Aspatia in The Maid's Tragedy
Brave Spirits Theatre │ February - March 2016
Photos by DJ Corey Photography
"Director Angela Kay Pirko’s production benefits from the talents of Reinsel and Smith, the co-founders of Brave Spirits, a five-year-old company that focuses on works from Shakespeare’s era. Reinsel brings out the anguish of Aspatia; there’s real pathos in a moment that reveals the disconsolate noblewoman leaning against her father (Gary DuBreuil) as he tries to comfort her." - Washington Post
"The duel of swords between Majewski and Reinsel is exhilarating." - Shakespearances.com
"The wronged one-time betrothed Aspatia is given an on-stage dignity by Victoria Reinsel." - DC Metro Theatre Arts
"The duel of swords between Majewski and Reinsel is exhilarating." - Shakespearances.com
"The wronged one-time betrothed Aspatia is given an on-stage dignity by Victoria Reinsel." - DC Metro Theatre Arts
Alice Arden in Arden of Faversham
Brave Spirits Theatre │ April 2015
Photos by Kevin Hollenbeck
"Reinsel, clearly a seasoned actress, brilliantly transitions from lusty, to homicidal, to wracked with despair and guilt in seconds." - Brightest Young Things
"Victoria Reinsel plays the head-turning, passion burning, wanton wife, Alice, in a wonderfully believable, gut-wrenching and compassionate performance." - MD Theatre Guide
"Swanning about in a red-and-black sheath dress, Reinsel (a co-founder of Brave Spirits) makes Alice a breezily Machiavellian femme fatale...there’s an engaging confidence to Reinsel’s stage presence and delivery of the play’s blank verse." - Washington Post
"Reinsel’s Alice slices through the room with seductive authority, playing the purring kitten in one instant, the put-upon wife or mistress in the next, and the impatient would-be murderess when the mood strikes her on the sudden." - Shakespeareances.com
"Victoria Reinsel brings a hugely entertaining dose of bi-polar crazy to this complex character. Alice could join any cast of The Real Housewives and start yanking extensions with the best of them." - The Shakespeare Standard
"Victoria Reinsel plays the head-turning, passion burning, wanton wife, Alice, in a wonderfully believable, gut-wrenching and compassionate performance." - MD Theatre Guide
"Swanning about in a red-and-black sheath dress, Reinsel (a co-founder of Brave Spirits) makes Alice a breezily Machiavellian femme fatale...there’s an engaging confidence to Reinsel’s stage presence and delivery of the play’s blank verse." - Washington Post
"Reinsel’s Alice slices through the room with seductive authority, playing the purring kitten in one instant, the put-upon wife or mistress in the next, and the impatient would-be murderess when the mood strikes her on the sudden." - Shakespeareances.com
"Victoria Reinsel brings a hugely entertaining dose of bi-polar crazy to this complex character. Alice could join any cast of The Real Housewives and start yanking extensions with the best of them." - The Shakespeare Standard
Jaquenetta in Bootleg Love's Labours Lost
Taffety Punk Theatre Company │ August 2013
Photo by PlaidLeaf Photography
"... was also excellent, as was Victoria Reinsel as Jaquenetta. Dressed like Daisy May in low-cut red polka dots and blue jean hot pants, she was sultry as sultry gets." - Richard Agemo, www.richardagemo.com
"...every actor's performance was strong...Jaquenetta, played effectively by Victoria Reinsel..." - Broadway World DC
"The cast was an All-Star team of talent drawn from across the city and affiliated with other companies to supplement the Taffety Punk core. Players ranged from Victoria Reinsel, cofounder of the fledgling Brave Spirits Theatre, playing a Daisy Duked, hip-thrusted Jaquenetta, to the 78-year-old eminent thespian and Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) staple Ted van Griethuysen playing a solemnly dignified Mercade." - Eric Minton, www.shakespeareances.com
"...every actor's performance was strong...Jaquenetta, played effectively by Victoria Reinsel..." - Broadway World DC
"The cast was an All-Star team of talent drawn from across the city and affiliated with other companies to supplement the Taffety Punk core. Players ranged from Victoria Reinsel, cofounder of the fledgling Brave Spirits Theatre, playing a Daisy Duked, hip-thrusted Jaquenetta, to the 78-year-old eminent thespian and Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) staple Ted van Griethuysen playing a solemnly dignified Mercade." - Eric Minton, www.shakespeareances.com
Lady Anne, Rivers, Duke of York in Richard III
Brave Spirits Theatre │June - July 2012
Photos by Kevin Hollenbeck
"In his wooing of Lady Anne he makes a sexual play almost from the start, lips hovering millimeters from hers, and Reinsel’s Anne may be disgusted but also seems mesmerized by this affront...she ends up being wood by her own seeming power over him....Do the math on Reinsel’s parts and you will figure out that Richard murdered three of her characters... Reinsel thus delivers three “Think on… ” lines in three distinct voices. This economy, on paper, may sound insufficient, but it is the most beautifully effective haunting I’ve ever seen, an example of how a visionary director and a cast playing in precise unison of voice and movement can do so much more with less." ~ Eric Minton, shakespeareances.com
The Bride in Blood Wedding
Constellation Theatre Company │February - March 2012
Photos by Scott Suchman
"Reinsel has, perhaps, the most difficult task in portraying a timid girl and one who is conflicted about love and prone to heavy emotion. She does so with considerable ease and presence." ~Jennifer Perry, MD Theatre Guide
"...an impressive team of actors...Victoria Reinsel has some sterling, clarifying moments of abandon, as the virgin Bride...Fast forward to the steamy love scene that takes place between the runaway Bride and Leonardo in the dark forest...The sexual chemistry is definitely there." ~Rosalind Lacy, DC Theatre Scene
"...an impressive team of actors...Victoria Reinsel has some sterling, clarifying moments of abandon, as the virgin Bride...Fast forward to the steamy love scene that takes place between the runaway Bride and Leonardo in the dark forest...The sexual chemistry is definitely there." ~Rosalind Lacy, DC Theatre Scene
Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing
Taffety Punk Theatre Company's Riot Grrrls │ September 2011
Photos by Teresa Castracane
"If you want more from the Riot Grrrls in this production, you are impossible to please. Their performance is as tongue-in-cheek as you can get without being parody...the cast really shines." ~Steve Hallex, DC Theatre Scene
"The laughs are non-stop...The combination of gender swapping and removal from Shakespearean England lift what might have been an otherwise easily skip-able show to new comedic heights." ~ Erica Laxson, MD Theatre Guide
"The laughs are non-stop...The combination of gender swapping and removal from Shakespearean England lift what might have been an otherwise easily skip-able show to new comedic heights." ~ Erica Laxson, MD Theatre Guide
Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Brave Spirits Theatre │ June 2011
Photos by Kevin Hollenbeck
"Victoria Reinsel and Charlene V. Smith (lead roles of Julia and Silvia)...seemed amazingly comfortable with each other and the words they spoke, completely pulling me [in]."
~ Jamie, MarylandShakespeare.com
Woman 2 in My First Time
Rasa Arts Collective │ October - November 2010
"Victoria Reinsel also gives a number of commendable comedic and dramatic turns. She impresses with her command of accents and emotional range, delivering a lighthearted chronicle of a southern teenager's first experience, followed by a poignant account of an embittered woman's final gift to her dying brother." ~ Ben Demers, DC Theatre Scene
Lavinia in Titus Andronicus
American Shakespeare Center │ Summer/Fall Seasons 2009
Photos by Tommy Thompson courtesy of the American Shakespeare Center
"I was especially moved by Victoria Reinsel as Lavinia, particularly after she has been abused by the sons of the Goth Queen...Her wordless performance is stunning."
~ Clifford Garstang, professional writer, http://perpetualfolly.blogspot.com
"...when Lavinia later appeared, bloodied and handless, and blood poured from her mouth when bid to speak, it was grippingly emotional theater...Particular credit goes to Victoria Reinsel as Lavinia. Jocular and haughty in the first part of the play--our sense is that she could be as cruel as Tamora, given any reason--she carried out her mute scenes with passion and compassion (for Titus, for her nephew, for her uncle, and for her dead brothers), superbly acting through her eyes and posture. The look of love and gratitude she bestowed on her father at the moment he kills her is, for us, the searing image of this production." ~ Eric Minton, shakespeareances.com
~ Clifford Garstang, professional writer, http://perpetualfolly.blogspot.com
"...when Lavinia later appeared, bloodied and handless, and blood poured from her mouth when bid to speak, it was grippingly emotional theater...Particular credit goes to Victoria Reinsel as Lavinia. Jocular and haughty in the first part of the play--our sense is that she could be as cruel as Tamora, given any reason--she carried out her mute scenes with passion and compassion (for Titus, for her nephew, for her uncle, and for her dead brothers), superbly acting through her eyes and posture. The look of love and gratitude she bestowed on her father at the moment he kills her is, for us, the searing image of this production." ~ Eric Minton, shakespeareances.com
Hero in Much Ado About Nothing
American Shakespeare Center │ Summer/Fall Seasons 2009
Photos by Tommy Thompson courtesy of the American Shakespeare Center
"Victoria Reinsel...as Hero, shows great promise."
~ Charles Culbertson, Staunton Newsleader
"Hero, played by...Victoria Reinsel, [is] also terrific."
~ Clifford Garstang, professional writer, http://perpetualfolly.blogspot.com
"The most excellent exception to the disrupted marriage plot was...Victoria Reinsel's Hero, who conveyed deep pain as she lamented the claim against her good name." ~Jason E. Cohen, Shakespeare Bulletin
"Victoria Reinsel’s Hero was equally believable, giddy in her infatuation but yet maintaining her wits in both her own wooing and in the prank on Beatrice. The wedding may have disintegrated over much ado about nothing, but our hearts ached for Reinsel’s Hero (having seen her riveting Lavinia earlier this day in Titus Andronicus, we consider this actress an incredible talent)." ~Eric Minton, shakespeareances.com
~ Charles Culbertson, Staunton Newsleader
"Hero, played by...Victoria Reinsel, [is] also terrific."
~ Clifford Garstang, professional writer, http://perpetualfolly.blogspot.com
"The most excellent exception to the disrupted marriage plot was...Victoria Reinsel's Hero, who conveyed deep pain as she lamented the claim against her good name." ~Jason E. Cohen, Shakespeare Bulletin
"Victoria Reinsel’s Hero was equally believable, giddy in her infatuation but yet maintaining her wits in both her own wooing and in the prank on Beatrice. The wedding may have disintegrated over much ado about nothing, but our hearts ached for Reinsel’s Hero (having seen her riveting Lavinia earlier this day in Titus Andronicus, we consider this actress an incredible talent)." ~Eric Minton, shakespeareances.com
Anne Page, William Page, and Rugby in The Merry Wives of Windsor
American Shakespeare Center │ Summer/Fall Seasons 2009
Photos by Tommy Thompson courtesty of the American Shakespeare Center
"Victoria Reinsel as Anne Page continues to turn in solid, appealing performances."
~ Charles Culbertson, Staunton Newsleader
"Victoria Reinsel...was great as Hero, Ann [sic] Page, and particularly Lavinia. She compares favorably in her performances to ASC veteran Miriam Donald (and that is a high compliment)."
~ Adrian L. Whicker, http://lancasteramish.blogspot.com
"Here's another shout-out to Victoria Reinsel...She played Anne Page In Merry Wives, a key character but one seldom seen. However...Reinsel fully fleshed her out...her turn as Caius' servant John Rugby was good, fun, physical humor. Reinsel's range shows potential, but her resonance of character—whoever that character may be or whatever that character encounters—already makes her a star."
~Eric Minton, shakespeareances.com
~ Charles Culbertson, Staunton Newsleader
"Victoria Reinsel...was great as Hero, Ann [sic] Page, and particularly Lavinia. She compares favorably in her performances to ASC veteran Miriam Donald (and that is a high compliment)."
~ Adrian L. Whicker, http://lancasteramish.blogspot.com
"Here's another shout-out to Victoria Reinsel...She played Anne Page In Merry Wives, a key character but one seldom seen. However...Reinsel fully fleshed her out...her turn as Caius' servant John Rugby was good, fun, physical humor. Reinsel's range shows potential, but her resonance of character—whoever that character may be or whatever that character encounters—already makes her a star."
~Eric Minton, shakespeareances.com
Lady Mortimer in Henry IV, Part 1
American Shakespeare Center │ Summer/Fall Seasons 2009
"Big props go out to...Reinsel for convincingly speaking Welsh onstage."
~ Adrian L. Whicker, http://lancasteramish.blogspot.com
Photo by Tommy Thompson courtesy of the American Shakespeare Center
Cloris, Pallas, and Luna in The Rehearsal
American Shakespeare Center │ Summer/Fall Seasons 2009
"[The Rehearsal has]...nothing but the best that the American Shakespeare Center has to offer...the actors within Bayes' play--...Victoria Reinsel...--do double and triple duty in roles calculated to poke your funny bone."
~ Charles Culbertson, Staunton Newsleader
"..the biggest laugh of the night[:] It was almost as if John Harrell as Orb, Chris Johnston as Sol, and Victoria Reinsel as Luna, along with Denice Burbach singing Bonnie Tyler’s bombastic hit, had come up with the whole eclipse sequence back stage just before coming on...Everyone in this company gave incredible performances."
~Eric Minton, shakespeareances.com
All photos by Tommy Thompson courtesy of the American Shakespeare Center
~ Charles Culbertson, Staunton Newsleader
"..the biggest laugh of the night[:] It was almost as if John Harrell as Orb, Chris Johnston as Sol, and Victoria Reinsel as Luna, along with Denice Burbach singing Bonnie Tyler’s bombastic hit, had come up with the whole eclipse sequence back stage just before coming on...Everyone in this company gave incredible performances."
~Eric Minton, shakespeareances.com
All photos by Tommy Thompson courtesy of the American Shakespeare Center
Sordido in The Revenger's Tragedy
American Shakespeare Center │ Actors' Renaissance Season, January - March 2009
"This is a play that teems with strong performances...and Victoria Reinsel round[s] out this dynamic cast to make "The Revenger's Tragedy" an uncommonly rewarding theatrical experience."
~ Charles Culbertson, Staunton Newsleader
"The climactic scene was perhaps the funniest of the production...great choreography perfectly timed."
~Eric Minton, shakespeareances.com
Photos by Tommy Thompson courtesy of the American Shakespeare Center
First Fairy/Moth in A Midsummer Night's Dream
American Shakespeare Center │ Actors' Renaissance Season, January - March 2009
Photos by Tommy Thompson, courtesy of the American Shakespeare Center
"The ASC has outdone itself. This production--crafted by the actors in a matter of days using no directors or designers--has more fire, panache and appeal than any dozen other interpretations I have seen combined." ~ Charles Culbertson, Staunton Newsleader
Soothsayer in Julius Caesar
Orlando Shakespeare Theater │ April 2006
"Victoria Reinsel is excellent as the creepy Soothsayer" ~Matthew MacDermid, www.talkinbroadway.com
Marina in Pericles
MFA production at Mary Baldwin College in partnership with the American Shakespeare Center │ April 2010
Director: Tina Packer, Founding Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company, Lennox, MA
