Thomas Riccio

 

performance creator writer director activist

ritual + mythology + media + experimental

 

 

Thomas Riccio loves to experiment. His reputation is so good that when he starts to dabble people ought to pay attention.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer

I am deeply intrigued by your work, and admiring of so much of it. You are a unique character with your far-reaching theatre work and travels. But you are also a harbinger. And a person who incarnates the intercultural problem/opportunity.

Richard Schechner, Editor, TDR

His projects connect the cults and rites of natives with modern theatrical expression. For Thomas Riccio all of his travels and theatre work in the remote parts of the world have something in common. What he calls “Hubs of Memory”. There is something that links his work with the Eskimos and his play here in Frankfurt. Something between the Elvis cult in Cleveland and the tribal performance of Zambia. It is not a reduction but rather a split identity that has developed between the old and new expressions, but they are all still, at their core, rites and idolatry trying to influence and make sense of our everyday life experience.

Märkische Oder-Zeitung, Frankfurt

His methods go deeper than the professional, actorial level. Wherever he goes, forever will remain that which he gave us--that which he taught us. Thomas Riccio has opened to us our inner world and began to combine it with the outer.

Yakuta Daily News (Siberia)

Most of his work has to do with the bringing up of the memory and knowledge of what has been forgotten. One of the goals of his work is to bridge the gap between the modern and the traditional which would give indigenous people a way of relating to the modern world on their terms.

Dagen Nyheter, Stockholm

The cascading profusion of mind-junk Riccio brings into his circus, along with the pounding energy of the presentation, gives the production a manic sweep and power. It's like watching Niagara flow upside down. Streaks and blips of phoniness, perversion, and illusion wheel, circle and blend together to create a Dantesque vision of a gone world.

The Chicago Reader

The play itself serves as a metaphor for theatre, particularly by pointing out how it is but an imitation of the other, bigger idols. Isn’t the actor in the end not the same as a karaoke singer? Viewing “Comeback fur Elvis” in this light opens up the new and radical discussion of the possibility of musicals and musical theatre today. We hope a young audience will see this production. It deserves an audience.

Berliner Zeitung

By crossing boundaries he explores and finds the means by which to tell the story of indigenous societies and cultures. He then transplants and transforms what he finds to serve as expressions of contemporary society.

Sub-Saharan Informer, Ethiopia

Thomas Riccio spent 15 years in the Alaskan wilderness--not to speak of all those trips to Siberia, Africa, and eastern Asia. Now he's transporting all that experience back to suburban Dallas. The world-renowned expert in performance by indigenous peoples became the head of StoryLAB, a new media and performance program.

The Dallas Morning News

Riccio searches for different ways and means to transplant a peoples traditional performance culture into a modern expression to address existing social, political, and human concerns. He tries to find his way to the roots of a culture's myths in search of the power and origins of a culture's expression.

The Helsinki Messenger, Finland

NAPAC is to be saluted for bringing someone of Riccio's caliber and commitment to South Africa. I recommend you drop your defenses and let yourself have an extraordinary experience.

The Natal Witness, Durban, South Africa

Riccio has proved to be a brilliant administrator. He has built a strong foundation beneath the Organic without transforming the theatre into an institution that discourages innovation and risk. Considering the scope of his ambition, this is amazing. He wants to incorporate performance artists into the theatre community, and get away from the realism that dominates Chicago stages. He hires sculptors and painters to design sets, and he is always looking for unusual projects to try.

Chicago Magazine

The man who is insisting that Koreans embrace their own ways is ironically an American a person we might usually consider an imperialist. Regrettably Thomas Riccio, a director and playwright, is not Korean.

Che Min Ilbo, Korea

A rare opportunity for Anchorage patrons to see the work of Riccio, one of the most captivating actors and directors in Alaska.

The Anchorage Daily News

Riccio emphasizes that he is not an anthropologist by training, but when he is working wit a theatre based on cultural tradition he often applies anthropological methods. Indigenous cultures are essentially oral and when put into written form only a small part of it is conserved. People, however, have much more knowledge which is about to disappear if no one becomes interested in it.

Kumppani Magazine, Finland

Riccio has taken regional theatre world distances. Mr. Riccio is committed to exploring and developing indigenous theatre worldwide, helping native cultures create their own theatre, where the emphasis is on the experimental, in sharp contrast with traditional Western theatre, which affirms Western values.

Newsletter, Society of Stage Director and Choreographers

Without Mr. Riccio's tireless input this project would not have been possible. He has shown an uncanny ability of walking into a foreign culture and developing a theatre language that transcends all barriers.

Themi Venturas, Kwasa Group, South Africa

Experimental in his approach, he is probably the most daring of the working Artistic Directors in Chicago. He has brought innovation and an international outlook to the Organic Theatre stage.

Fra Noi Journal

Thomas Riccio, though the mechanism of theatre, has cleverly built a bridge between differing worldviews, and he has done it well. This kind of bridging is magical and sometimes mystical, which is appropriate for the Alaska native cultures and the art of performance.

George Charles (Kanaqlak)