Press & Reviews

The stories about understanding, coming to terms with, and being proud of your identity really resonated with me. Bravo! Can’t wait for the next show.Darcy Salinger, audience member

I was so honored to be present at the staged readings for TC Squared.  I felt like the past and the future were both present that night, as the talented writers and actors presented work that showed the growth and maturity that the intervening years have provided.Margie Schaffel, Board Member

The impressive thing to me about the other evening was the way all of the Boston Arts Academy students from several different years were able to form such a wonderful ensemble and perform in such a consistent, honest, and meaningful way.Richard Marshall, playwright

Last night was amazing!  Such a testament to BAA – there were so many “quotable quotes” from the alums during the after-show talkback.  There was nearly a decade worth of graduates.Susan Werbe, Honorary Board Member

I was swept off my feet by the powerful words of these young writers. Their stories take you somewhere raw and honest leaving you stunned, captivated and full of emotion. It was an evening of true community, love and art.Salma Abu Ayyash, audience member

It was truly great to see so many young artists on stage working with passion towards a goal of expression and transformation!Seth Bodie, BAA teacher

A wonderful magical journey with writers and actors. Their voices were rising from previously unspoken words and through silence.Elbert Joseph, TC Squared Actor & Playwright

I was blown away by the talent, energy and stage smarts of the actors on stage, and also by the quantity and quality of the scripts. The actors endowed the scripts with layers of character and meaning, doing the playwrights proud.Iris Fanger, Theatre Critic/Playwright

The energy and synergy of the on stage group was so present to each other and to the audience as we listened to the individual stories … Each member held the space for the others, which supported the audience in doing the same … It did seem that we all “leaned into” the experience. The performances felt precious, honest and real. The pieces performed wove a tapestry of individual stories, which shared a common thread … finding one’s own self reflection in the world, through explorations of gender role, racial and sexual self-identity, political inequalities and social injustices. I felt privileged to be part of this circle.Maura McNiff, audience member

A seed was planted at the Boston Arts Academy that is now blooming and will continue to grow. The performances were a fantastic blend of intimacy in a contemporary setting, touching on important issues, both personal and social.Jeffrey Herman, audience member

The reading was terrific! Dazzling, in fact. One did not just feel that lines had been memorized, but rather that what the actors spoke was truly who they were!Joan Brigham, audience member

I thought the writing was exquisite: wonderful characters, poetic, insightful, dramatic.  I loved the variety of styles. The dance was a great surprise.Dan Lombardo, Artistic Director, WHAT

TC Squared is a great idea and it keeps theater alive in the community.Al McNiff, audience member

Thanks, TC, for giving us a platform to show our work. TC Squared is awesome!!Veronica Wells, screenwriter/videographer

I meant every word when I told you I enjoyed your production of Everyman Revisited much more than the National Theatre’s NT Live. Yours had a freshness, truthfulness, and immediacy that NT lost in its over-the-top conception of the play.Joan Lancourt

Wonderful to see the creative energy that launched TCSquared’s Everyman Revisited. The age-old story came alive and current in their performance that mixed so many ages, genres, and mediums.Margie Schaffel

You couldn’t have done all that with two days in the theatre! Remarkable. You have a real gift and all the actors were exceptional. I was inspired.Jennifer Peace

Great job, Ros! Truly a wonderful play: actors were dynamic, art production was extremely creative, overall a great production with lots to think about for future discussion.Barbara Blanchard

I just wanted to personally say thank you for doing this project and getting me involved. I’ve met so many new friends and we all had a great time this weekend doing what we love to do! What an incredible show to work on, I’m so happy to have heard the audience feedback. It was really something special.Catherine Flanagan

TCSquared’s production of Everyman Revisited is superb. My husband and I attended the performance on Sunday, May 22 and both agree that this is as strong a theatrical experience as we’ve seen anywhere. The audience was engaged during every minute of this lively, moving show, and the cast’s response during the talkback demonstrated how much it meant for them to be part of this production. Rosalind Thomas-Clark has done a tremendous job directing the show and melding both professional actors and community members into a coherent ensemble.Kathi Aguero

Everyman Revisited…A complex subject treated with subtletly, force, and humor. The visual aspects made it for me a sustained pleasure. Very enjoyable!Joelle Cabot

As a fan of National Theatre production, I was eager to see TC Squared’s version of Everyman–and I was not disappointed. This youthful’s company take is contemporary, relevant, poignant, and humorous. A well-paced production with a skilled, energetic and diverse cast, Everyman Revisited offers timeless themes of sin, selfishness, and redemption. Kudos to Ros Thomas-Clark and her company!Kate Kruschwitz

Rosalind Thomas-Clark’s Everyman Revisited was a compelling presentation. It brought both laughter and tears. From the beginning, I was entertained–enjoying the play, appreciating the humour, looking on from the outside as the well-deserved trials of Everyman in all of his many embodiments. At the end I suddenly found myself in tears, feeling as one of them, facing an imminent encounter with Death.Eleanor Duckworth

I was unprepared to be as moved as I was by TC2’s staged reading of Everyman. It was the perfect balance of timeless and contemporary, historical and immediate–not to mention the perfect balance of comedy and pathos. I carried its questions, its imagery, its vitality with me from the theatre. I even agree with its theology (I think.)Richard Hoffman

Thank you thank you thank you for all of your amazing work! Each and every one of you were a true pleasure to work with, and I hope to work with you all again in the future!Erin Lerch, Stage Manager

It was an amazing experience to work with so many talented actors and an incredible director! Remember, if anyone needs tech for anything, shoot me an email.Phillip Chan Ly

Thank you!!! It was a pleasure to work with and collaborate with all of you! I look forward to working with each of you in our future endeavors. I am honored to have put on an amazing show with an incredible and talented group of people. Much love to all!!Danny Sayson

Thank you all for the amazing experience of being and working to create a theatre production. Working with you all has been a pleasure and I hope you all great success in your future endeavors. Thank you all for helping me improve my acting skills.Tyler Rozé

So awesome to meet and work with you all over the last month!Alex Lang

So ambitious and well-realized. Clearly the product of lots of research and collaborative effort…Is there a way that The Great War Theatre project could be performed throughout the Boston high schools? It could be the most important history lesson the students receive over the next year!Pam Allara, art historian

The concept itself is very powerful…(with) beautiful moments throughout the show. I thought the spare simple use of props and the transitions between scenes were really clever, and it was clear what a profound influence you had on those actors and others involved.Rachel Clark, editor, The Amish, Shunned, 2013 (PBS)

I loved the piece and felt provoked by it – elegiac, angry, lyrical, passionate, mournful, tender – it is all there in the language. The language is the lived experience. I remember the male actors almost “spitting” the language out and shaking it at the audience, roiling our emotions, challenging us – this was effective…The spareness of the play helps keep the focus on the language and imagery. Stripped-down stage, four actors, minimal costuming, stark black-and-white visuals, the language coming from so many different directions, the simplicity keeps it direct and visceral, holds the actors in plain view.Peter McCaffrey, Boston Arts Academy Founding Head of Student Support (Emeritus)

Wonderful being at the show…very powerful.Marc Skvirsky, Vice President, Facing History and Ourselves

…thanking you for bringing your wonderfully conceived and produced piece to BU! …My students … were all very positive about the performance, and seemed to especially respond to the archival footage.…thanks to you and Ros (and the actors) for making this happen. We’re very appreciative.Arianne Chernock, Associate Professor, Boston University

I have always thought of war as a distant, foolish game. In which players battle it out for strange reasons. A place where an unfortunate few honorably die. Learning about The Great War Theatre Project showed me the true nature of war. War is a brutal event in which … people lose their loved ones, their dreams, and even their sanity. All while doing the same to others.Douglas Williams, age 12, who appears in the work's background video

As a piece designed for Theatre in Education, The Great War Theatre Project provides a dramatic and emotional representation of the horrors and reality of WWI. The use of contemporary texts enhances the impact. The overall choreography combining archive footage and the acting performances provides simple, powerful images creatively directed for maximum impact in the use of the two spaces. The precise, strong performances strengthen the emotional impact. The performance in Letchworth combined with the Just because… pieces devised and acted by pupils from the Da Vinci school poignantly showed the relevance of WW1 to today’s generation. The commitment from the pupils acting in the pieces was powerful and real and the dramatisation and execution added to this. The variety between the different pieces was refreshing and a tribute to the work and collaboration of those involved in the GWTP project and the Da Vinci pupils. The resulting Talkback session was lively and skilfully monitored to ensure a variety of issues were discussed and explored.Hilary Gerrard, formerly Exec. Dir. National Film and Television School, UK

The pieces performed were fantastic and factual. Both The Great War Theatre Project and Just because it isn’t happening here doesn’t mean it isn’t happening showed war both 100 years ago and today in a way I have never seen before! They made you feel like you were in the front line with them. We saw how the times have changed war throughout history.Paul Smart, Technical Director, Da Vinci Studio School

In the UK, we’ve had the Great War centenary for a year already, so it is some credit to the TC Squared Theatre Company and its actors that they still managed the difficult balance between harsh authenticity and sentimentality, and between symbolism and realism, in this production. American voices quite quickly lost their dissonance for the English ear and the ‘accents’ were no longer intrusive to the dialogue. The cast handled their various roles skilfully, the delineation between them artfully augmented by the simple but effective use of props and purposefully amorphous costume. The small audience was silenced, not only out of respect for the subject matter, but also by the discomforting effect of the combination of sound, and the stark still and video photography as background to the acting. This moving piece left the audience unsure as to whether to applaud the cast vigorously or remain mute to reflect the enormity of the horror and futility of war which they had so well depicted. It seemed hardly credible that the theatre students had, in just four days, rapidly produced and rehearsed such a rounded creation, aided and abetted by the TC Squared actors. Brief, but involving a satisfying number of the students, this was very different in tone and content but nonetheless complementary with the earlier piece. The depth of research, undertaken by a group necessarily distant in time and temperament from the subject, into the background, ambience, attitudes and graphic archives underpinned a competent and effective production which carried a clear message.David Pepper, Vetinary Consultant

I was really impressed with the final result, and particularly enjoyed the fusion of the two companies. There was such a generous shared spirit between the two groups; the true meaning of collaboration. It was great to see the different strands of the GWTP come together too in the first piece, with the projections, words, movement etc. I loved the economy of stagecraft, and the clever use of props as symbols and metaphors. The professional actors were good too – very committed and connected. The students creating the response piece were clearly absorbed, committed and engaged with the creative process, and it was lovely hearing them talk after the show about how inspired they had been by the whole process, and how much they had learned about their own history. So critically important!Emma Caplan, Director and Professor at Central School of Theatre, London

The Letchworth Arts Festival saw an exciting performance by The Great War Theatre Project in collaboration with the Da Vinci Studio School. With their innovative use of drama, movement, music and film, the Project’s Messengers of a Bitter Truth brought the Great War to life for a modern audience. The Great War has been covered a lot on stage but rarely to such an effect. With minimal costume changes, the four actors brilliantly conveyed a whole range of characters. The writing and staging were subtle and seamless. The Da Vinci Studio School’s production, in contrast, brought the issue of war into the 21st century, showing how the technology of war has changed, from bayonets to drones, but the consequences for people have not changed. The final part of the production was a question and answer session with the audience. This lively exchange on the subject of warfare helped enrich the whole experience. The audience left with much to reflect on.Adam Powell, American Community Schools, History Chair

Though I knew going in what the show was about, I was unprepared for the way the texts were brought to life by the actors. It was powerful and thought provoking and this was reflected in the Talkback. The audiences all felt confident in sharing their thoughts and asking questions and the resulting discussions were enlightening. The addition of the student piece was shocking in the contrast between its modernity and the historical content of the original piece. The students captured not only a snapshot of modern warfare but their youth was also an actor in the piece. This gave the work a sadness as these were kids nearly old enough to join the armed forces and to participate for real in the scenarios they were acting. I loved it all. Totally inspiring. Maria Harrison-Iredale, Executive Director, Letchworth Arts Centre

The actors involved in the first piece were very committed to the material and there was some interesting use of the live performers against the projected image. Managing live and recorded elements can be very difficult in performance, with the audience often defaulting to watching the recorded image. However, in this case, the performers managed the use of the two performance elements well. I thought the moving of the first piece into the idea of current and future warfare was very interesting and in many ways extremely powerful. The students having the opportunity to work alongside the company and then participate in developing elements of the performance worked well. This as a tool to inform young people and adults about the effects of war can be very effective. We are very grateful for the opportunity for our students to have worked with TC Squared and the level of partnership given to the students gave them confidence to go on and work independently within their next project.Ella Kent, Da Vinci teacher

Watching The Great War Theatre Project: Messengers of A Bitter Truth is a moving and impressive experience.
It uses video, music, movement and spoken word to create a powerful sense of the trauma and turmoil of war, with acknowledgement of the suffering on both sides of the conflict. The tightly knit and accomplished ensemble of young actors, using words from contemporary writers, take us on an intense and sensitive journey from the war’s outbreak to its cost in human suffering, and a final haunting image of grass re-growing over newly dug graves.Debbie Clough, Community Arts Outreach Director, Bristol, UK

How can any one make a theatre play out of World War One, I wondered? What we saw was a compilation of texts, comments, fragments of diaries and visuals and only a few actors who underwent emotions or simply commented on the facts of this war. The Great War stands for all the wars then and now, and the students of the Da Vinci Creative Studio School, Letchworth, worked only one week to add their view on 21st Century war, and made a video to add this to the performance. That made the play on the Great War an everlasting story. This performance is one great assault on all wars, how small or great they are. The chosen texts were heart breaking, very well chosen; the pictures made one silent. This performance needs to go round the world, starting with Syria. It is a statement, but it is also art, making one conscious of the very fragile state of the human race.Paula Bosch, Dramaturge, The Netherlands