PRESS EXCERPTS & COMMENTS (copies of originals available upon request):
BETSY TOBIN and the Now Or Never Theatre
“100 Colorado Creatives: Betsy Tobin, Now Or Never Theatre. Betsy Tobin's multidisciplinary theater works unfold unlike just about anything you've seen before, blending offbeat techniques with an old-world aura. With her Boulder-based Now or Never Theatre, she produces visually stunning pieces that incorporate puppets, live actors, dance, shadow theater and video in a sophisticated way. Some are for children, others very much for adults; they variously explore small worlds and spectacular ones, as in the case of Shadows & Journeys, a work from 2007-2009 that played out against an outdoor backdrop of rock canyon walls.”
Susan Froyd, WESTWORD
About THE AUSPICIOUS ADVENTURES OF AN IMPROBABLE PRINCESS:
"The epic tradition stuck with Tobin long after her trip to the East, and its footprint is clear in her original show.
The production features Tobin's work in shadow puppetry, a craft that has deep roots in Bali and beyond. But the Eastern influence doesn't stop there — Tobin drew on the craft of puppetry to tell a story with deep roots in the mythology, religion and folklore of the region.
Specifically, Tobin looked to the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, for direct inspiration. The ancient Indian text tells the story of two princes during the Kurukshetra War, even as it delves into spiritual lessons about the purpose of life.
A text written in Sanskrit from Indian prehistory might seem like unlikely source material for an hour-long show featuring shadow puppets, video sequences and original music. But Tobin saw a clear route to an original narrative in the ancient text, one she could fuse with her own story. She wanted to combine the mythic feel of the Indian text with her own journey of self-discovery."
Adam Goldstein, DAILY CAMERA
About METAPHOR:
“I was hooked from the start with the whispering sound and utter simplicity of the first image.”
B. Isacke
“There are scenes I saw last night that I will always remember. It's inspiring, provocative and evocative of the experiences of our lives. “
L. Stonerock
“It is rare to see something so poignant and entertaining. The images and the connections were so powerful, and so incredibly innovative and unique. It was like nothing I've seen before! I also really admired how you mixed the various skills of the cast - everyone got to show their strengths and individuality while still being part of a powerful whole.”
Sarah Leversee,
Art As Action
About THE ODYSSEY:
"It was just beautifully done. I felt that those magical transitions between human performers to puppets, the way you staged the whole thing, and the level of the performing was superb. It was a joy to be there. It was just beautiful to see and so rich! I hope it tours far and wide!"
Beth Osnes, Theatre Professor, University of Colorado
About SHADOWS & JOURNEYS:
“I tried to chat with Betsy Tobin by phone, I really did – but her cell signal dove in and out like a shadow creeping across a rock as she traveled through the expansive desert southwest toward a gig at the Grand Canyon. Our conversation wasn’t meant to be, perhaps, but at least I learned enough to know that SHADOWS & JOURNEYS, Tobin’s visionary site-specific multimedia work is now being played out under the dry twilight against canyon walls where it was always meant to be.” Susan Froyd, WESTWORD
“The exquisite imagery and combination of shadows, video, masks and puppets as well as real actors makes you wonder WHERE and WHEN you are watching this from! A winner.” Anonymous audience member
About microcosm/MACROCOSM:
“From creation’s firmament the stories evolve from elemental matter into cosmopolitan shapes that define our culture. The play depicts the waltz of men and women who join and separate like the flow of water through a streambed. Water, stars, sand, earth, deserts, and outer space form the
backdrop for a collage of stories that unveil the forces of attraction that have brought our world into being.” John Andrews
Audience member
“I have had the opportunity to study with some of the most renowned dance and theatre performers in the world and I see the work of Betsy Tobin as the highest of quality in artistic innovation and accomplishment. She is a treasure to our discipline.”
Kathryn Moller,
Theatre & Dance Professor
Fort Lewis College
About STORIES OF STICKS AND STONES:
“As Tobin plays a variety of characters, including kindly and vengeful spirits, a unifying thread is how similar myths and legends permeate the collective memories of various world cultures… Tobin’s engaging work proves a sophisticated adult work that successfully captures a creative, childlike playfulness too often lost along life’s journey.”
BOULDER DAILY CAMERA
Dianne Zuckerman
SHOWS CREATED IN FRANCE:
About INTERLIGNE (Between the Lines):
“Betsy Tobin’s humor complements her poetry. Her talent consists in her ability, each time, to give us back innocent and luminous moments of revelation.”
TROIZART & +
Bernard Pierron
About CAFÉ DESARROI (Café Disarray):
“The actress will use many objects, witnesses of episodes of her life that she will try to exorcize during the night. CAFÉ DESARROI is an original production. A stroll through a land of dreams.”
LE PARIS-NORMANDIE
Translation: N. D-D
About THE NIGHT OF SISYPHUS:
“A performance that permits without a doubt returning the puppet to its veritable place in the world of theatre.”
LE COURRIER CAUCHOIS Translation: N. D-D
“The direction is superb as are the puppets, overflowing with expression. Each apparition creates a waltz of colors. Each apparition is a veritable living tableau. A show one dreams of seeing several times say those who have seen it several times.”
LE PARIS-NORMANDIE
Y. J. Translation: N. D-D
“From festival to festival, THE NIGHT OF SISYPHUS has already conquered audiences and critics. The show, remarkable by its dramatic intensity as by its moods, charms by its humor as by its profundity.”
LA MONTAGNE
Translation: N. D-D
“One of the most outstanding puppet theatre performances in Europe of our time…”
Michel Poletti,
FESTIVAL of ASCONA, SWITZERLAND
About IN SEARCH OF SEVENTH HEAVEN:
“Her little story of great love has emanations of sulphur, not that Betsy Tobin frequents the devil, but because she guards intact the gift of taking nothing seriously, of provoking the distance of irony between her facts and her version, and finally that of seeding doubt on the most conventional ideas.”
LE PARIS-NORMANDIE
Roger Balavoine
“The performance has a sophistication that is rare. It plays upon the full scale of human emotions.”
LE JOURNAL DU CENTRE
J-P V.
“….an extremely original show giving the puppet access to a dignity it has rarely known…”
L’ENJEU, LE HAVRE
Josette Malon