"The capable and charismatic Paul Rodrigues as the insecure and immature captain clashes satisfyingly with Nora Doane as Amy."
"Paul Rodrigues gives a good portrayal of the cocky captain in a ludicrously campy performance that is faultless."
"Tugg, embodied in characteristic physical animation by the talented firebrand Paul Rodrigues"
"Paul Rodrigues is outstanding as Jack Kerouac. As he enters the stage with his wrinkled trench coat, smoking a cigarette, he actually morphs into Kerouac. The role demands rapid dialogue tempos and frazzled physical action, and he skillfully provides them all. Rodrigues brings a certain boyish charm to the teenager as well as self-assurance and audacious flamboyance."
"Jack himself is played by Paul Rodrigues, a talented local force who has appeared in other FaultLine productions, and he is in top shape in Maggie’s Riff. He has the athletic build to slip easily into the role of Kerouac, whose abilities on the field were his first ticket out of Lowell, MA, as a running back recruit for Columbia University, but Rodrigues does not carry forward the emphasis on physical acting that he has had in the past. He inhabits instead a tortured mental world, in which he is racked by competing emotions and a lack of purpose. This pensive melancholy imaginably sat on the real Kerouac’s frame with the same violent awkwardness that it does now on Rodrigues’, the haunting juxtaposition of existential dread and self-destruction against the unmistakable lines of a body built for speed and physical accomplishment."
"Rodrigues plays Kerouac as a world weary, troubled soul who looks back nostalgically on the blurred facts of his youth. It’s a tour de force performance that demands quick dialogue rhythms and jittery physical action."
"The guy who played Jack Kerouac (Paul Rodrigues) was insane – incredibly talented. The show was over an hour, he was on stage pretty much the entire time, and his high-energy kept the audience with him. Mad props. [...] His acting was on point. I really enjoyed the way he switched between young Jack, and old Jack. It was seamless but you could feel the shift in energy between the two. His physicality gave you a sense that he went through some crazy shit in the intervening years. In general I think they did a great job with casting. The whole cast really looked like they fit the time period."
"With an uncanny resemblance to early, 1940s photographs of the real Jack Kerouac, dark-browed, solid-cheeked Paul Rodrigues dives into the role of the writer and performer with inspired insight, intensity, and ingenuity. As the sixteen-year-old Jack, he brings both attractive bashful, ‘aw shucks’ boyishness as well as brass, bold, and ballsy flamboyance. Rarely have I seen a more fiercely athletic performance as he runs in-place with spinning, sweat-inducing steps as the star of a track meet or as he throws his body to the ground or against a wall in teenage tumble and angst. When palling around with his best bud, Mouse, he is a jumping jack of energy and crazy moves and a constant flow of wisecracks, friendly punches, and big bear hugs with his bro. When trying to woo the older, seventeen-year-old Maggie, he is awkward and shy yet persistent and persuasive as he maneuvers toward that first kiss (something she actually makes happen to his total surprise and delight).
But as the older Jack who is reminiscing in a hazy dream that even he does not seem to quite know if it ever happened or not, Paul Rodrigues is particularly stunning in his portrayal."
"Paul Rodrigues, a clodhopping dynamite cocktail of wild dreams and bubbling physical expressiveness that soars off the stage"
"Director Ariel Craft brings a striking vision to any script she touches. Among the cast of 10 are two of the Bay Area’s most promising rising stars, Mikka Bonel and Paul Rodrigues. Christina Augello, who’s the longtime artistic director of the Exit — but who performs too rarely — plays the lead. Also making a rare appearance as an actor is Stuart Bousel, a producer, playwright, director and gadfly who’s arguably our king of local indie theater. Naturally, he plays the pope."
"The touchy Rhys is beautifully embodied by Rodrigues, worried about his wife and kids back in Wales; but he comes to understand his benefactors, however unwillingly. Touching and emotional acting here, a pleasure to watch unfold. [...] It’s really lovely to watch the transformation — believable, touching, and sensitively done"
"Their individual journeys are marked with masterful acting that never appears scripted but seems as emotionally and motivationally bone fide as their homeland accents"
"The cast is an exceptional ensemble, each cutting a fine figure."
"Jack (Paul Rodrigues) and Danny (Rik Lopes) bring us moments that are both touching and terrifying. In one minute we see a history of love and family as the brothers reminisce; in the next we see one clearly failed brother who is about to be turned once-again homeless by his successful sibling who is weighing making that decision as feels the piercing eyes of his near-by, pregnant wife."
"In a primary part, Paul Rodrigues plays a good guy, but he’s even more remarkable in other roles, especially the disheveled Lord Durgh caricature and theater-company persona as Chachak."
"Bruce (played by Paul Rodrigues as skin-crawlingly smarmy and insensitive)..."
"Paul Rodrigues and Jessica Lea Risco as the bickering Tony and Linda hit multiple emotional bullseyes."
"James Dean is alive and well on the NCTC stage."
"Rodrigues gives a true look at a dark, seductive, clever and scheming young man."
