Jackie and Clarisse’ Makes a Love Connection

SOUTH END NEWS – by Beverly Creasey

     “Jackie and Clarisse” is Deborah Vines’ surprising two-character tragic-comedy about life, love, and long distance…[Jackie] is smitten by [Clarisse’s] “liquid Velveeta voice”; she recognizes the “real” man behind the bravado. He sings her corny songs and she opens up like a time-elapsed photograph of a flower. Vines handily sidesteps the obvious pitfalls of a two-character, 2 ½-hour play in which the characters never meet – or ever leave their respective offices. She’s given them each a good story to tell… Vines even introduces an element of danger without it seeming contrived… You may be reminded of “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,” although Vines has another kind of love story in mind, more of “The Slender Thread,” about a phone call to a suicide prevention center. Vines’ desperation may be quieter, but the connection is no less dramatic.

Jackie and Clarisse’ at the Hudson Backstage Theater

BACKSTAGE WEST – by Madeline Shaner

     In Deborah A. Vines’ play, Jackie and Clarisse are two ordinary people with ordinary problems… While they’re both stuck in dead-ends jobs, with loneliness and boredom as their constant companions, the relationship that develops between the two on a long-distance phone is anything but ordinary… they bring out the best in each other – the sweetness and honesty of the Jersey-talking rough diamond with a hard of gold is hard to resist, and the plain speaking and obvious goodness of the tentative young woman who’s been victimized by life are potent truth serum. Drama is about change, and it happens here – not in any obvious way, but in a gradual unraveling of facades until both players are emotionally naked…. There’s no staginess or acting schoolwork evident in either of their performances. When they weep, we weep with them.



Comedy Makes a Point About Female Friendship

The Kathy and Mo Show – Written by KATHY Najimy and Mo Gaffney, Produced by Barry Crites and Deborah Vines, starring Susan Bryan and Deborah Vines

THE DAILY NEWS – Reviewed by Lynn LeGendre

     Kathy and Mo: Parallel Lives… brings comedy with a twisted bite to [the 200-seat Firehouse Theater]. Enthusiastically received by a capacity crowd last Saturday night… surprisingly, in the midst of all this maniacal humor, [the play] slips in a quite, timely revelation or two… More importantly… Bryan and Vines personally transcend the lines of their off-beat, off-Broadway material, and make a real statement about the powerful possibilities of mutually respectful, mature female friendship.



The Playroom – Theater Rapport

DAILY VARIETY – LEGIT REVIEWS – Los Angeles

     The Playroom resurfaces at Theater Rapport as a fascinating little gem of a thriller…Four performers are superb… Vines captures the stepmother’s plight well…



One-Act Festival at Depot Theater Presents
Variety of Mood and Styles

     Also engaging is Control, a comedy by Deborah Vines…



Love! That 4-Letter Word, the musical

PERFORMING ARTS NEWSLETTER – Reviewed by W. Wuhrman

     … the playwright tackles the many different sides of romantic (and often times unromantic) love in a fresh, very funny, and upbeat manner… the author has injected each of the nine characters with a quirkiness and likability that ultimately elicits a sense of recognition and empathy. There seems to be a little bit of “something for everyone” in the array of characters… The music is the true highlight of the show and… includes several memorable numbers.


BOSTON GLOBE – Wendy Killeen

     Firehouse Musical is a Labor of ‘Love’

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