Review: Brave New Classics’ Techy Spin Contemporizes Forgotten Works

Link to full review: RDU On Stage

”The pandemic has created a brave new world of sorts. As a result, a bold new theater company has emerged onto the Triangle scene reimagining classic plays with a modern twist.

Noelle Barnard Azarelo started Brave New Classics last summer to spotlight forgotten works by notable playwrights not frequently produced…Azarelo is determined to breathe new life into them by pushing the limitations of the virtual realm…

It’s been less than a year since theaters shut down and virtual productions became the norm. Whereas in the beginning virtual theater didn’t amount to anything more than readings or talking heads in boxes, now productions like A Little Radical: Works by Alice Gerstenberg show just how far the play-film hybrid has come.

Moreover, if this production is any indication of Azarelo’s long-term vision for Brave New Classics and how technology might be utilized to modernize forgotten theatrical works, then the company’s future is promising and Azarelo is deserving of some attention and praise.”
-Lauren Van Hemert

THEATRE REVIEW: The Best Post-Apocalyptic Christmas Pageant Ever

Link to full review: Chatham Life & Style

”Produced by Noelle Azarelo, writer-director Paul Sapp’s conscientious adaptation of The Second Shepherds’ Play weaves together contemporary prose and centuries-old verse with reassuring ease. As this is a story of survival in unspeakable times, Sapp’s choice to make this a woman-centric story is both justified and effective. The story’s plague-era origins prove prophetic, with allusions to mass death and a brief reference to a vaccine. Thankfully, this is all done with a light hand…The play’s brevity (under an hour) leaves us satisfied but appropriately curious. Like wasteland journey in The Parable of the Sower, there is much mystery in this Mystery Play. 

Brave New Classics has been in flight for several months now, though somewhat under-the-radar. Their thoughtful and fully-developed virtual production of Rachel Crothers’s He & She for the 2020 Women’s Theatre Festival proved that their concept was viable: producing forgotten theatrical gems for a virtual audience. I was devastated to have missed their staged reading of Karel Čapek’s rarely-produced R.U.R. in September and I do not plan to make that mistake again. It seems that “diamond in the rough” applies not only to this company’s play selection, but to the company itself. -- D.K. Britt