Press and Reviews
Recent Tragic Events
“…don’t walk but run to see the new Third Rail Repertory Theatre’s inaugural production.”
— Willamette Week
“Under Scott Yarbrough’s direction, RECENT TRAGIC EVENTS finds the nervous and elusive line where humor and heartbreak meet.”
— The Oregonian
“One of the best plays you’ll see this year. Period.”
— Portland Mercury
The Lonesome West
“Rhythm is essential to McDonagh’s plays and Yarbrough sets the pulse fast and furious.”
— The Oregonian
“Watching this wonderful production is like slipping into a hot bubble bath. The pain eases, the muscles relax, and a notion floats into the mind on a cloud of blissful relief. “Yes. It can be done in Portland. It really can.”
— Portland Mercury
“It’s a brilliant show, and would be completely unwatchable if it weren’t so damn funny.”
— Willamette Week
The Pavilion
“The cast and crew make this production look effortless - as though tech, acting, and directing snap together this cleanly all the time. There’s really only one way to put it: The Pavilion is a great show. You won’t find many nights at the theatre more satisfying than this one.”
— Portland Mercury
“The primary pleasure of watching Third Rail’s version of The Pavilion is the pleasure of watching professionals at work . . . So, too, with the direction by Scott Yarbrough. There’s nothing showy here - just a deep immersion in the script and the technical skills to bring out its natural rhythms without forcing anything or letting anything go slack. As simple as those skills sound, they’re all too rare.”
— The Oregonian
Dead Funny
“It’s a brutal and bizarre thing to watch, a blend of broad comedy and marital tragedy that feels entirely natural. The ensemble is very, very good and Yarbrough’s direction is deft and the script, though excruciating at times, is a masterwork. Don’t miss this one.”
— Willamette Week
“Near perfect production…Everything about this show is first rate. And no one in Portland who loves theater should miss it.”
— The Oregonian
“A pitch-perfect presentation of tricky, emotionally complex material, "Dead Funny" feels like a definitive Third Rail show.”
— The Oregonian
Kiss Me Like You Mean It
“Casting a four-hand play is like assembling a string quartet. You need four players who are adept as soloists but who, more importantly, have a harmonious range and know how and when to defer to one another. It's about individual qualities of sound and style recombining in a creative mix. In "Kiss Me Like You Mean It" it's not just about each couple's chemistry, but also about how well each couple interacts with the other. The felicitous blending of such elements is a hallmark of Third Rail's approach to theater, and a hallmark of Third Rail director Scott Yarbrough, who is maybe the most craftsmanlike director in town.
That's a compliment. Yarbrough is a disappearing director. His ego vanishes from the picture, taken up in service to the story and the performance: What do these actors and this script need to make this project work? There's nothing flashy in his style, but somehow things work, and true theater quietly erupts.”
— The Oregonian
The Wonderful World of Dissocia
“This is complex territory, emotionally and theatrically, yet this production stays remarkably surefooted at every step.”
— The Oregonian
“The Wonderful World of Dissocia was unquestionably the stellar show of the 2010-11 season, featuring an array of imaginative and technically dazzling design work, vividly comic ensemble acting, and a lead performance by Maureen Porter that was at once endearing and heartbreaking, full of verve and wit, fear and fragility, spine and spittle.”
— The Oregonian
The Pain And The Itch
“Third Rail’s production shows the company’s usual efficiency and polish, handling the show’s many temporal changes and myriad props with aplomb.”
— Willamette Week
“Serving up tricky material with such an abundance of its characteristic craft and care - including a veritable buffet of vivid, nuanced acting - they’ve reinforced their position as the city’s most excellent theatre company. It fully deserves to be a hit.”
— The Oregonian