FINDING NICK at the Zephr Theatre

Paul Birchall – Stage and Cinema In his solo show, playwright Nicholas Guest describes his life and travels around the world.  He’s accompanied by Hillary Smith on the cello and by Tony Carafone on the guitar (in the play, not his travels) – and they turn out to be a helpful pair, too, because Guest … Read more

OFF THE RAILS at the Autry National Center Of The American West

Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Off the Rails, Randy Reinholz’s engaging adaptation of Measure for Measure, interweaves strands of American history, chiefly the Native American struggle to preserve tribal identity, with the themes and cadences of Shakespearean comedy. The play is presented by Native Voices, the country’s only equity company devoted to plays by Native Americans. Read … Read more

THE PRICE at the Mark Taper Forum

Jonas Schwartz –  TheaterMania A revival of Arthur Miller’s 1967 The Price, in which a room full of furniture triggers a catharsis between a frustrated man, his wife, and his estranged brother, is now running at the Mark Taper Forum. Old wounds are pulled open and family trauma is finally able to mend in this stirring play, … Read more

THE OTHER PLACE at The Road on Magnolia

Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Like many plays that deal with our mortality, those about dementia can be extraordinarily affecting. They speak to a loss of self nearly as complete and devastating as our physical demise. Read more… David C. Nichols – LA Times The first glimmer of it comes on a Friday. They’ve flown me … Read more

UNCLE VANYA – Chalk Repertory Theatre at the Neutra Institute Museum

Bob Verini  –   Stage Raw On a stage — and as often as not, in everyday life, but certainly on a stage — when a character announces, “I’m dying of boredom,” there’s always something else, something deeper going on. With those four spoken words, a character can communicate almost anything: “I’m hot to do something … Read more

END OF THE RAINBOW at International City Theatre

Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw Some years before Judy Garland’s death, she appeared at a star-studded benefit for the Actors Studio in New York, alongside Carole Channing, Ava Gardner, Shelley Winters and Josephine Premice — and Judy’s children, including Liza Minelli. Judy wore a black satin evening suit, which emphasized her matchstick legs, the result … Read more