As Carter in Neil Labute’s “Fat Pig” at Aurora Theatre
We know Peter Ruocco’s Carter is bad news stuck in playground aggressiveness from his first flab jokes about Alexandra Creighton’s svelte Jeannie. The more juvenile he gets, though, the more sinisterly attractive Ruocco makes him, as his attempts to offer sound counsel reveal increasingly discomfiting social mores.
Robert Hurwitt San Francisco Chronicle
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Played with terrific subtlety by Ruocco, Carter is a cipher — the guy who witnesses and comments on the action. Like the fashion rags arrayed on their office coffee table, or the magazine pinups on Helen’s bedroom wall, Carter is supposed to represent societal views about beauty and the female body. Rachel Swan East Bay Express
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The show is remarkably well-cast, and strong performances throughout make this production a success. In a strange foil to Helen’s kind nature, Peter Ruocco’s Carter at first appears to be just a lovable asshole who makes trouble wherever he goes. But his character slowly devolves into a serious asshole who wields a very real brand of anger and hatred, and his acting grows less comedic and neurotic.
Arielle Little The Daily Californian
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As Heisenberg in Michael Frayn’s “Copenhagen”
Peter Ruocco is flawless. It would be easy to make Heisenberg an immensely unlikable character: he was an academic egoist who possibly intended to give the Third Reich the atomic bomb. While Frayn’s writing is highly unbiased and explores multiple possibilities, Ruocco creates a character so sympathetic that it seems reasonable that he should have continued working on making a reactor for the Germans.
By RACHEL ROSEFIGURA Stanford Arts Review
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As Mephisto in Mark Jackson’s “Faust” at Shotgun Players
The shorter, calmer Ruocco is his perfect comic and dramatic foil, listening with an eerily unblinking gaze and playing the devil’s true advocate with diabolically persuasive dispassion. Robert Hurwitt San Francisco Chronicle
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Ruocco’s challenge as the devil is to be restrained and powerful at the same time, and he manages this feat with aplomb. He’s charismatic with a deep well of seen-it-all-before sadness. This devil seems to derive no pleasure in watching humankind bedevil itself.
Chad Jones Theatre Dogs
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This magnifying-glass presentation, in which small detail looms extra-large, also serves to focus attention on Jackson’s text. His occasionally rhymed and metered language is full to bursting. Within their formalist framework the actors do very striking work, creating figures both archetypal and emotionally immediate.
Dennis Harvey Variety
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As Lord Burleigh in “Mary Stuart” at Shotgun Players
He’s never vague about his intentions. And, in Ruocco’s portrayal he’s a real chain-of-command kind of guy. Ruocco is by far the best reason to see this play. He plays Burleigh with his whole body. Not once does he step outside the role, or even make a frivolous body movement. Rachel Swan East Bay Express
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As good as Wilmurt is in this, she’s outdone by Peter Ruocco. His Burleigh is a cross between Karl Rove and Rahm Emanuel, instantly familiar yet endlessly fascinating. He makes no movement without purpose. His objective is clear, but he’s endlessly inventive in how he persuades and bullies others to his point of view. Ruocco manages to be the center of action whenever he’s on stage without pulling focus from his fellow actors. He’s miraculous. Joe Mader Scene 2
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The essence of the broader stakes remains, with sharper currency, in the riveting verbal duels, plots and jockeying for power between Scott Coopwood’s fierce but wavering Leicester, Peter Ruocco’s true-believer radical Protestant Burleigh, bent on eradicating the Catholic Mary’s claim to the English throne, and Ryan Tasker’s creepily treacherous, Catholic fanatic Mortimer. Robert Hurwitt San Francisco Chronicle
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The dialogue, semi-adapted for modern times, shines — and the actors carry a charge. Mary Stuart features superb performances, especially from Peter Ruocco (Lord Burleigh) and Scott Coopwood (Count Leicester). Benjamin Wachs SFWeekly
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As Thom Pain in Will Eno’s “Thom Pain” at Earle Earnst Theatre
If you “get” the point of this show, you don’t have to see it. But that would mean missing Peter Ruocco in a highly engaging 75-minute monologue — “Thom Pain (based on nothing),” by Will Eno. And Ruocco disarmingly delivers a solid solo performance that will leave you laughing, puzzled and irritated.
Joseph T. Rozmiarek Honolulu Advertister
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