REVIEWS:
The third play “Data Queen” by Aam Ashraf Elsayigh is rich and suggestive, making fun of the psychobabble used by uptight therapist Sharon (hilarious Emily M. Keyishian). She presides over a tortured session with obsessive techie Sam (electric Hamzeh Daoud) and his anxious boyfriend Joel (empathetic John Fisher), as they sit on “Truth Stools.”
Barry David Horwitz, Theatrius (ReOrient Festival with Golden Thread 2023)
NPR local station KQED's Nicole Gluckstern and David John Chávez named ReOrient one of "The Best Bay Area Theater We Saw in 2023" https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938900/the-best-bay-area-theater-we-saw-in-2023
It's a beautiful production of her 1995 memory play, brilliantly directed by Tanika Baptiste. The acting is as vibrant as the design, presenting Nottage’s work with poignancy and hilarity.. Kali renders Lily’s self-indulgence beautifully, stirring up our anger, too. But in every argument, she makes an indisputable point.
In response, Gerta (Emily Keyishian) swings hilariously from ebullience to injury.
They make a great duo.
Philippa Kelly, Theatrius (Crumbs from the Table of Joy)
Emily, as the eccentric governess, caught the audience’s eye in every scene she was in. With a moving, gypsy flare, she captivated the on-stage characters with her displays of card tricks and ventriloquism. In a telling metaphor of Town Hall new and old, Emily’s hilarious scene at the end of Act 1 with Town Hall regular, Tom Reilly, was a perfect blending of casting. They proved that the Hegalian Dialectic Theory (Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis) can smooth out any transition, personal or societal. And we can use a card trick to demonstrate it.
Peter Petroski, critic at large (The Cherry Orchard)
A beautiful event. The whole event woke up some dormant brain cells for me, and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. Audience Member in Danville (The First Man)
..with lovely performances by Lauren Dunagan as Theresa, an actress fresh off a disturbing breakup
and Emily Keyishian as Marty, the serious acting teacher who will learn more
than she cares to over the course of the play..
Steve Murray, Broadway World (Circle Mirror Transformation)
It's risky enough for an actor to bare their soul on stage, so I imagine it's even more intimidating to take on the task of portraying an actor learning their craft through exercises in the safe space of a studio or classroom with no audience as witnesses. Improvisation is challenging enough on its own, so making scripted improvisation feel spontaneous must ratchet up the tension even higher.
Yet Eis's cast manages to pull it off. Even more impressive is that they do so while simultaneously inhabiting a character. How each cast member goes about the task of imagining how their character would be spontaneous (or hesitant and reserved) during the games that compose a great deal of the action on stage is the source of much of the pleasure of Circle Mirror Transformation.
Patrick Thomas, Talkin' Broadway (Circle Mirror Transformation)
A wonderful addition to the show was Emily Keyishian as the physically dexterous magician/entertainer Charlotta
Sally Hogarty, East Bay Times (The Cherry Orchard)
His fiancée Andie, on the other hand, is blithely unconcerned... saying just whatever she thinks to anyone without considering her audience at all. Played with amusing equanimity by Emily M. Keyishian.
-Sam Hurwitt The Mercury News (Honky)
"One poignant moment happens between Brooke (Emily Keyishian) and Trip (Micah Watterson) as they discuss the likely outcome of publishing, their own personal setbacks, and the pain surrounding the death of their brother. It can be hard to capture sibling chemistry, but Keyishian and Watterson are quite good. Aided by Jon Robin Baitz’s script, the two actors bring an almost wholesome and childlike essence to the moment. It’s an exchange of two confidants that foreshadows the finale."
-Sahar Yousefi Spinning Platters (Other Desert Cities)
"I never understood Ophelia until I saw this production"
"I usually don't like Ophelia- but I loved yours!"
"You were my favorite Ophelia"
(Audience response, Hamlet)
"We’re transplanted to a futuristic, hipster London. Here the cool kids are buying slaves from places like Bulgaria and Moldavia, using them for sexual gratification, and showing them off to friends at night clubs. When the women aren’t needed, they’re chained to fences. Remember that thing I mentioned about the unexpected, and it potentially stomping all over your comfort zone? Well, here you go. Provocative, indeed. 20 minutes of squirmish theater never felt so odd and well executed. Same too with the superb performances." Stark Insider (Turning Tricks, ReOrient festival)
“...Would the all-male team be able to cope with the exotic presence of Female Engineer (Emily Keyishian, in a quirky, understated performance that elevates her character from type to human being)?.." Lily Janiak, SF Chronicle (Adventures in Tech)
"Emily Keyishian, my favorite face to watch on stage, so funny and so tender" Stuart Bousel (Adventures in Tech)
"That’s for the audience to determine as the plot thickens, so to speak. And that’s when the only other person in this play shows up: the alluring, guarded Abby (beautifully understated performance by Emily Keyishian) who runs Drake Colony, a retreat where writers and would-be writers go to have the solitude and time to write." Mercury News (Fiction)
The third play “Data Queen” by Aam Ashraf Elsayigh is rich and suggestive, making fun of the psychobabble used by uptight therapist Sharon (hilarious Emily M. Keyishian). She presides over a tortured session with obsessive techie Sam (electric Hamzeh Daoud) and his anxious boyfriend Joel (empathetic John Fisher), as they sit on “Truth Stools.”
Barry David Horwitz, Theatrius (ReOrient Festival with Golden Thread 2023)
NPR local station KQED's Nicole Gluckstern and David John Chávez named ReOrient one of "The Best Bay Area Theater We Saw in 2023" https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938900/the-best-bay-area-theater-we-saw-in-2023
It's a beautiful production of her 1995 memory play, brilliantly directed by Tanika Baptiste. The acting is as vibrant as the design, presenting Nottage’s work with poignancy and hilarity.. Kali renders Lily’s self-indulgence beautifully, stirring up our anger, too. But in every argument, she makes an indisputable point.
In response, Gerta (Emily Keyishian) swings hilariously from ebullience to injury.
They make a great duo.
Philippa Kelly, Theatrius (Crumbs from the Table of Joy)
Emily, as the eccentric governess, caught the audience’s eye in every scene she was in. With a moving, gypsy flare, she captivated the on-stage characters with her displays of card tricks and ventriloquism. In a telling metaphor of Town Hall new and old, Emily’s hilarious scene at the end of Act 1 with Town Hall regular, Tom Reilly, was a perfect blending of casting. They proved that the Hegalian Dialectic Theory (Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis) can smooth out any transition, personal or societal. And we can use a card trick to demonstrate it.
Peter Petroski, critic at large (The Cherry Orchard)
A beautiful event. The whole event woke up some dormant brain cells for me, and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. Audience Member in Danville (The First Man)
..with lovely performances by Lauren Dunagan as Theresa, an actress fresh off a disturbing breakup
and Emily Keyishian as Marty, the serious acting teacher who will learn more
than she cares to over the course of the play..
Steve Murray, Broadway World (Circle Mirror Transformation)
It's risky enough for an actor to bare their soul on stage, so I imagine it's even more intimidating to take on the task of portraying an actor learning their craft through exercises in the safe space of a studio or classroom with no audience as witnesses. Improvisation is challenging enough on its own, so making scripted improvisation feel spontaneous must ratchet up the tension even higher.
Yet Eis's cast manages to pull it off. Even more impressive is that they do so while simultaneously inhabiting a character. How each cast member goes about the task of imagining how their character would be spontaneous (or hesitant and reserved) during the games that compose a great deal of the action on stage is the source of much of the pleasure of Circle Mirror Transformation.
Patrick Thomas, Talkin' Broadway (Circle Mirror Transformation)
A wonderful addition to the show was Emily Keyishian as the physically dexterous magician/entertainer Charlotta
Sally Hogarty, East Bay Times (The Cherry Orchard)
His fiancée Andie, on the other hand, is blithely unconcerned... saying just whatever she thinks to anyone without considering her audience at all. Played with amusing equanimity by Emily M. Keyishian.
-Sam Hurwitt The Mercury News (Honky)
"One poignant moment happens between Brooke (Emily Keyishian) and Trip (Micah Watterson) as they discuss the likely outcome of publishing, their own personal setbacks, and the pain surrounding the death of their brother. It can be hard to capture sibling chemistry, but Keyishian and Watterson are quite good. Aided by Jon Robin Baitz’s script, the two actors bring an almost wholesome and childlike essence to the moment. It’s an exchange of two confidants that foreshadows the finale."
-Sahar Yousefi Spinning Platters (Other Desert Cities)
"I never understood Ophelia until I saw this production"
"I usually don't like Ophelia- but I loved yours!"
"You were my favorite Ophelia"
(Audience response, Hamlet)
"We’re transplanted to a futuristic, hipster London. Here the cool kids are buying slaves from places like Bulgaria and Moldavia, using them for sexual gratification, and showing them off to friends at night clubs. When the women aren’t needed, they’re chained to fences. Remember that thing I mentioned about the unexpected, and it potentially stomping all over your comfort zone? Well, here you go. Provocative, indeed. 20 minutes of squirmish theater never felt so odd and well executed. Same too with the superb performances." Stark Insider (Turning Tricks, ReOrient festival)
“...Would the all-male team be able to cope with the exotic presence of Female Engineer (Emily Keyishian, in a quirky, understated performance that elevates her character from type to human being)?.." Lily Janiak, SF Chronicle (Adventures in Tech)
"Emily Keyishian, my favorite face to watch on stage, so funny and so tender" Stuart Bousel (Adventures in Tech)
"That’s for the audience to determine as the plot thickens, so to speak. And that’s when the only other person in this play shows up: the alluring, guarded Abby (beautifully understated performance by Emily Keyishian) who runs Drake Colony, a retreat where writers and would-be writers go to have the solitude and time to write." Mercury News (Fiction)
From "Crumbs From the Table of Joy" Photo by Jay Yamata