selected reviews

NYTHEATRE.COM: November 4, 2006

Temptation

Michael Criscuolo

“Paranoia is everywhere in Temptation, and it sneaks up on the audience unawares while they're busy laughing. Hill and his company nail Havel's unique absurdist blend of humor and fear perfectly…As Marketa, Jessi Gotta's idealistic, wide-eyed optimism is equally enchanting.”

NYTHEATRE.COM: June 28, 2006

Sexadelic Cemetery

Michael Criscuolo

“The hilarious moves he gives the cast speak louder than any cheesy dialogue ever could. Fred Backus, Katie Brack, Hope Cartelli, Jessi Gotta, Stacia French, and Richard Harrington all get their turn in the spotlight and each of them makes the most of it. French and Gotta, in particular, do especially strong and impressive work as Dorothy and Sparrow, respectively.”

NYTHEATRE.COM: June 3, 2006

The Kung Fu Importance of Being Earnest

David Fuller

“... the style of Wilde— that rapid fire use of language as the primary force, where emotions are not so much on the sleeve as they are in the text. This would have heightened the contrast between the play and the stage combat. Jessi Gotta best captures this contrast—her Gwendolyn would work perfectly in a full production of Earnest.”

NYTHEATRE.COM: October 14, 2005

Memoirs of My Nervous Illness

Martin Denton

"The five actors—let me pause to name them now, and to say that their work here is astoundingly good: Hope Cartelli, Jessi Gotta, Ian W. Hill, Robert Honeywell, and Jeffrey Lewonczyk—pop up in different locations around the room, often dragging set pieces before or behind them, creating miniature installations that define, sometimes with breathtaking brevity, the environment of this or that particular observation or random thought of Schreber's."

OFFOFFONLINE.COM: April 29, 2005

Go Ask Alice: Mushroom in Her Hands

Sean Michael O’Donnell

Jessi Gotta perfectly captures the innocence and impudence of 14-year-old Alice. She takes a flat character and gives it dimension while maintaining Alice’s precocious naïveté throughout. Gotta is a gifted and enchanting actress.”

NYTHEATRE.COM: April 29, 2005

Mushroom in Her Hands

Liz Kimberlin

“In some terrific casting, four actors perform Mushroom in her Hands. The very beautiful, winsome Jessi Gotta is always Alice;…and Gotta looks great in a white blouse that she is innocently about to pop out of.”

OFFOFFONLINE.COM: January 21, 2005

Enjoy the Silence: Bizarre Science Fantasy

Michael Niederman

“Every member of this cast employs note-perfect pantomime to portray a variety of horrific and frightful characters…Bizarre Science Fantasy was one of the more magical – and scary – evenings of theater that I have seen in a long time. All of the performers were more than game in every situation that director Jeffrey Lewonczyk put them in and I found great joy and spine-tingling horror, in being brought along for the ride. I highly recommend this evening of silent theater. Words just can’t do it justice.”

NYTHEATRE.COM: January 20, 2005

Bizarre Science Fantasy

Martin Denton

“Bizarre Science Fantasy is a triumph of imagination and invention;…Best moment: Gotta, feigning a sedate retreat to the ladies room after Ludlow makes an unwanted advance, comes face to face with one of, re, Them.”

NY TIMES: November 9, 2004

Dear Vienna: Freud’s Road Not Take

Liesl Schillinger

“Glimmers of future greatness are provided when a maid (Jessi Gotta) pulls Freud aside to confide her early memories of abuse,…”

NYTHEATRE.COM: April 18, 2004

Idiot’s Delight

Stan Richardson

“Director Julie Hamberg and her gifted ensemble get all the laughs honestly and without resorting to caricature, slowly revealing the play’s warm and hopeful heart. The cast is uniformly authentic, affecting, and endearingly theatrical.”

Winner 2004 OOBR Award