LADCC Critics

SINGULARITIES or the Computers of Venus @ ROAD THEATRE COMPANY

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Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA Promising new playwright Laura Stribling employs a fascinating device, seamlessly and innovatively melding history and fiction as two real-life groundbreaking astronomers and author/poet/abolitionist/suffragette Julia Ward Howe are presented as characters interacting with some equally interesting fictional women beaten down by the inequities of being a member of what was long … Read more

Girl from the North Country @ PANTAGES THEATRE

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Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA Through the bleakness and hardship, there’s an omnipresent glimmer of hope the threads throughout Conor McPherson’s brilliant Girl from North Country as a stepped-upon group of tyrannized survivors of the Great Depression fight to discover what it is they want in their lives and how they can pull themselves up … Read more

American Mariachi @ LATINO THEATER COMPANY

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Deborah Klugman  – Stage Raw In American Mariachi, José Cruz González’s new play directed by José Luis Valenzuela, a group of Mexican American women rebel against the macho mindset of their husbands and fathers when they strive to form a mariachi band, an enterprise traditionally reserved for men. Read more… Patrick Chavis – LA Theatre … Read more

The Hope Theory @ GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE

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Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA The underlying message of The Hope Theory comes through this worldclass conjuror and raconteur’s skills and, for a brief time, he makes the chaos we all share these days disappear with the ease of his sleight of hand, shuffling our communal cares and worries back into the deck. Read more… … Read more

What the Constitution Means to Me @ INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATRE

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Anita W. Harris – LA Theatrix With its combination of political pointedness, humanity and humor, it’s easy to see why “What the Constitution Means to Me” was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in drama. And the disarmingly expressive Dorney – who switches emotional gears on a dime and responds to audience reactions without … Read more

Galilee, 34 @ SOUTH COAST REPERTORY

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Patrick Chavis – The Orange Curtain Review Galilee, 34, doesn’t explore anything new or controversial about the long and arduous creation of the Bible, which has not been discussed about the best-selling book of all time for decades. Still, Eleanor Burgess’s comedic setup and this incredible cast of actors succeed in bringing some of these … Read more

Stalin’s Master Class @ ODYSEEY THEATRE

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Anita W. Harris – LA Theatrix The play thus offers a compelling master class in Stalin himself, whom Volok embodies intensely and believably throughout. Music certainly figures as well, aided by pianist Nisha Sue Arunasalam offstage. And dialogue on whether music can be shaped by artists or only serve the public interest is intriguing — … Read more

The Body’s Midnight @ BOSTON COURT PASADENA

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Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA Tira Palmquist’s well-meant and occasionally beautifully poetic play could have so much to say and her characters should be people we quickly come to care about but unfortunately, somewhere it completely and glaringly misses its mark. As is, its promise is more a pitch for a future movie on the … Read more