Post Theatrical

“The most ambitious initiative yet may well be Post Theatrical, which encompasses 13 “mail-based theatrical experiences” from companies in the United States, Lebanon and Hong Kong.”
-Elizabeth Vincentelli, Feb 3, 2021, New York Times {read full review}

From sci-fi mysteries to history lessons, theatremakers are putting their own stamp on snail mail exchanges.Pittsburgh’s RealTime Interventions…is planning a whole season of plays by mail with theatre companies and artists across the globe called Post Theatrical…For this latest venture, Rice and Thelin hope that this national-meets-local project will spur connectivity in communities.”
-Alison Considine, October 2020, American Theatre Magazine {read full review}

“RealTime Interventions aims to use the festival as a way to encourage Pittsburgh theater groups to become more involved in national conversations, to amplify creators of color, prioritize accessibility and inclusion and connect to a “national wave of plays” not limited to one city.”
-Tyler Dague, Feb 24, 2021, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette {read full review}

Khūrākī

“…[Rice her Afghan collaborators] took as the guiding question for the series “What do you want Americans to know about you and your country?” ‘They said that they felt the story had always been about war and conflict in America and they wanted to show Afghanistan as America had never seen it, and that’s with all its beauty, all its culture, the music, the food, the full experience of this beautiful country,’ says Rice. Even though they aren’t performing themselves, the event is ultimately all about the women, their stories, and their food.”

—Hannah Lynn, City Paper {read full review}

Angelmakers

“‘Angelmakers: Songs for Female Serial Killers’ is no dinner-theater hokum, nor is it a theater-of-cruelty thriller. It’s thoughtful, careful, restrained and — surprisingly — beautiful. There’s talent to spare in this production…[Milia Ayache] is captivating for every moment, singing with dynamic aplomb and…sympathy, abandon and even humor…Rice’s music does cartwheels to accommodate both the depicted killer and the angle of the lyrics. They should put out an album; if they sold CDs in the lobby after the show, audiences would undoubtedly line up for them.”
–Sean Collier, Pittsburgh Magazine {read full review}

“The…gritty space is enhanced by the fresh smell of old plaster dust and the hum of a portable propane heater. There is the feeling of a being in a haunted house as you enter the performance space, perhaps the ghosts of the killer’s victims are in the audience as well seeking the explanation for their fate?…Theatre is a constantly evolving art form, [and] Pittsburgh is fortunate to have companies like Real/Time Interventions and spaces like Aftershock Theatre to push that evolution ahead.”
–George Hoover, Pittsburgh in the Round {read full review}

“If it’s provocative to have empathy for killers, the troupe pulls it off, thanks largely to Rice’s lyrical gifts… and Ayache, an arresting presence, showcases her vocal chops in the Gypsy-inflected title track.”
— Bill O’Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper {read full review}

The Saints Tour, Greater Braddock

“Eye-, mind- and heart-opening, I should say, and a little dizzying, as well…Normally, as you drive quickly through Braddock, it may look like nothing more than a depressed Mon Valley steel town, but it sure won’t after you experience this whimsical, imaginative, eye-opening tour, written by Molly Rice and produced in association with her company, Real/Time Interventions.”
–Chris Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  {read full review}

“Aboard the bus, guests will begin scanning the neighborhood, more carefully analyzing everything in sight: Is that artifact just there or part of the show? Did I see a performer dancing in that field off in the distance? Are those waving neighbors actors or just waving neighbors? Where’s the next surprise coming from And plenty of individual moments — small actions imbued with meaning and impact — are genuinely moving…the essential thing to know is that every action should be treated like a sacrament, a tiny ritual of devotion.”
–Sean Collier, Pittsburgh Magazine  {read full review}

“Saints Tour” is filled with artistic, unpredictable moments, such as the circus-like performer swinging from the tree in the cemetery, then dashing across the graves, trailing a red silk cape…This show is enjoyably creepy, at times seeming like a haunted-house tour, or the best Halloween party ever…Near the end of the bumpy, creaky bus ride, the Tour Guide talks of an innocent boy turned into a mound of flowers. In the background, rising from a nearby factory smokestack is a rush of steam …or are those the souls of saints?”
–Tom Scanlon, TribLive {read full review here}

“The very idea of organizing this tri-borough trek with so many private and public parties involved is mind-boggling…A tip of the hat to Real/Time cofounders Rice and Rusty Thelin, and Bricolage “team members.” So much of the magic is created by local visual artists, including David Pohl and Lenka Clayton, James Simon, and Vanessa German. Bria Walker, as the Tour Guide, shoulders her monumental task with ease.”
–Michelle Pilecki, Pittsburgh City Paper {read full review here}

“[The Tour Guide’s] winsome stories blend fact and fiction in mischievous ways, drawing attention to landmarks along the route whose significance resides wholly in the imagination. To a great extent, this is the point and power of the journey – like one of those transparency overlays that historians or archeologists use to demonstrate the before and after of a given plot of land or city block, the stories that the Tour Guide weaves along the way layer a magical realist past onto the present and provoke a fresh-eyed look at an area of the city most of us only perceive as blight.”
–Wendy Arons, Pittsburgh Tatler {read full review here}

“This was the best, most moving night of theatre in my lifetime. So grateful and so blessed… We were all stunned by the power of [the] language and vision and the multi textural immensity of moment after moment… Thank you.”
–Audience member