Stage and Cinema
- Somewhat Recommended
"...As a way to heal from recent tragedies, Alice (Erin Pineda), a big-city photographer, visits June (Virginia Newcomb), a reclusive artist on a small farm in Alabaster, Alabama. June has answered Alice’s call for externally scarred women willing to be photographed for an upcoming project (not a coffee table book, she insists). But June, who drinks whiskey from a coffee cup and hurls barbs as freely as brushstrokes, is no passive subject. She’s a sharp-edged, wounded provocateur—an extraordinary artist painting on the shattered wooden remnants of a barn destroyed, along with her family, in a tornado so devastating she hasn’t left home in over three years. Their tense first meeting in June’s bedroom soon gives way to an unexpected attraction, and before long, Alice is trying to lure June to Atlanta. June, bleak and isolated on the fringes of American society, feels like a character out of Sam Shepard—except without the poetry."
LA Splash
- Highly Recommended
"...Skillfully helmed by Stangl, the dramedy pokes fun at some very serious topics while examining the parameters of trauma and grief. The cast – especially Newcomb and Pineda – do an excellent job of pulling the audience into their very personal concerns, fears, and conflicts. Frederica Nascimento’s scenic design – enhanced by Ly Eisenstein’s video design and Jenine MacDonald’s prop design and paintings – brings the deep South within striking distance, as do Rebecca Carr’s costumes, Krys Fehervari’s makeup (kudos for the “scars”), Alison Brummer’s lighting, and Andrea Allmond’s sound and original composition."
On Stage Los Angeles
- Highly Recommended
"...Audrey Cefaly's fanciful trip to Alabaster, Alabama, with shades of romance and art takes place where the whirlwind has reaped death, destruction and survival for June (Virginia Newcomb almost channeling Sissy Spacek). June has spent Three years or so.. alone.. "
Stage Raw
- Recommended
"...Cefaly's dialogue shines, but never more so than in June's hypnotic telling of the tornado. And the scene where June bares her skin to show her scars on her chest and back so that Alice can photograph her is deeply poignant."
Peoples World
- Recommended
"...The Southern gothic drama overflowing with surreal humor is a real crowd-pleaser that dispenses its wisdom in mystical droplets. We all carry our share of sorrow, and sometimes it pays to let a new person into your life for a change of perspective. I recommend it."
Ticket Holders LA
- Not Recommended
"...I want to acknowledge here that I seem to be the only critic in town to have mostly negative thoughts about Alabaster. The conundrum might be explained partially by director Casey Stangl's clumsy and artificial staging and her glaring ineffectiveness guiding performances to ring true'or perhaps the culprit could be the fact that I attended the Sunday matinee performance of the show in what is almost always a dreaded second week slump and found myself to be, at age 78, perhaps the second youngest audience member (my partner being the first) in attendance."
Larchmont Buzz
- Recommended
"...If you are the type that loves a little magic in your realism, I recommend checking out Alabaster. In a time when a lot of people are suffering and may continue to do so, it’s important that we have these discussions and try to heal, empathize and care about each other. Alabaster opens the doors to these discussions in a relatable and touching way. It’s also important to support this kind of art, promoting love, diversity, and healing in times such as these."
