LADCC Critics

MOBY DICK at South Coast Repertory

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Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw If one has the audacity to take on the leviathan of American literature, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, one had best be able to do justice to the source material and also have something new to bring to it. Thankfully, the Lookingglass Theatre Company’s production (which mysteriously removes the hyphen from the title) … Read more

CHAPATTI at the Laguna Playhouse

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Rob Stevens – Haines His Way I have always been fond of Irish playwrights from Oscar Wilde’s wicked wit to George Bernard Shaw’s political take on the battle of the sexes. It’s the whimsical Irish with their gentle and/or raucous tales of opposites attracting and striking romantic sparks that resonate most with me. Read more… Melinda … Read more

THE GREAT KOOSHOG LAKE HOLLIS MCCAULEY FISHING DERBY at Torrance Theatre Company

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Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze Torrance Theatre Company’s latest offering is another charmer from Canadian playwright Norm Foster. “The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby” shows the city dweller in all of us that small-town folk have all the wisdom we could hope for but perhaps none of petty stresses we cling to. Read … Read more

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION at the Lonny Chapman Theatre

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Rob Stevens – Haines His Way Agatha Christie has sold more books than anyone except for the Bible and William Shakespeare. Her play The Mousetrap has been running continuously in London since opening in 1952. In 1953 she adapted one of her early short stories, Traitor Hands, into the play Witness for the Prosecution…. Read more… … Read more

ROSE AND THE RIME at Sacred Fools

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Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw  The fairy tale is an effective form of storytelling for many reasons, but the primary one is that everybody is already familiar with it from childhood. A lot can be done with this format — as in Lapine and Sondheim’s Into the Woods, where the self-reflective analysis of the characters follows the … Read more

PLASTICITY at the Hudson Guild Theatre

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Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen The human brain is a powerful and fascinating thing. In Plasticity, a world premiere play written by Alex Lyras and Robert McCaskill, a man in a coma struggles to become conscious again, all while his family and friends are forced to make difficult decisions regarding his life and future. Read … Read more

ZANNA DON’T! at Chromolume Theatre at the Attic

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Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw There’s a lot of singing about love in Tim Acito’s musical fantasy, Zanna, Don’t! which is set in a high school in the Midwest (Heartsville High), where homosexuality is the norm and being hetero prompts wrinkled noses and grossed-out looks. Read more… Now running through February 5

BECKETT5 at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

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Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw The late playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett did not make things easy for his audiences. He was first of all an arch-minimalist, reducing his works to the barest possible form. He often eschewed plot, multiple characters, dialogue or hope, concentrating on people who somehow find a way to go on, … Read more

ALL THE STREET’S A STAGE AND SACK LUNCH ‘FELLOWSHIP’ by Don Shirley

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Don Shirley – LA Observed January 21 was a great day for immersive theater in Los Angeles. I’m referring to one event you probably know about, the Women’s March. But I’m also writing about “fellowship” – which you probably don’t know about. The former attracted the masses; the latter has a maximum capacity of 42 for … Read more