Press coverage
FEATURES
"The price of war for those who are citizens, not soldiers." Natalie Pompilio, The Newark Star-Ledger.
"On Stage in New York and New Jersey." Peter Molin, Time Now: The Afghanistan and Iraq Wars in Art, Literature, and Film.
"A Veteran's Voice: Playwright Johnny Meyer returned from war to learn that theatre is essential to life." Jillian Owens. The Austin Chronicle.
"Memorial Day 2016: Westhusing." Peter Molin, Time Now: The Afghanistan and Iraq Wars in Art, Literature, and Film.
"Playwright joins Dylan Thomas young writers prize list." BBC News.
"Veteran Turns War Experiences into Play." Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin American-Statesman.
"If Odysseus Started a Book Club." Humanities, Fall 2016. Volume 37, Number 4.
"A Veteran Voice" and "A Warrior Chorus." Howard Sherman, Stage Directions: The Art and Technology of Theatre.
"Bedlam Outreach." Theatre Communications Group, 2017.
"On Stage in New York and New Jersey." Peter Molin, Time Now: The Afghanistan and Iraq Wars in Art, Literature, and Film.
"A Veteran's Voice: Playwright Johnny Meyer returned from war to learn that theatre is essential to life." Jillian Owens. The Austin Chronicle.
"Memorial Day 2016: Westhusing." Peter Molin, Time Now: The Afghanistan and Iraq Wars in Art, Literature, and Film.
"Playwright joins Dylan Thomas young writers prize list." BBC News.
"Veteran Turns War Experiences into Play." Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin American-Statesman.
"If Odysseus Started a Book Club." Humanities, Fall 2016. Volume 37, Number 4.
"A Veteran Voice" and "A Warrior Chorus." Howard Sherman, Stage Directions: The Art and Technology of Theatre.
"Bedlam Outreach." Theatre Communications Group, 2017.
REVIEWS
BRIDE OF THE GULF @ The Scotsman
"... an immersive tapestry"
"US Writer (and former soldier in Iraq) JM Meyer’s collaboration with Iraqi poet Elham Al-Zabaedy and composer Qais Ouda is full of such surprising contradictions, as it charts the history of two wars in Iraq, as well their aftermath, from the perspective of the people of Basra – its voice, full of humour, poetry and humanity, distinctively different from that of many Western dramas exploring the same subject."
BRIDE OF THE GULF @ The List UK
"Alternating between naturalism and an allusive dramaturgy, Bride of the Gulf is a stern corrective to Anglo-American fantasies about the wars in Iraq."
"With a strong cast, an incisive script and a sensitivity to the culture of Iraq, Bride argues for a theatre that escapes the pull of Eurocentric romanticism and speaks of mundane anguish."
BRIDE OF THE GULF @ Time Now: The Afghanistan and Iraq Wars in Art, Literature, and Film
" ... a mesmerizing swirl of action, speech, sound, music, lights, and images."
" ... a play about the Iraq war written and performed by (mostly) Americans that doesn’t make the physical suffering and moral anguish of American soldiers its subject and isn’t beholden to strict straightforward linear narration and representations of reality."
"From my short acquaintance with Meyer and Alvarado, I’ve learned that their sense of what a play can do and be is expansive. Never staid, too-talky, or one-dimensional, a Meyer-Alvarado production makes use of a wide range of stagecraft possibilities to generate immediate effect and lasting resonance."
THE PRICELESS SLAVE @ The Daily Texan
"The Priceless Slave digs deep into America's raw nerves..."
"Meyer carefully crafts refreshing female leads at three very different points in womanhood... the arcs of the women are heart-wrenching and realistic."
"With such a complex issue as slavery, audience members can immediately expect to be uncomfortable. And “The Priceless Slave” is... rife with tension, but there is a balance of relief through comedy."
AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS @ The Austinist
"The anti-heroes flounder in a sprawling, violent grey area... The meticulously engineered play, on the other hand, unfolds with military precision."
"The script’s diction veers from Army Ranger patois to Shakespearean meter on a dime... the inevitable breach between performance and reality is exactly what this play is all about - and exactly what makes it so unsettling."
AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS @ The Austin American-Statesman and Austin360.com
"As a veteran of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, Meyer brings an authentic voice to ‘American Volunteers.’ And it’s that authenticity which gives this 90-minute drama its force and emotional complexity."
"... an immersive tapestry"
"US Writer (and former soldier in Iraq) JM Meyer’s collaboration with Iraqi poet Elham Al-Zabaedy and composer Qais Ouda is full of such surprising contradictions, as it charts the history of two wars in Iraq, as well their aftermath, from the perspective of the people of Basra – its voice, full of humour, poetry and humanity, distinctively different from that of many Western dramas exploring the same subject."
BRIDE OF THE GULF @ The List UK
"Alternating between naturalism and an allusive dramaturgy, Bride of the Gulf is a stern corrective to Anglo-American fantasies about the wars in Iraq."
"With a strong cast, an incisive script and a sensitivity to the culture of Iraq, Bride argues for a theatre that escapes the pull of Eurocentric romanticism and speaks of mundane anguish."
BRIDE OF THE GULF @ Time Now: The Afghanistan and Iraq Wars in Art, Literature, and Film
" ... a mesmerizing swirl of action, speech, sound, music, lights, and images."
" ... a play about the Iraq war written and performed by (mostly) Americans that doesn’t make the physical suffering and moral anguish of American soldiers its subject and isn’t beholden to strict straightforward linear narration and representations of reality."
"From my short acquaintance with Meyer and Alvarado, I’ve learned that their sense of what a play can do and be is expansive. Never staid, too-talky, or one-dimensional, a Meyer-Alvarado production makes use of a wide range of stagecraft possibilities to generate immediate effect and lasting resonance."
THE PRICELESS SLAVE @ The Daily Texan
"The Priceless Slave digs deep into America's raw nerves..."
"Meyer carefully crafts refreshing female leads at three very different points in womanhood... the arcs of the women are heart-wrenching and realistic."
"With such a complex issue as slavery, audience members can immediately expect to be uncomfortable. And “The Priceless Slave” is... rife with tension, but there is a balance of relief through comedy."
AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS @ The Austinist
"The anti-heroes flounder in a sprawling, violent grey area... The meticulously engineered play, on the other hand, unfolds with military precision."
"The script’s diction veers from Army Ranger patois to Shakespearean meter on a dime... the inevitable breach between performance and reality is exactly what this play is all about - and exactly what makes it so unsettling."
AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS @ The Austin American-Statesman and Austin360.com
"As a veteran of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, Meyer brings an authentic voice to ‘American Volunteers.’ And it’s that authenticity which gives this 90-minute drama its force and emotional complexity."
Photo credit: "Galaxy Cove Vista" by Rogelio Bernal Andreo, 2013.