ACTOR.
Best Actress Award
New York Fringe Festival
“Actress Gwendolyn Kelso succeeds in creating her own Hedda by using the quiet desperation and desire for agency felt by many housewives in post-war America as the foundation for Hedda’s psyche. Her Hedda’s insouciant and calculating, but also deeply human. In her entrance, Kelso descends on a cloud of dissatisfied sophistication and detachment. But as Hedda reveals her fears of motherhood and loss of control, Kelso’s body language becomes more frayed and unhinged. Kelso presents a character you may not agree with, but you’ll understand her.”
“(Blanche) played artfully by Gwendolyn Kelso...”
“Gwendolyn Kelso stood out as the self-important, loud, and dramatic Nick Bottom. She was hysterical in every scene but most particularly in those where she sported an ass’ head.”
“the effortlessly charming Gwendolyn Kelso, who spits out biting wit with the best of them as Beatrice, one of Shakespeare’s most delightful characters. ...the way Kelso is able to communicate this with just a gesture or expression is really quite remarkable. ”
“Kelso’s crazy lady is strong, seemingly fierce, and on something like a caffeine high. It’s a role that, in the wrong hands, could be yet another laughably bad Fringe Festival nightmare. Instead, Kelso finds the right amount of restraint to keep from going off the rails, and displays a fine sense of timing in her delivery.”
“Gwendolyn Kelso as Blanche DuBois was a gorgeous, lush, loon floating about the stage in whisky-soaked dementia, wearing her vulnerability delicately like her frayed, white nightgown. ”
“As Benedick and Beatrice, Marc Pouhé and Gwendolyn Kelso are beautifully cast. Both actors show superb comic timing and creativity, and they match their skills wonderfully to become a believable couple”
“A Streetcar Named Desire” lives and dies on the strength of Blanche Dubois. It’s a part that’s incredibly easy to over play, or underplay, so striking the right balance is tantamount. From the moment Gwendolyn Kelso appears on stage, there’s a twitch to her eyes, an uncertainty in her gait that hides something tumultuous. When the time comes for Blanche Dubois to fly into one of her more dramatic moments, Kelso never plays it over-the-top, but instead stays grounded, even while letting her emotions explode.”
“The cast has exemplary leads headed by the always amazing Gwendolyn Kelso in her return to the Austin stage. She embodies the feisty Beatrice...”
“The extremely driven, almost manic energy of Gwendolyn Kelso as Maggie, a performance that is dripping with a seductive charm...”
“...Exemplary performances from Babs George and Gwendolyn Kelso. Fitting with the sitcom style, the two actors resemble a Shakespearean Lucy and Ethel”
“Andrew Hutcheson as Stanley and Gwendolyn Kelso as Blanche do a superb job differentiating their performances from the iconic portrayals of these characters. Kelso plays a Blanche who seems far less fragile than the usual portrayal. She knowingly toys with both Stanley and Stella, and seems far more aware of her own mistruths; she is not so much lying to herself as she is constructing an identity she wants the world to see.”
“The true standouts of the production include Babs George and Kelso as the titular “merry wives,” who excel at broadcasting the text’s ironic humor with a wink and a smile.”
“Gwendolyn Kelso’s Blanche is a perfect relic of the South. Kelso keenly presents Blanche’s descent into madness, painstakingly layering her performance with confusion, denial, and the charm that has worked well so far, but like the South itself, is losing its luster.”
“Gwendolyn Anne Kelso, as the beset heroine, in particular seems to have instinctively latched onto the necessary style and acquits herself well; she and director Dan Foss have succeeded at getting us to root for her character”
“Flitting between the separate stories as messenger is a charming Gwen Kelso as an opportunistic but appealing Mistress Quickly. Kelso is very good, her objectives clear, her language strong”
“Gwen Kelso plays the put-upon Katerina with sweep and big, pouty eyes, demonstrating her comic scope. Kelso, from an Austin theatre family, was a merrily mischievous Rosalind last year in Scottish Rite Theatre’s As You Like It and, before that a vibrant Juliet last summer for the Austin Shakespeare production in Zilker Park”
