Critical Response - Directing
Colette Gsell as Helen Keller and Chelsea Simmons as Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker at The Western Stage.
Photo: Richard Green
“Justin Matthew Gordon directs the new Western Stage production of The Miracle Worker with his usual clarity and pace. The story is never allowed to slow down, the character conflicts have an in-your-face immediacy that suits the Studio Theater and a work about a woman who brings light out of darkness, order out of chaos.”
- Phillip Pierce, Performing Arts Monterey Bay
Justin Gaudoin as Hamlet at MPC Theatre Company.
Photo: Ashley Tripp
“An inspired new (director) named Justin Matthew Gordon has pared the (Hamlet) script down to a swift two and a quarter hours. He directs with a single-minded commitment that honors the play’s rollercoaster ride of melodramatic events and cuts away any subtlety or subtext that threatens to get in the way…Hamlet’s (Justin Gaudoin) final sword fight with Roland Shorter’s Laertes is a heart-stopper and I have never seen or heard a better take on the graveside moments with the skull of Yorick.”
- Phillip Pierce, Performing Arts Monterey Bay
Michael Blackburn, Mark Purcell, Peter Hoffman, Teresa Cerros, Annarose Hunt, MacKenna Wilson, Sarah Horn, Kevin Matsumoto, and Anjoli Johnson in The Fantasticks at MPC Theatre Company.
Photo: Kristen Darken
“The Fantasticks holds the distinction of having logged in a record-breaking 42 years Off Broadway followed by a steady stream of regional productions. A brand new MPC version of this time-tested musical convinces me that (previous productions) couldn’t have been anywhere near as endearing, tuneful, funny and beautiful to look at as this new one. Director Justin Matthew Gordon and a wonderful cast have created two and a quarter hours of almost pure delight.”
- Phillip Pierce, Performing Arts Monterey Bay
Kiana Sorenson as Juliet and Anjoli Johnson as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at MPC Theatre.
Photo: Nikki Moon
“(This production) of Romeo and Juliet is beautiful to look at, telling Shakespeare’s story with admirable clarity, and is acted with a high emotional energy on stage…it’s an innovative production. Director Justin Matthew Gordon, who did such wonders with last year’s Hamlet at MPC, has turned the table on a script written to be played by an all-male company by casting Romeo, Juliet and all of their contemporaries except Tybalt and Paris with female performers…no Shakespeare production is perfect, but this one takes a firm hold on the story and keeps it moving swiftly to its tragic climax.”
- Phillip Pierce, Performing Arts Monterey Bay
Jonathan Biver as Einstein, Maria Pallas as Germaine, Quinn Mattfeld as Schmendeman, Joe Thomas as Gaston, and Brandon Morgan in Picasso at the Lapin Agile at the Hollywood Complex Theatre.
Photo: Charlie Chu
“Directed at a quick clip by Justin Gordon, Picasso (at the Lapin Agile) is a light frolic which parallels and compares the arts and sciences as complimentary forms of expression and comprehension.
In the director’s notes, Gordon writes, “It seems fitting… to reexamine this play during a time when our own world is ripe for reinvention.” Aptly stated.
Gordon and his game cast keep the action moving, even if (Martin’s) comedy often comes in at less than the speed of light.”
- Ben Miles, Ben Miles Theatre Review
Roland Shorter as Lysander and the company of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at MPC Theatre Company.
Photo: Kristen Darken
“Director Justin Gordon, who trained at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London and at the University of Illinois, did a masterful job in this production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One feels in the company of a director who knows Shakespeare inside and out, and is therefore comfortable to make creative changes to the play. It is a wildly successful experiment in collaborative group theater in the round. At unexpected points in the show, though not too many, characters break the fourth wall to engage the audience. It works.”
- Davvy Kydd, Cedar Street Times