Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA Anna Deavere Smith is an American treasure. She is a vivid storyteller who has mastered building monologues from interviews with those affected by her subject matter. She captures the cadence and moods of the real people she impersonates and finds the most penetrating details to flesh out. Read more… Melinda … Read more
Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA In Lauren Gunderson’s bittersweet drama, two high school students are thrown together to work on a school project about Walt Whitman’s poem Leaves of Grass. Gradually the pair forge an unusual friendship. Read more… Now running through June 14.
Steven Leigh Morris – Stage Raw The meister of messy and cruel romantic relationships, in works such as In the Company of Men, The Shape of Things, Fat Pig and Reasons to Be Pretty, playwright, screenwriter and film director Neil LaBute shines a spotlight on atrocious behavior. That is, of course a judgment, and LaBute insists he tries … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Witch balls played a part in people’s lives in 17th and 18th century Britain and America. Historically they were benevolent objects, placed in windows or on the mantle to ward off evil spirits. Read more… Now running through May 9.
Hoyt Hilsman – Huffington Post Dutch performance group Hotel Modern, along with sound designer and composer Arthur Sauer, have created a fascinating, innovative and riveting miniature reenactment of World War I, using an imaginative mix of toy soldiers and tiny landscapes, along with a mélange of media and soundscape. Read more…
Steven Leigh Morris – LA Weekly In Michael Kearns’ Bang Bang, there’s a psycho-sexual serial killer named Dr. JackL and MisterHide&Seek (David Pevsner in a bravely unrepentant performance) whose fetish is to stand nude with his head masked in leather, to make Internet contact with his hitherto unknown male victims before meeting them (ostensibly for a … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Improvisation in the theatre is hardly a new thing, and more and more it seems to become a useful part of the movie-making process. Improvised comedy has become downright ubiquitous, and was practiced with glorious expertise by Mike Nichols and Elaine May way back in the 1950s. But improvised opera? Read … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA The inciting incident of The Power of Duff, Stephen Belber’s new play at the Geffen, occurs early. Local Rochester, N.Y. news anchor Charlie Duff (Josh Stamberg)—having lost his wife to divorce, his son to resentment, and now his long-estranged dad to death—closes a broadcast with a spontaneous, brief “rest-in-peace” prayer. … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw There’s such an assortment of riches in this stellar rendering of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s operatic musical that I can only begin by commending director Kristin Towers-Rowles. She’s brought together a superb ensemble, equally impressive musically and in dramatic performance. It’s an accomplishment all the more notable for being … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw The Civil War was the bloodiest and one of the most tragic episodes in American history. More people lost their lives in battle and to disease in that war than in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined. Read more… Now running through May 17.