“By virtue of simply treating it as a period piece, Battista's new production...does hold a certain sociological and historical fascination. And when the text itself is performed as sensitively as it is here, it's enough to temporarily pulverize any reservations one might have about the play's dated qualities...’Lone Star’ may feel slight in the moment, but only in retrospect does the inner pathos of the material become apparent."
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“Feels like two separate pieces rather than one coherent and connected show...The script is the weakest point; the plot is strange when it seems to exist at all...A real conflict doesn't show up until almost the end...The characters are very two-dimensional and we're never really given a reason to care about any of them...The second act of the show seems to drag by as the play's plot feels underdeveloped. As entertaining as The Chalks are, the actual play achieves far too little.”
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"Roy enumerates for Ray the ugly atrocities against Vietnamese citizens that he saw during the war, in essence bragging about his capacity to endure it all. In a culture that has become increasingly sensitive about the horrors of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, there's little room now for humor surrounding such content. Perhaps, too, audiences are simply less amused than they used to be by depictions of rural Texans as dung-kicking buffoons, which is probably a good thing."
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"The play drags on and on, with no focus or direction. The actors wander, the story wanders, our minds wander. It inspires no interest in the material. Ironically, the musical send-up of our country cousins charms while the serious play insults Texans with its campy portrayal of hicks with overly emphasized twangs and complete lack of self reflection. The Lone Star state deserves better."
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