Just the Swing of a Pendulum...
Houston, TX
ph: 832-746-7347
holly
IN THE PRESS
Here is just a sampling of the articles written about us!
"Bet on this one."
- D.L. Groover, Houston Press
!
The Love Tunnel:
Houston Press
By BRADLEY BASKER Thursday, Feb 10 2011
Dating, flirting and loving get a going-over in The Love Tunnel, A Comedic Journey through Relationships by the Pendulum Theatre Company. The compilation of comedic scenes from various plays, selected by Pendulum Artistic Director Holly Vogt Wilkison, portrays the follies of young love — awkward first dates included. Some of the featured scenes come from Howard Korder’s Boy’s Life, which follows the love lives of three male friends fresh out of college. Their absurd situations and miscommunications are certain to hit home with young lovers and mature couples alike. 5 p.m. Sunday, 8:30 p.m. Monday. Rudyard’s British Pub, 2010 Waugh.
True West
- The Houston PressIn 2004, when a small theater in New York put on Sam Shepard's story of brotherly rivalry, True West, with an all-female cast, the acclaimed playwright's agent contacted the group and demanded they shut down the show. The reported reason? Because Shepard would "never allow women to do the play," according to theatermania.com.
Six years later, Houston's own Pendulum Theatre is putting on True West, and while it hasn't replaced its two male leads with women, it does have a female director, Holly Vogt Wilkison. Pendulum's Artistic Director, Wilkison has already heard that some people in the acting community think a woman has no business directing this play.
While she can't change one line of the work, Wilkison says she thinks she brings a different way of looking at the relationship of the warring brothers at the center of the story. Houston Hayes (Austin) and Michael P. Shukis (Lee) play the brothers in this staging at the Midtown Art Center. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Through April 10. 3414 La Branch. For information, call 832-746-7347 or visit www.pendulumtheatre.com. $10.
"To Hell with Dante" News...
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- Dante's Inferno Hits the Stage with
“TO HELL WITH DANTE,”
A WORLD PREMIERE READING
BY THE PENDULUM THEATRE COMPANY
HOUSTON, TX…October 2008. Halloween gets a kick-start with a staged reading of “To Hell with Dante,” a new play by the critically acclaimed Pendulum Theatre Company in Houston. The reading will take place at Silver House Theatre, located at 1103 Chartres just east of 59 and the Convention Center, October 7th and 9that 8pm.
“This is an adult comedy about actors who, having died during a cast party find themselves on various levels in Dante’s Inferno,” states Pendulum’s founder and artistic director Holly Vogt Wilkison. “I’ve always been fascinated by Dante’s Inferno and could not think of a more ludicrous situation than a bunch of narcissistic actors who are stuck in hell and can only think about how they’ll find a way to enjoy themselves despite their new and horrible reality.” Ms. Wilkison is also the author of the play.
The play is being presented as a reading in order to get audience feedback and also to give the audience a taste of what the full production will be like. Pendulum Theatre’s past productions of “Boy Gets Girl,” and “Hooters,” were met with great acclaim. Ms. Wilkison hopes “Dante…” will be met with the same enthusiasm. “Be cautioned,” she warns. “This is hell and these are actors. Lots of adult language and situations…but in a ridiculous way.” Tickets are $10 at the door. Cash and checks only. Refreshments available. For more information about the Pendulum Theatre Company or to make reservations visit www.pendulumtheatre.com or call 832-746-7347.
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Hooters
The Pendulum Theatre Company has fun with the ‘70s
By Nick Keppler - Houston Press
Published on May 31, 2007
“When I got the rights to do this play from the Dramatists Guild, they said I couldn’t change a single line,” Pendulum Theatre Company artistic director Holly Vogt Wilkison says of Ted Tally’s 1978 play Hooters. Considering that, amongst other dated references and slang terms, one character hits on a woman by bragging about his role in a Paul Newman movie, such strict adherence to the text means a full-on ‘70s production. The show will feature blaring disco, bell-bottoms and one poor actress subjected to a Farrah Fawcett haircut.
And there’s something distinctly of the era about the plot of Hooters, named before the founding of the world’s most embarrassing workplace. Two 19-year-olds vacationing on Cape Cod attempt to get a hard-partying 25-year-old, sour in the face of her upcoming wedding, into bed, bypassing her bookish friend. It’s a post-sexual revolution, mid-feminism, pre-AIDS scenario.
Vogt Wilkison says there’s more to the play than bad hair and worse pickup lines. She was introduced to it as a drama student at Syracuse University, where it was used for “scene study,” in which actors had to convey subtext. “It looks like a play about sex,” she says. “But it’s really about friendship and loyalty and changes. You have to get that from the actors.”
So what’s with the title? “At one point, the two guys are talking about the girl, the ‘ten,’ and one of them says, ‘Did you see her headlights?’” explains Vogt Wilkison. “‘Headlights?’ the other asks. ‘Do you mean her hooters?’” We salute any actor who can say that with a straight face, let alone do it while conveying subtext.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sat., June 23Houston Press Review of "Hooters" by D.L. Groover. "Hooters"
It's nice to know that not much has changed since the days of Frankie and Annette — or Samson and Delilah, either. Ted Tally's surf-and-sand romantic comedy, presented by Pendulum Theatre, is a four-character battle of the sexes set during a 1978 summer weekend on Cape Cod. Long before Tally won his screenplay-adaptation Oscar for Silence of the Lambs, he wrote this play about two young guys (Michael Shukis and Houston Hayes) who want sex as soon as possible and the slightly older gals (Beth DeLozier and Lauren Bigelow) who string them along or can't be bothered.
Feminism and N.O.W. are in full swing, and the wiser women know just how to dance that dance to their advantage — if anyone's going to get hurt, rest assured it won't be Cheryl or Ronda, certainly not by some guy and his blustery sense of entitlement. Cheryl abandons mousy, abrasive Ronda to have sex with innocent Clint, leaving Ronda on the beach all night with gruff, blunt Ricky. But in the end, the females are on the same team; it's the pros vs. the amateurs. Once the macho posturing is stripped from the males, they're really sensitive little boys at heart, don't you know.
Tally cuts away from scenes just as they begin to darken too seriously, thankfully keeping the tone on the light side. As a raunchy take on all those "beach blanket" genre movies, such as "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" and "Beach Party", Tally's romance cleverly twists the cinematic conventions while keeping them center stage.
The play's full head of steam never abates, thanks to the all-out assault on the characters by the talented young acting quartet. Director Holly Vogt Wilkison neatly keeps the comedy's tanned momentum well oiled. You might call this production a lovely day at the beach. — DLGBOY GETS GIRL
Capsule Reviews- The Houston Press
Our critic weighs in on local theater
By D.L. Groover
Article Published Sep 14, 2006Entertainment Details - Boy Gets Girl...............In award-winning playwright Rebecca Gilman's thought-provoking 2001 drama, in its premiere production for Houston's newest theater group, The Pendulum Theatre Company, we have an Alfred Hitchcock movie without a murder.
The movie master's palpable sense of dread intensifies into fear as the play progresses. Icy blond career woman Theresa (Holly Vogt Wilkison, Pendulum's founder and artistic director) is smart, independent and married to her work, but she nevertheless submits to a blind date. Tony (Travis Ammons), hyper and a touch too eager for commitment, doesn't light her fire, and she says good-bye with a forceful “no” But he sends her bouquets, calls her constantly and barges into her office, refusing to go away and pleading for another chance. Theresa thinks he's stalking her.
An accident that happens to her editor (Marc Shellum) might be Tony's fault. Her co-worker Mercer (Steve Scott) is sympathetic but sees her predicament as fodder for a story, while her ditsy secretary (Sara Jo Dunstan), thinking Tony's “cute” and that Theresa needs someone in her life, supplies him with Theresa's phone number and other private info. A psychotic new message from Tony sends in a police detective (Norelia Reed), but the authorities are understaffed and powerless to do anything but issue a restraining order.
As Theresa falls apart, Gilman ratchets up the suspense with stylish command, but she also annoyingly preaches about Woman's plight and Man's piggishness, especially when Theresa interviews a soft-porn cult movie director (Ken Watkins). Gilman stacks the deck and holds all the aces, but it's amazing how entertaining -- and thrilling -- the game becomes. Bet on this one.
Houston, TX
ph: 832-746-7347
holly
