Frances Baum Nicholson – The Daily Breeze Agatha Christie’s play “The Mousetrap” has been running, interrupted, in London’s West End since 1952, making it the longest-running play in the English language anywhere in the world. With that kind of longevity (66 years and counting), traditions and tales are inevitable. A favorite story, perhaps apocryphal, says … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Writer-performer Bellina Logan was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of a British-born Caucasian woman and an African-American man. Her play is titled Confessions of a Mulatto Love Child, but its central character isn’t Bellina so much as it is her mom, Averil — a spirited and decidedly non-commonsensical person whose … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Ryan O’Connor is a personable entertainer, and Vote, Pray, Love, directed by Marissa Jaret Winokur at the Celebration Theatre, is a personable play. A bit of a hodgepodge, it’s one of those shows whose rough edges are immaterial when measured against the generosity and charm of its writer and lead performer.Read … Read more
Katie Buenneke – Stage Raw When New York-based theater troupe Bedlam first performed their four-person version of George Bernard Shaw’s 1923 play Saint Joan, they staged it in an off-Broadway theater, somewhat similar in size and scope to L.A.’s 99-seat houses. It’s a frenetic, full-of-energy work that would play well in a smaller space — but despite … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Writer/performer Monique DeBose grew up in California in the ‘80s, the daughter of an African-American father from North Carolina and an Irish-American mother from New York State. Being the progeny of a biracial couple created an identity crisis that she resolved only after becoming an adult. Mulatto Math – Summing Up the Race … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Steve Nevil’s “tumbleweed comedy” strives to be both a version of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot set in the American West in 1870, and homage to the film westerns of John Ford and Sam Peckinpah — and to a large extent it succeeds on both counts.Read more… Now running through April 22
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw It’s Christmas Eve in 2011. The Keen family is haunted by the memories, and the ghost, of daughter Dana (Kara Hume), who was killed while working as a Navy corpsman in Afghanistan. Each member of the family reacts differently to the loss.Read more… Now running through May 13
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Alternate reality stories have long been popular, and there are a couple of main reasons for their appeal. First, it’s just fun to extrapolate how history might have proceeded if things had been different. Second, these stories provide an opportunity for authors to use a fictional reality to comment upon … Read more