. I hope they become better known.
–The Financial Times, London
“Architecting is a virtuoso plundering of American literature and history.”
–Daily Telegraph, London
The TEAM’s work is a “passionate critique of contemporary America… a fierce, questioning intelligence and a collage-like performance style with multiple story-lines and multimedia techniques.”
-The Times, London
“Frankly, the TEAM do give a damn.”
–The Herald, Scotland
An “extraordinary, complex, exhausting joint effort by the National Theatre of Scotland Workshop and a brilliant young New York theatre company, the TEAM.”
-The Sunday Times, London
A “dazzling contemplation of the history of the end of history… by turns a spectacular funny and warmly intimate piece… through all the frenetic physical work, enchanting song and scintillating dialogue, a case is made for the architecture of history itself.”
–The List, Scotland