2020 TRUE WEST AWARD: LISA WAGNER ERICKSON By John Moore, Senior Arts Journalist
Boston Globe review of Step On Me by Terry Byrne : “Don’t miss the curtain riser, “Step On Me,” a hilarious short play by Lisa Wagner Erickson that toys with one woman’s obsession with her bathroom scale.”
Westword: Events You Won’t Want To Miss This Fall: On Project PlayBox; ‘Theater 29 and the Lulubird Project have set up a novel theatrical experience for these stay-at-home, virus-plagued times’
The Dramatist: July/ August 2020 : “In December, Theater 29 also presented Hidden Worlds & Strange Negotiations, which was an evening of plays by local playwrights directed by Veronica Straight-Lingo and produced by the Lulubird Project. It included: Apollo Flies by Jessica Austgen, Signage of the Times by Edith Weiss, Talk, Tock, Talk by Tami Canaday, There’s No Place Like Gnome by Lisa Wagner Erickson, Worse Than Cold Feet by Rebecca Gorman O’Neill, Home by Ellen K. Graham, This Side of the Room by Dakota C. Hill, and Mating by Edith Weiss.”
Westword: Five Things to Do for Free This Week in Denver -On THE DISSERTATION DEFENDERS: “Theater 29 was in the middle of of planning its next production when the coronavirus pandemic hit. After that, the action moved off the stage and into cyberspace, where creative director Lisa Wagner Erickson and Veronica Straight-Lingo came up with a new concept: Anoitos University, a fictitious online university struggling to remain relevant, where Ph.D. candidates are desperate to secure full-time teaching positions at adjunct wages.”
Boulder Weekly:What to do when there’s “nothing” to do: “THE DISSERTATION DEFENDERS: Lisa Wagner Erickson (Theater 29) and Veronica Straight-Lingo (KGNU) came up with the concept and characters for playwrights Sean Michael Cummings and Rebecca Gorman O’Neill to develop.”
Arvada Center: Straight Talk with Local Theater Company, Theater 29, The Source, and Equinox by John Moore:“When the COVID-19 shutdown took place, Theater 29 unveiled “Theater 29 Online,” a virtual playground for local playwrights, creative writers and performance artists. “Some playwrights within our network are starting to envision future experimental and immersive projects that include in-person experiences without any health risks to actors, production team members, and audience members or participants,” Erickson said.”
Westword: Book It: The Five Best Literary Events This Week: On HIDDEN WORLDS & STRANGE NEGOTIATIONS: “Denver’s Theater 29 presents nothing but original plays by local playwrights — and this production is no exception. Jessica Austgen, Tami Canaday, Lisa Wagner Erickson, Ellen K. Graham, Dakota C. Hill, Rebecca Gorman O’Neill and Edith Weiss put together these stories of one reality spilling into the next: literary lovers grow tired of their genre, a homeless man connects with knock-knock jokes, time becomes a palindrome on East Colfax (doesn’t it always?), and much more.”
And the winner is - 'The Mrs. Wheatland Pageant'!- By MIKE COOK, Las Cruces Bulletin: “What do you do if you're about to turn 30, you are desperate to have a baby and your husband is suddenly wearing an apron and pumps? You host A beauty pageant, of course!”
The Dramatist: 2018/2019 Year in Review: “Theater 29 helped usher in several new plays by local writers. Burnt Offering by Dakota C. Hill was produced there by Chase & Be Still Productions and Feral Assembly. Yet Another Night of Grand Guignol by Rhea Amos and Jeff Garland and Atomic Sea Fish Death Romp from the Deep by Amos and Jerod Brito were produced by Pandemic. The Mrs. Wheatland Pageant by Lisa Wagner Erickson was brought to us by Lulubird Project at Theater 29.”
Westword: The 21 Best Events in Denver: “While The Mrs. Wheatland Pageant may not have all the pomp and circumstance of the Miss America Pageant, this new play by Lisa Wagner Erickson, opening Thursday February 28, at Theater 29, Promises to run away with the Miss Congeniality award. Presented by the Lulubird Project and Directed by Hart DeRose, the world premiere will mix sitcom nostalgia, small-town reality and gender norms.”
Broadway World: Lulubird Project Presents THE MRS. WHEATLAND PAGEANT at Theater 29
The Dramatist:Colorado by Josh Hartwell: “I’m not sure what’s more important for a playwright to have: a welcoming artistic family, or a physical venue in which to workshop and produce plays. Both are vital, right? And now a handful of our dedicated Colorado writers don’t have to decide between the two because Theater 29 is providing both.”