THE THRUSH AND THE WOODPECKER at Actor’s Express
“Director Melissa Foulger and her design team … have created a production that hits every note correctly, that builds its suspense honestly through performance and sound and effect.”
CLYBOURNE PARK at Aurora Theatre
“Under the skilled direction of Melissa Foulger, the talented cast presents a captivating production with each of the cast members playing two different roles, one in the first act and another in the second.”
“This play is filled with moments that resonate and thrill and amuse and horrify, and, quite frankly, I blame the cast and director (Melissa Foulger) for making it all work.”
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES at Actor’s Express
“Directed with elegant style by Melissa Foulger…”
“Foulger manages to keep up the pace; even the numerous scene changes are cleverly conceived, with servants rearranging a “purgatorial” sofa to indicate different boudoirs.”
“Melissa Foulger furthers her reputation as one of Atlanta’s finest directors.”
“A lush, bold and daring production…”
“Directed by Melissa Foulger, the play will take you on a mesmerizing journey into extravagant debauchery.”
“Les Liaisons Dangereuses is salacious fun — the plot and characters feel compellingly alive and contemporary, even zeitgeisty”
Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus
PLUTO at Actor’s Express
Suzi Bass Award Nomination for Best World Premiere Production
“Directed by Melissa Foulger, this world premiere finds the Atlanta grown, Los Angeles-based playwright investigating the terrain of Columbine and Newtown with atom-splitting intimacy. Yockey may have social ills and planetary nomenclature in mind. But at its core, “Pluto” is about the less-than-heavenly workings of the human heart: relationships mapped by love, death, cruelty, hurt and terror.”
“With Pluto, playwright Steve Yockey and director Melissa Foulger walk a tightrope of theatrical effects that push in opposite directions, juxtaposing relatable people against unearthly imagery. Pluto impressively finds the right balance of dysfunctional family drama, dark comedy, and rich metaphor, despite the high degree of difficulty.”
“Pluto has a lot of questions; and you must provide your own answers. In this we are assisted mightily by Director Melissa Foulger and her sensitivity.”
“It’s early in the season still, but I’m pretty sure that Steve Yockey’s Pluto, now running at Actor’s Express under the direction of Melissa Foulger, is going to be my favorite show.”
“Pluto is the show that you don’t want to say you missed. It is filled with the kind of thought manifestations that make this type of theatre great, and, of course, with Yockey’s incredible allegiance to character and story.”
Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus
WOLVES at Actor’s Express
Suzi Bass Award Winner for Best World Premiere Production
“a dazzling treat with director Melissa Foulger’s arresting Express staging of Wolves.”
“As strikingly mounted by Foulger (with haunting assists from Ben Tilley’s lighting and Dan Bauman’s sound design), Wolves is definitely worth a look.”
“Director Melissa Foulger helms some ingenious violence effects.”
“Wolves is smart, funny, dark contemporary theater that has found a good home at Actor’s Express. It’s an unsafe space that’s well worth a visit.”
“Each of the actors on stage gives a strong performance under the brilliant direction of Melissa Foulger.”
“A sort of Dexter meets Once Upon a Time hybrid, Actor’s Express’ production of the world premiereWolves provides an entertaining and shocking theatrical experience. It may not be the flavor-of-the-day for everyone, but it is a prime example of what theater should be: bold, provocative and deep. This risky play is perfectly fitted for Actor’s Express.”
“Director Foulger has done Playwright Yockey (an Atlanta native who’s attained national prominence) proud.”
“Wolves is fascinating stuff supported by a top-notch cast and minimalist staging that leaves the psychological disintegration of the characters to take center stage in Melissa Foulger’s astute direction.
Darkly funny, creepy and richly entertaining, Wolves may strike a chord with anyone who has ever felt the existential chill of big city life, the sense of solitude despite the masses, and a feeling of conspiracy only magnified by isolation.”
“Wow! Wolves is raw, passionate, and has a naughty twist.”
“Wolves displays the raw emotions of life’s unexpected outcomes stemming from temptation and rage. Forget the vampires this season, hang out with the Wolves!”
FLYIN’ WEST at Theatre in the Square
“Solidly directed by Melissa Foulger, the Square’s “Flyin’ West” features some of the finest acting talents in town.”
“Under the direction of Melissa Foulger, a carefully crafted story emerges, one that moves from hilarity to seriousness with ease. Whether the cast is making an apple pie recipe that is to die for or traveling to the town, the visuals of the play are engaging and not distracting.”
SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE at Actor’s Express
Suzi Bass Award Winner for Best Ensemble – Musical
“Originally produced at New York’s Public Theater when the wounds of September 11 were still raw, the play may have lost some of its immediate emotional resonance as we’ve retreated from that horrific, life-transforming event. But the musical, directed by Melissa Foulger, still has an internal power of its own as an examination, in the first act, of the divided nature of the human animal and his/her ability to do bad things, paired with its redemptive second act, about the human urge for meaning and faith even under the most dire circumstances. The two acts are united, too, by the characters’ desires to shape reality to their wishes — a pretty neat metaphor for the function of stage dramas, it turns out.”In sum, “See What I Wanna See” delivers on the promise of the genre of the musical — to offer transportive, floating-above-it-all escapism — bolstered by the conceptual edge of this particular 21st-century variant on the form.”
LARGE ANIMAL GAMES at Dad’s Garage
“Director Melissa Foulger sets the scene(s) with a wonderful flourish, cuing some dance music while her cast dresses the stage with furniture and props, and she keeps the rest of the play moving at the same brisk pace.”
GOOD BOYS AND TRUE at Actor’s Express
“Good Boys and True is equal parts chilling character study about a pathological prep-school student embroiled in a sex-tape scandal and hand-wringing melodrama about how his mother comes to grips with it. In either regard, under the sound direction of Melissa Foulger, the new Actor’s Express production is never less than intriguing.”
“Foulger’s stylistic flair is always a plus, especially when she’s working with problematic text (“Suddenly Last Summer,” “Far Away”).
On more solid (that is, realistic) ground with “Good Boys and True,” she uses slide projections against the faux-marble walls and sheer-fabric columns of Jon Nooner’s scenery to establish the play’s various settings. It’s a nice touch.”
“Foulger’s direction includes occasional slideshows of archival prep school photos and trophy cases, an unsubtle touch that works surprisingly well at conveying the school’s entrenched heritage.”
“Director Melissa Foulger has assembled a superb cast to hold the audience spellbound for two tension-filled hours. You may recall Ms. Foulger’s beautiful production of Tennessee Williams’ “Suddenly Last Summer” from last season.”
THE WEIRD at Dad’s Garage
“YOU HAVE TO LOVE a title like “Morning Becomes Olestra,” one of the six horror spoofs that make up Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s “The Weird” at Dad’s Garage. Directed with broad comedic strokes by Melissa Foulger and Anne Towns, these one-acts probably won’t creep you out, but they could make you die laughing.”
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER at Actor’s Express
“Nearly everything about director Melissa Foulger’s production is first-rate: sets, costumes, lighting, sound and a powerhouse ensemble that finds Eubanks’ real-life stepdaughter Kate Donadio in the role of Catharine, Violet’s niece by marriage and possibly the only reliable witness to Sebastian’s final hours.”
“Actor’s Express’ compelling production, directed by Melissa Foulger, implicitly suggests that audiences relinquish expectations for realistic roles developed in conventional, satisfying ways.”
FAR AWAY at 7 Stages
“The story of Joan (Maia Knispel), her aunt Harper (Joanna Daniel) and her co-worker Todd (Johnell Easter) is as baffling to me as the next person. But it’s a puzzlement that director Melissa Foulger and her company deliver with keenness, integrity and visual panache.”
“Watching “Far Away” is ultimately akin to seeing the Earth self-destruct on a sunny, crystalline day. The images are poetic and hallucinogenic, but the consequences are real and lethal. Let’s hope “Far Away” isn’t too close.”
“Director Melissa Foulger sets a deliberate pace that helps us weigh the character’s words and contemplate the play’s many unanswered questions.”
“Rather than being a forbidding, distant example of the avant-garde, Far Away hits dangerously close to home.”
WIZZER PIZZER at 7 Stages
“In its world-premiere production at 7 Stages, Wizzer Pizzer revels in the comic possibilities of its timely subject, turns gender politics topsy-turvy and offers something sexy for every orientation.”
“Melissa Foulger directs Wizzer Pizzer’s young actors to their strengths.”
IPHIGENIA CRASH LAND FALLS ON THE NEON SHELL THAT WAS ONCE HER HEART (A RAVE FABLE) at 7 Stages
“The tragic, high-tech dance party runs for just over an hour and proves a fascinating show that’s hard to explain but exciting to experience.”
“Svich writes in impressionistic dialogue suitable for a beat poetry slam, and the swirl of strange characters — from trampy factory girls to brutal soldiers — make the action hard to follow. But the cast never loses sight of the play’s emotional progress, and director Melissa Foulger uses video to project live close-ups and news broadcasts that sharpen our comprehension.”
Melissa Foulger 