Press
"Ric Sechrest's direction is clever and detailed. In each of the scenes, he has set a tone that is buoyant, funny and occasionally quite touching. He understands Orloff’s work and trusts that it will land." --Theateronline
"directed flawlessly by Ric Sechrest." From The Birdsnest
"Ric Sechrest has directed with zip and great comic timing." Lively Arts
"I was knocked out by the work Sechrest did. The play hinges on the balance between control and disarray, and the playing space is very small. He created these invisible buffers, these very tight physical spaces that people were either allowed in or not, and then he shattered those spaces when the script called for it. Honestly, the bravest thing he did was to trust us and the space... It is a marvelous night of theater." ---Seanrants.com
"Medoff wrote a symphony of colorless cruelty: Teddy berating the diner regulars until they accede to his will, placing bullets in Richard's arm, bullying Stephen about his sexuality. It's a play about the rich core of fear; how the simple folk who symbolize America's goodness are so easily made vulnerable by the guileful and crafty. Ric Sechrest's production puts all of this across wonderfully. Using the stage economically, Sechrest also adroitly finesses some blocking challenges, like convincing us that Teddy can set his gun in his rear waistband and no one will grab it. In fact, it's visual reinforcement that it's the end of an era: a diner that will never be the same."---Backstage
"Mark Medoff’s Red Ryder, at the jewel box Spoon Theater produced by Retro Productions, must be one of the best new productions, and it is done on a shoestring. The ensemble is given movement and life by the skillful direction of Ric Sechrest with aplomb and wit."---Theatre Scene
"All in all, this is a fantastic ensemble piece. Director Ric Sechrest keeps the pace tight throughout. The situation gets quite tense but has many darkly humorous moments as well. It’s very satisfying to see who will emerge from the struggle as a hero and who will lose it all."---CityScoop"
Retro Productions inspired me on a myriad of levels. Director Ric Sechrest does a fine job with staging and made good use of the space in relation to Medoff's script."---The Happiest Medium
"Director Ric Sechrest smartly varies the rhythms of the characters' delivery, making them sound spontaneous as they ponder a bleak, nearly hopeless landscape. "It will happen again," Cheryl bitterly intones near the end -- and boy, she got that right."---Backstage
"This is a superb production of the play. I have stopped going to see productions of STILL LIFE because the ones I saw (save for the ones in Europe) rarely captured the devastating power of the original. Your production got it. It was also thrilling to see it in a tiny space. You made magic in the 78th Street Theater Lab. Every aspect of the experience was first rate. ---Emily Mann, playwright STILL LIFE
"The Retro Company's production WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER, a play of mine last seen in New York twenty-five years ago, turned out to be first-rate: brisk, sweet and occasionally quite moving, if I say so myself." A.R.Gurney, playwright WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER
"directed flawlessly by Ric Sechrest." From The Birdsnest
"Ric Sechrest has directed with zip and great comic timing." Lively Arts
"I was knocked out by the work Sechrest did. The play hinges on the balance between control and disarray, and the playing space is very small. He created these invisible buffers, these very tight physical spaces that people were either allowed in or not, and then he shattered those spaces when the script called for it. Honestly, the bravest thing he did was to trust us and the space... It is a marvelous night of theater." ---Seanrants.com
"Medoff wrote a symphony of colorless cruelty: Teddy berating the diner regulars until they accede to his will, placing bullets in Richard's arm, bullying Stephen about his sexuality. It's a play about the rich core of fear; how the simple folk who symbolize America's goodness are so easily made vulnerable by the guileful and crafty. Ric Sechrest's production puts all of this across wonderfully. Using the stage economically, Sechrest also adroitly finesses some blocking challenges, like convincing us that Teddy can set his gun in his rear waistband and no one will grab it. In fact, it's visual reinforcement that it's the end of an era: a diner that will never be the same."---Backstage
"Mark Medoff’s Red Ryder, at the jewel box Spoon Theater produced by Retro Productions, must be one of the best new productions, and it is done on a shoestring. The ensemble is given movement and life by the skillful direction of Ric Sechrest with aplomb and wit."---Theatre Scene
"All in all, this is a fantastic ensemble piece. Director Ric Sechrest keeps the pace tight throughout. The situation gets quite tense but has many darkly humorous moments as well. It’s very satisfying to see who will emerge from the struggle as a hero and who will lose it all."---CityScoop"
Retro Productions inspired me on a myriad of levels. Director Ric Sechrest does a fine job with staging and made good use of the space in relation to Medoff's script."---The Happiest Medium
"Director Ric Sechrest smartly varies the rhythms of the characters' delivery, making them sound spontaneous as they ponder a bleak, nearly hopeless landscape. "It will happen again," Cheryl bitterly intones near the end -- and boy, she got that right."---Backstage
"This is a superb production of the play. I have stopped going to see productions of STILL LIFE because the ones I saw (save for the ones in Europe) rarely captured the devastating power of the original. Your production got it. It was also thrilling to see it in a tiny space. You made magic in the 78th Street Theater Lab. Every aspect of the experience was first rate. ---Emily Mann, playwright STILL LIFE
"The Retro Company's production WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER, a play of mine last seen in New York twenty-five years ago, turned out to be first-rate: brisk, sweet and occasionally quite moving, if I say so myself." A.R.Gurney, playwright WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER