2026 Audience Reviews

Company: True Men Productions
Show: Castrati: A Tale of Two
Venue: Barbara Barker Center for Dance

again and again and again and again…

i saw castrati: a tale of two on opening night and have been casting about ever since for the words to capture my experience. for starters, the show dealt a major blow to my chest and lungs. so much for forswearing the cigarillos. the opening 20 minutes—which cleverly concealed the hilarity of the premise in a veil of self-seriousness—had me heaving with laughter. fatigued as i was, chin to chest, i was not prepared for “what came next.” as the protagonist raises her bowed head and croons the first line of “what’s next” (quite the ear worm) a delicious warmth encased my body. I still carry it with me days later. Glee is perhaps the proper term. it was a balm to soothe the pain from laughing; a brilliant one-two punch of satire and sincerity. sure, the bare-bones staging skewed awkward at times. and the lone microphone was passed around like a greased sausage. but these stumbles only served to underscore the lyricism of the script, replete as it was with shakespearean charm and host of ingenious references. and set-wise, they had all they needed: two pinkish balls and pair of gleaming silver scissors. all in all, it was a story that needed no buttressing. like boys into men, i wish i could see castrati: a tale of two again and again and again and again and again…5/5