LADCC Critics 
Katie Buenneke – Stage Raw Colorism is a topic that may be unfamiliar to many white audiences, but it’s an issue Jocelyn Bioh examines beautifully in her new work School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, now making its Los Angeles debut at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.Read more… Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Sweat, now playing at the Mark Taper Forum, exposes the collapse of the American working class in the new millennium. When backed up against the wall and left with neither income nor hope, people sink into racism almost by reflex. The ramifications of humanity’s anger hangs over … Read more
Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld Somewhere between its opening of SWEET CHARITY in late June and the end of July, Reprise 2.0 postponed its second scheduled production of its inaugural season, VICTOR/VICTORIA. In its place, the company has mounted a revival of Kander & Ebb’s musical revue, THE WORLD GOES ‘ROUND… Richard Israel’s production is impressively … Read more
Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw Presented by the USVAA Vets Repertory and Revenant Stage (formerly the Elephant Theatre), Tommy Carter’s trio of one-acts is capably directed by David Fofi. All of them evoke disquieting recollections of the America of the 1960’s, a period like no other in our nation’s history….Read more… Now running through … Read more
Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze Romance! Swordplay! History! All this plus a play that probably none of us has ever seen before.Reportedly giving this play its first-ever revival since its premiere in 1938, Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum presents “Haiti,” written by William DuBois (just to be clear, not W.E.B. Du Bois).Read more… Rob Stevens … Read more
Margaret Gray – LA Times Ask theater director Jo Bonney to describe playwright José Rivera’s new work — “The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona,” a world premiere that begins previews Tuesday at the Geffen Playhouse — and Bonney hesitates. Is it comedy? “Here’s the tricky thing,” Bonney says. “It’s about death, but that sounds so … Read more
Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw Male actors have always had a lock on the role of Robin of Locksley, whether on stage or screen, but now the provocative Kirsten Vangsness crashes the hallowed fraternity and dons the green feathered cap in this “gender-bending, patriarchy-smashing, hilarious new take on the classic Robin Hood myth.” The … Read more
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen Look out, baby, cause here they come. Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of The Temptations opened in Los Angeles at Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre last night, just hours after it was announced the show will transfer to Broadway in spring 2019. Read more… Katie Buenneke – Stage Raw The … Read more
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen Holidays tend to bring out the drama in families, sometimes even to the point where one person ends up beating another with a thawed chicken. In Jews, Christians, and Screwing Stalin, a world premiere comedy by Mark Lonow and Jo Anne Astrow currently playing at the Matrix Theatre in Hollywood, … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw An old saw states that comedy is hard; a qualifying truth might well be that farce is the hardest. It requires wit, energy, sometimes broad slapstick and, above all, exquisite timing. When everything clicks, you get a masterpiece such as Noises Off. When it doesn’t, the results can be frustrating. Performed … Read more