Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA Anna Deavere Smith is an American treasure. She is a vivid storyteller who has mastered building monologues from interviews with those affected by her subject matter. She captures the cadence and moods of the…
Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA In Lauren Gunderson’s bittersweet drama, two high school students are thrown together to work on a school project about Walt Whitman’s poem Leaves of Grass. Gradually the pair forge an unusual friendship. Read more… Now running through June 14.
Steven Leigh Morris – Stage Raw The meister of messy and cruel romantic relationships, in works such as In the Company of Men, The Shape of Things, Fat Pig and Reasons to Be Pretty, playwright, screenwriter and film director Neil LaBute shines a…
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Witch balls played a part in people’s lives in 17th and 18th century Britain and America. Historically they were benevolent objects, placed in windows or on the mantle to ward off evil spirits. Read more… Now running through…
Hoyt Hilsman – Huffington Post Dutch performance group Hotel Modern, along with sound designer and composer Arthur Sauer, have created a fascinating, innovative and riveting miniature reenactment of World War I, using an imaginative mix of toy soldiers and tiny…
Steven Leigh Morris – LA Weekly In Michael Kearns’ Bang Bang, there’s a psycho-sexual serial killer named Dr. JackL and MisterHide&Seek (David Pevsner in a bravely unrepentant performance) whose fetish is to stand nude with his head masked in leather, to…
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Improvisation in the theatre is hardly a new thing, and more and more it seems to become a useful part of the movie-making process. Improvised comedy has become downright ubiquitous, and was practiced with glorious…
Bob Verini – Arts In LA The inciting incident of The Power of Duff, Stephen Belber’s new play at the Geffen, occurs early. Local Rochester, N.Y. news anchor Charlie Duff (Josh Stamberg)—having lost his wife to divorce, his son to resentment,…
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw There’s such an assortment of riches in this stellar rendering of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s operatic musical that I can only begin by commending director Kristin Towers-Rowles. She’s brought together a superb ensemble, equally…
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw The Civil War was the bloodiest and one of the most tragic episodes in American history. More people lost their lives in battle and to disease in that war than in World War I, World…