The Eva Trilogy
Magic Theatre, October – November 2017
(Photos by Jennifer Reilly)
“Julia McNeal’s Eva exudes sheer joy and zest for life in the world premiere of Irish playwright Barbara Hammond’s “The Eva Trilogy.
…McNeal so overflows with pleasure in everything life has given her and in Hammond’s offbeat lyricism…that it’s almost like there’s drama within her unremitting happiness, in all the will and pluck she’s had to summon to forge a blissful life from a sunless upbringing.”
-Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle
“For nearly an hour, Julia McNeal holds the audience in rapt, almost breathless attention as she in nonstop monologue is Eva Malloy…. The tour de force performance by Ms. McNeal in this one-woman first act is just a taste of a fascinating three hours that are at times hypnotic, at times startling, and at other times funny, touching, fanciful,… the package is wondrous in its exploration of the ravages and effects of personal loss and how to come to peace with that loss. …Eva returns in this third hour, now a much older woman … another stellar performance by Ms. McNeal as an Eva who is still prone to spill forth non-stop her stories…”
– Eddie Reynolds, Theatre Eddys
“Julia McNeal’s Eva is the plays’ heart. She is sprightly at 37 and gamey at 67, changing her appearance and gait with her age (without exaggerating). She maintains a vivid sense of adventure and zest for life throughout. Her brogue sets us squarely in Ireland (even as she later denies her Irish heritage) without impeding comprehension.”
The Events…
Shotgun Players, May-June 2017
“As Claire, Julia McNeal exudes palpable, bottled-up intensity and feeling even in her many quiet moments where she is clearly just trying to think through the mystery she hopes to solve. Her face is a map of strain from those events we will not witness; but, through her, we so come to understand and to some extent, experience – events … we see also hints of the joy Claire once felt in the occasional smiles that brighten Ms. McNeil’s [sic] entire being, and we know that here is a woman who has a light inside her…
… Julia McNeal is masterful
… an evening none of us – choir members or theatre’s patrons – is like soon to forget”
Eddie Reynolds | May 12, 2017
TheatreEddys
“McNeal’s performance offers one of the show’s few pleasures. As Claire weathers fury, vindictiveness, sorrow, survivor’s guilt, genuine curiosity and even bouts of sympathy that are sometimes maternal, sometimes more, McNeal is wondrously communicative. Her each successive facial expression seems individually crafted by a mask maker to convey defiance, then joy, then contrition, depending on how the light hits her with each turn of the head.”
Lily Janiak |
San Francisco Chronicle
“….tough and tender portrayal of Claire (outstanding Julia McNeal)…
Highlighting The Events are two superb performances by Julia McNeal as Claire, and Caleb Cabrera, as the Boy…. Julia McNeal seems to embody the character of Claire, a gay women who embraced multiculturalism and acceptance. … she channels through differing levels of sleeplessness, rage, obsession, and revenge and retribution fantasies, before she finds her way again at the play’s conclusion.”
Emily S. Mendel | May 16, 2017
Berkeleyside
“…a wonderfully uncompromising Julia McNeal as a fiery and vulnerable Claire”
Jean Schiffman | May 14, 2017
SF Examiner
“Julia McNeal plays Claire with the open kindness of the character’s chosen calling, but tinged with multiple levels of anger, grief, bewilderment, dread, mania and self-delusion.
Sam Hurwitt | May 15, 2017
Mercury News
“McNeal and Cabrera’s performances are astonishing in their restraint, as muted as they are explosive.”
John Wilkins | May 16, 2017
KQED Arts
“…Claire (the dynamic Julia McNeal)… Cabrera and McNeal offer powerful performances and bring meaning to Grieg’s words through dance and strong emotion.”
Robert M. Gardner | May 15, 2017
Theatrius
“Julia McNeal gives a rock-solid performance as Claire”
George Heymont | May 14, 2017
My Cultural Landscape
Fred’s Diner…
Magic Theatre, October 2015
Made the SF Chronicle’s Top Ten for 2015!
“…though we can see Heather has a temper, she’s too grateful to Fred to make waves. Nobody else would hire her after she’d served her sentence for killing her abusive husband. Besides, she has another possible option — weighed, denied and desired in McNeal’s richly layered, watchful performance, with so much more seething beneath the surface than Heather is willing to let on. Weary truck driver Sunny (Terry Lamb), a regular customer, keeps asking her for a date.”
McNeal has…fully articulated the emotional levels of her role.
– Robert Hurwitt, SF Chronicle
“Heather (a fierce Julia McNeal), the tough, abrasive, uneducated oldest waitress, is recently released from the slammer; she aspires to be promoted to “manageress.” …empathetic portrayal”
– Jean Schiffman, SF Examiner
“Julia McNeal is the older, gnarly, don’t-screw-with-me waitress Heather, hardened by years in prison for rising up against an abusive husband. Her outer, rough side comes out most often when fellow waitress Chloe is habitually late or averts “toilet duty” or when a docile, older, Indian patron (Terry Lamb as Sunny both in name and disposition) persists in sweet talk and asking yet again for a date. On the other side, her otherwise icy heart melts into motherly attention and encouragement whenever motherless Melissa is in the room. Ms. McNeal never falters in capturing just the right look, mannerism, stance, or vocal attitude to build a Heather who is totally authentic and believable even as her decisions and choices become more difficult due to circumstances beyond her control.”
– Theatre Eddy’s
“We love Heather, the “older” waitress played by Julia McNeal,
It’s a terrific opening freeze frame, as Heather sits motionless at the counter holding a baseball bat while Fred lies in a puddle of pooling blood on the floor…. as the show develops, we root for Heather, the only person who seems to understand right from wrong.
It’s the simple things that work so well at Fred’s — like the look on Sunny’s face when Heather takes his hand.”
– SF Theatre Blog
“Heather is a by-the-books nastigram. Rumor has it she has a baseball bat tucked away behind the bar, and isn’t afraid to use it. Still, I suspect she’s got a good heart, and a lot of that toughness is for show.”
– Stark Insider, Clinton Stark
A Lie of the Mind
Magic Theatre, January 2015
” Julia McNeal’s beguilingly dreamy Meg and Robert Parsons’ macho-brusque Baylor. Greco and the actors do a particularly good job of bringing out the comic and touching textures of Meg and Baylor’s marriage as a contrapuntal critique of male proclamations of Old West self-sufficiency and of the obsessive love of Beth and Jake…”
– Robert Hurwitt, SF Chronicle
“The excellent cast is well up to the challenge of maintaining Greco’s, and, presumably, Shepard’s, intended level of intensity, … sweetly spacey mother (Julia McNeal)”
– Jean Schiffman, SF Examiner
“Julia McNeal gives a splendid performance as Meg, Beth’s long-suffering, oddly powerful, and weirdly innocent mother. Robert Parsons is wonderful as the bawling Baylor. They keep the long show lively well into the third act with their grand comic salvos as the parents.”
– Richard Connema, Talkin’ Broadway
Summer and Smoke
Center Rep, Walnut Creek, CA
“Alma, played here with a rich mix of frayed nerves and determination by Julia McNeal, is the very spiritual minister’s daughter burning with passion for the young doctor next door … McNeal makes us feel the heat, wilting beneath Alma’s efforts to seem composed and gulping air with each nervous, girlish laugh. Her trembling at John’s casual touches and her near swoon when he unbuttons her blouse to apply his stethoscope vividly convey her barely repressed passion as well.”
Robert Hurwitt
SF Chronicle
– Lisa Drostova, East Bay Express
Roulette
SF Playhouse
“Julia McNeal is perfect as his wife, barely coping with two problematic teens and a hot affair with neighbor Steve.”
– Robert Hurwitt, SF Chronicle
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Actor’s Theatre of San Francisco