Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania In this political climate, it is very easy to demonize those who think differently, particularly when their beliefs infringe on others’ rights. The right to refuse service to members of the LGBTQ community has become explosive, going all the way to the Supreme Court, where the issue has still not been … Read more
Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw Like most of Shakespeare’s greatest works, this familiar tale of jealousy, love and betrayal readily lends itself to critical exploration and original adaptations. Although it was written over four hundred years ago, it’s particularly relevant in these neurotic times given our seemingly endless obsession with ethnic identity and matters … Read more
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen Three “sandwich artists” with very different lives walk into a franchise. What happens? Unfortunately the answer is…not much. American Hero, a play by Bess Wohl currently being presented by the IAMA Theatre Company in a guest production at the Pasadena Playhouse, is a comedy about working class America, … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Although the publishing world serves as the framework for Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ scathing dramedy, his story is less about the decimation of a once flourishing profession as it is about the impoverishment of our lives and our relationships with others, or lack thereof.Read more… Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Not every work of art is designed with the mass audience in mind. Some are experiments or explorations, or maybe just a diverting goof. All these terms might apply to John O’Keefe’s All Night Long, a kaleidoscopic fever dream of a play that revels in erudition and silly humor but doesn’t … Read more
Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld Ammunition Theatre Company ventures into the wacky world of fractured fairy tales for its latest production, FAIRY TALE THEATRE 18 & OVER: THE MUSICAL. Written and narrated by Michael J. Feldman, with original songs by Jason Currie, the show consists of four sketch comedy skits performed in 90 minutes, no intermission, … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Life and death have always been intertwined. People spend much of their life worrying when they will pass away, how their beliefs will protect them in the next realm, and if they’ll be able to share experiences with those who have already died.Read more… Now running through October 7
Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld How much rage would a person need to feel to kill two people with 29 whacks of an axe? The short answer is, a lot. That’s the number Andrew Borden and his second wife Abby actually sustained in 1892 – not the 81 immortalized in this haunting nursery rhyme. To this … Read more
Frances Baum Nicholson –The Stage Struck Review When a play being produced locally has a long history of excellence, that can be both a blessing and a curse for a theater company, especially a comparatively small one. Neal Weaver – Stage Raw We don’t usually think of friendly card games as battles to the death, … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw In Swansong, Irish playwright Conor McDermottroe drafts a portrait of a disturbed and angry man unable to quell his sudden fits of rage or find balm for the inner wound that’s been festering since his childhood.Read more… Now running through October 7