LADCC Critics 
Steven Leigh Morris – LA Weekly “That’s the story!” repeated with droll unctuousness becomes a motif in actor Barry McGovern’s solo performance of stories by Samuel Beckett, presented by the Gate Theatre of Dublin at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. The texts — “Molloy,” “Malone Dies” and “The Unnamable” — were selected by McGovern and Gerry … Read more
Dany Margolies – Arts In LA Dawn King’s play is set in Britain, in the near future. As with all good literature, it’s meant to represent the here and now. So when an inspector arrives at a struggling farm, interrogating the farmers too inappropriately and searching the home too thoroughly, a certain Notorious Safety Administration … Read more
Deborah Klugman – ArtsBeatLA Most Americans of a certain age still bear the imprint of that day in Dallas when President Kennedy died. Like myself and others, writer/director Christian Levantino has had trouble wrapping his head around the official version – the notion that Lee Harvey Oswald was Jack Kennedy’s sole assassin. A nagging skepticism … Read more
Melinda Schupmann – Arts In LA We take pills to sleep, pills to stay awake, pills to diet, pills to prevent pregnancy. Why not a pill to help you like your job? Such is playwright Kate Fodor’s premise in the witty and very contemporary cautionary tale about our societal desire for chemicals to make life … Read more
Les Spindle – Frontiers L.A. Religious fervor, scandal in the Catholic Church and the horrifying rule of the Inquisition in 16th century Spain form the backdrop for actor-playwright Coco Blignaut’s three-hour biographical opus, God’s Gypsy, in its world-premiere run. Based on the novel Sister Teresa by Barbara Mujica and directed by Joel Daavid, the ambitious … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Wit and the magic of a well-designed spectacle combine in the beguiling, interactive adaptation Aladdin and His Winter Wish, embellished with comic characters, polished performances and colorful tech and costumes. Directed by Bonnie Lythgoe, Kris Lythgoe’s engaging script preserves the basic story of a penniless youth (Jordan Fisher) who garners wealth … Read more
Mayank Keshaviah – LA Weekly Like the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Second City’s twist on the Dickensian classic is back to remind you that you’ve been naughty. Very naughty, in fact, judging by the responses from audience members, who are (anonymously) asked to write down “the worst thing you’ve ever done.” Some of those … Read more
Neal Weaver – LA Weekly Apparently writer-actor Jim Martyka decided that what the world needs now is an adaptation of the ever-popular Frank Capra Christmas movie It’s A Wonderful Life as a staged radio play. But he sought to improve this visually boring format by adding a framing device: a corny and stereotypical backstage backstory … Read more
David C. Nichols – LA Times Delicate, bittersweet nostalgia suffuses “A Christmas Memory,” Truman Capote’s enduring 1956 autobiographical story, and the Laguna Playhouse staging of Duane Poole, Carol Hall and Larry Grossman’s 2010 musical adaptation honors that ethos.Read more… Now running through December 29.
Bob Verini – ArtsInLA The 10th-annual holiday show from Troubadour Theater Company, Walkin’ in a Winter One-Hit-Wonderland, proves to be the occasion for walkin’ down Memory Lane with the previous nine. There’s plenty of reminiscing; video footage of past productions; and in-jokey references to company members and past characters that invest the tight (an intermissionless … Read more