GabrielGrilli.com
Press
The Crucifer of Blood
Brisk Pace and Strong Acting make Mill Mystery a Winner
By Sarah D'Esti Miller
Press & Sun-Bulletin
February 1, 2007
"For mystery fans, especially fans of the eternal Sherlock Holmes, The Crucifer of Blood, now playing at the Cider Mill Playhouse, is a real treat. However, even if you aren't an aficionado, there still is plenty to enjoy in the show (don't worry -- no spoilers). First of all, Craig Saeger has outdone himself... handling scenes, lights and sound with precision and maximum effect. Crucifer also boasts a terrific group of performers that is enhanced further by some atypical casting choices, such as Tim Mollen as the cranky, abusive, miserly Alistair Ross. Mollen makes a great bad guy -- which is a departure for him. Tom Byrn is a delight to watch as hyper-focused Holmes, forming plans and dispatching orders with exacting precision... Chris Nickerson's mysterious and menacing Jonathan Small could have been lifted right out of a BBC special... and, in a brilliant bit of casting, Dan Safford practically stole the show as Holmes' Scotland Yard counterpart, Inspector Lestrade, who always is trying to "out-Holmes" Holmes. Safford's maturity as an actor brings a delightful dimension to the old rivalry... For me, the most surprising thing about "The Crucifer of Blood" is how funny it is. It's loaded with laugh-out-loud zingers, many administered by Holmes at the expense of the deserving... the pace moves along briskly thanks to the direction of Gabriel Grilli, who seems to have tapped into his actors' strengths... with a good play, good actors and good direction, enjoying one's self is -- dare I say it? -- elementary."
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Talk the Talk
nytheatre.com
by Martin Denton
September 22, 2003
"Gabriel Grilli's Talk the Talk is the most experimental item on the bill, beginning with a tentative ice-breaking chat between two strangers in some unnamed public location, and rapidly escalating into a (literal) pas-de-deux that may or may not be one or the other's fantasy. The playwright himself takes the role of the pushy but ingratiating young man who initiates contact; Inna Krieger matches him nicely as the young woman who at first resists and then mounts an offensive of her own. A fun and quirky divertissement."
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Stalking Christopher Walken
New York Magazine
August 2002
"When we would ask people what they knew about him, everyone's reaction was always so strong," recalls writer-director Gabriel Grilli, referring to Christopher Walken. "You know, it was always, Whoa, he's so weird; oh, I love that guy. We never got anything neutral about him. If we found somebody who didn't know who he was, we showed him a picture, and they'd be like, Ohhhhh, that guy!" The brand-new performance collective Venus Fly Trap takes an imaginary trip into the enigmatic actor's subconscious -- à la Being John Malkovich -- in Grilli's original dance-theater piece Stalking Christopher Walken during the New York International Fringe Festival, a cauldron of experimental performance now in its sixth year. After sorting through three decades of Walken interviews and watching a good deal of his 70-odd films, Grilli describes an image of "this loner who sits home and sort of waits for the phone to ring -- he just lives for his work." Dana Ruttenberg's choreography, says Grilli, is in the vein of Pina Bausch. ALICIA ZUCKERMAN
"When we would ask people what they knew about him, everyone's reaction was always so strong," recalls writer-director Gabriel Grilli, referring to Christopher Walken. "You know, it was always, Whoa, he's so weird; oh, I love that guy. We never got anything neutral about him. If we found somebody who didn't know who he was, we showed him a picture, and they'd be like, Ohhhhh, that guy!" The brand-new performance collective Venus Fly Trap takes an imaginary trip into the enigmatic actor's subconscious -- à la Being John Malkovich -- in Grilli's original dance-theater piece Stalking Christopher Walken during the New York International Fringe Festival, a cauldron of experimental performance now in its sixth year. After sorting through three decades of Walken interviews and watching a good deal of his 70-odd films, Grilli describes an image of "this loner who sits home and sort of waits for the phone to ring -- he just lives for his work." Dana Ruttenberg's choreography, says Grilli, is in the vein of Pina Bausch. ALICIA ZUCKERMAN **************************************
Science Fair
LA Weekly
May 24, 2000
"Playwright Jeanmarie Williams examines the vagaries of high school in a very funny one-person show. Under Gabriel Grilli’s fluid direction, performer Robbie Berry expertly embodies a disparate quintet of students "somewhere in the American West" whose fates are forever sealed at a 1989 science fair. Marcee is an inarticulate bespectacled nerd, Kiki an egotistical popular cheerleader, Michelle an obnoxious goody-two-shoes Girl Scout, Jethro a laid-back but talented violinist, and Gretchen a dreadlocked anti-nuke activist. Interspersed with slides of 1980s yearbook pics — replete with big hair from both boys and girls — and nostalgic music snippets (remember Tears for Fears?), each student’s presentation gives a glimpse of their future trajectory, confirmed in Act 2’s 10-year reunion..." (Martín Hernández)
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The Windows of Albert Camus
March 1999
Critical Praise included the following quotes:
Beautiful*
Dramatic*
Unusual*
Fun1
Striking visual images1
“Playwright/director Gabriel Grilli’s achevement is to carry high the torch for… the giants of mid- to late- twentieth century avant-garde theatre – artists like Robert Wilson, Joanne Akalaitis, Richard Foreman, The Becks… the effort is welcome and the experience enjoyable!” - Wilson Hutton, Voices
*Melissa Dugan, The Collegian
1Wilson Hutton, Voices
