DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR PRESS
"As directed by Clara Weishahn, this production is striking in its familiarity and accessibility. ...there's an undeniable energy to the production, a sense of fun and entertainment, juxtaposed with the serious messages and tragic drama within the story.
More than just a story well told, it is a one-man show that is well worth your time."
-An Iliad (2014)
Broadway World
"...packs a real punch. It’s a powerful reminder to us all. “An Iliad” has much to say."
-An Iliad (2014)
RI NPR
"Wilbury Group and Director Clara Weishahn have delivered more than what is on the page and allowed what could be simply a tour de force opportunity for a local actor to be a fully realized production. ...the overall effect is not of a one-man show, but of a play that supports the facile storytelling of an individual surrounded by ghosts and gods, heroes and corpses, music and all the elements of the universe."
-An Iliad (2014)
Motif Magazine
"...intimate, stripped-bare and humbly offered to the audience. The story is accompanied by wonderful cello music... The music adds depth and color to the piece. Clara Weishahn has directed a compelling play that will certainly leave the audience with a lot to chew on."
-An Iliad (2014)
WPRO630
"...brilliant, profound and triumphant...compelling theater lead by what will likely be one of this season’s finest performances."
-An Iliad (2014)
EDGE Providence
"...a vivid production directed by Clara Weishahn. An Iliad is a great play and a great production."
-An Iliad (2014)
The Providence Phoenix
"And as excited as we are about the play, we're even more thrilled to have Clara working with us again and this time in the director's chair. Between her, Matt Fraza and the incredible design team we've assembled for it, we're all very excited to see one of the greatest stories ever told brought to life."
-An Iliad Preview (2014)
Broadway World
"...with a staging that goes straight to the message of redemption, charity, and genuine good will at heart of Dickens' story... Director Clara Weishahn takes an engaging approach to her adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
This production's emphasis on an ensemble performance is evident from the start, as one by one, the guests begin to recite Dickens' familiar lines, gathering together for an impromptu reenactment of the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge... With a strong emphasis on character over spectacle, this up-close presentation keeps Carol's central themes and issues more immediately at hand for the audience.
Weishahn adds other intriguing and thoughtful touches to her vision for specific characters in this production of A Christmas Carol. Attention to small details - such as appropriately aging the Cratchit children from the spirit of the present to the shade of the future - enriches the overall narrative, while seemingly simple theatrical effects are used to establish the atmosphere and tone for each of Scrooge's ghostly visitors.
...Artists' Exchange does the tale proud, and the ensemble's very enjoyable performance absolutely comes from the heart."
-Broadway World
A Christmas Carol (2013)
"Director Clara Weishahn has crafted a simple, but effective framework for a retelling of the Christmas classic along mostly traditional lines, but with a sentimentally contemporary flavor. A festive family gathering starts with a traditional recitation of the story, with family members jockeying for parts, and a simple child’s drawing becomes the medium through which we are thrust into Victorian England and the world of Ebenezer Scrooge.
Weishahn, working with the Gateways for Change program affiliated with Artists’ Exchange, has assembled a lively and large cast all with varying degrees of ability, but no shortage of enthusiasm and infectious joy. A bare stage is quickly transformed through the use of backdrops that mirror the drawings of a small child... who is our medium into the world of Scrooge.
The ghost ensemble is a nicely crafted device to allow all manner of scene changes, but also allows Weishahn to frame four very different and varying performances with a stylistic unity that makes them stand out more fully.
...Artists’ Exchange['s] production is true to the spirit of Dickens... and manages to evoke sentimentality without becoming saccharine. The key takeaways in this outing are redemption, joy and simplicity. Scrooge’s money may make everyone else happy in the end, but a simple gesture and the ringing of a bell open his heart forever."
-Motif Magazine
A Christmas Carol (2013)
"Opening December 12, this version, helmed by Clara Weishahn, aims to achieve an open journey where the considerable cast, led by Tom Chace as Scrooge, starts off as a modern family, telling the tale in a living room (much like Dickens himself would read his story aloud as family and friends gathered) and transform, scene by scene, into Victorian England... Weishahn wants her theater to play to its strengths, incorporating actors from the Gateways to Change program into the ensemble. Local Cranston residents and children are all part of the production, making this Carol for and by the community it serves."
-Motif Magazine Preview
A Christmas Carol (2013)
"...new this year, the production will have a twist, the entire production will be told through the eyes of a child and take on a storybook quality as envisioned by Director Clara Weishahn."
-Broadway World Preview
A Christmas Carol (2013)
"The complexity of the music – not always harmonious – and the impressionistic libretto… could be challenging if “Vixen’s” whimsical tone hadn’t been just right. Thank you, Clara Weishahn, for spot-on sensitive stage direction. …charming pitch-perfect moments under the creeping twilight at Sauvie Island’s Wild Goose Farm. Performers mimic critters’ “voices” and body language with accuracy and humor."
-Oregon Arts Watch
The Cunning Little Vixen (2013)
"The location was lovely, with towering oaks behind the stage providing a suitable setting for the sylvan story, and the performance had a casual, intimate charm, as the audience relaxed in a variety of outdoor chairs and singers and dancers squinted into the setting sun.
…Clara Weishahn's stage direction kept things moving briskly."
-The Oregonian
The Cunning Little Vixen (2013)
"Opera in a barn. On Sauvie Island. Can't wait."
-The Oregonian preview article
The Cunning Little Vixen (2013)
"Opera Theater Oregon lures cityfolk to opera down on the farm."
-The Oregonian preview article and slide show
The Cunning Little Vixen (2013)
"For the first time ever, they are taking their performance outside. OTO's mission is making opera accessible, and The Cunning Little Vixen has something for each of your senses, with food, dance, sprightly folk music, and an orchard setting on Sauvie Island. [The Cunning Little Vixen] sounds like a Portlander's perfect summer fever dream: music, great food, and the lush outdoors."
-The Portland Mercury preview article
The Cunning Little Vixen (2013)
"One of the most impressive expressions of this year’s Oregon indie classical scene...”
-Oregon Arts Watch
You're Still as Beautiful, an original adaptation of Pelléas et Mélisande (2012)
"Director Clara Weishahn'[s] stylized gestures both draw on the film’s movement vocabulary and reinforce the sense of myth — the characters move and pose like figures on a frieze, Greek vase, medieval print; pick your medium. However, you don’t need to have seen the film to appreciate its echoes of the opera’s story, mood and themes...The pairing makes a satisfying whole. ...one of the season’s stage triumphs. It’s a dream you won’t want to end. "
-Oregon Arts Watch
You're Still as Beautiful, an original adaptation of Pelléas et Mélisande (2012)
"The set and blocking ingeniously match the film action, so that the audience seems to be slipping in and out of a mid-century European resort hotel, like a dream within a dream."
-Willamette Week
You're Still as Beautiful, an original adaptation of Pelléas et Mélisande (2012)
"The show maintains the company's expected fun and casual air—I for one ate a piece of pizza during the performance—and goes a long way in their mission of "Making opera safe for America.""
-The Portland Mercury
You're Still as Beautiful, an original adaptation of Pelléas et Mélisande (2012)
"...a high-flying study in romantic tension."
-Portland Monthly Magazine preview
You're Still as Beautiful, an original adaptation of Pelléas et Mélisande (2012)
"Clara Weishahn directs a sexy, compelling cast in choreographed movement and otherworldly speech-singing."
-Willamette Week preview
You're Still as Beautiful, an original adaptation of Pelléas et Mélisande (2012)
"Opera Theater Oregon goes for glamour with updated Debussy opera 'Pelleas et Melisande.'"
-The Oregonian preview
You're Still as Beautiful, an original adaptation of Pelléas et Mélisande (2012)