The Old Master Painter

"Hand2Mouth Theatre's latest production is an ensemble-created "absurdist fairy tale" tracing a young, talented musician's futile efforts to hold onto the childlike innocence that shapes his art. Worn down by an overbearing father, jealous and ambitious friends, and a dizzyingly commercial cultural context, our youthful hero (Marc Weaver) finally turns his back on his own creative genius. Written and directed by Jonathan Walters and Jack Gibson, this ambitious theater piece tells its story less through dialogue than through physical movement, music, masks, costumes, lighting and video. There are some nice moments, such as when the musician chases a ball of light through a dark and windy forest.... Also the concluding ritual funeral sequence, which ends with the musician finding his way back to his father, is strangely touching."

- Richard Wattenberg, The Oregonian, April 2003