Melinda Schupmann – Arts In LA Influenced by the popular commedia dell’arte of the 16th century, Carlo Goldoni’s 18th century archetypal The Servant of Two Masters makes a perfect model for Richard Bean’s British update of a wily servant’s service to two bosses in 1963 Brighton. Populated by some of the stock characters of the form, it is two … Read more
From an Aborted NYC Mikado to Bloomberg Foundation Largesse to the 20 Most Produced Playwrights of 2015-16. Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Also making news is the news that Brian Kite, producing artistic director of La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, is stepping down to take over the Department Chair at the UCLA School … Read more
Myron Meisel – Stage Raw … on to Georges Feydeau, a ubiquitous influence as the prime shaper of boulevard farce to the percussive opening and closing of doors, less often seen in actual performance stateside. Read more… David C. Nichols – LA Times Farce is a tricky thing to sustain, especially sex farce. Too much lewdness … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA Experiencing theater—or any form of entertainment—is similar to the sensation of a blind date. Apprehension, as past disasters or boring evenings flood the mind, mix with exhilaration of a history of joyous surprises. In the opening moments, one can sense confidence in the conversation or a desperation to be … Read more
Myron Meisel – Stage Raw City Garage’s creative duo of Frédérique Michel and Charles A. Duncombe are long-established dab hands with Molière, so abundantly so that despite their reliable pedigree, I feared that Tartuffe by Moliere: A Reality Show would perhaps be too much yet again of the same thing. Yes, but no. Read more… Now running … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA About the best way to communicate my absolute, unalloyed pleasure in These Paper Bullets!, Rolin Jones’s Much Ado About Nothing adaptation at the Geffen, is to report that the smile that came over my face in the first five minutes stayed with me through the intermission, which I couldn’t wait to have … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Playwright Jon Jory’s adaptation of Voltaire’s novella Candide is, to cynically paraphrase the satire’s implacable optimist, Professor Pangloss, work that is the best of all possible worlds. Which is to say that it is all right-ish, if not especially powerful or inspired. Read more… Now running through Oct. 17.
Les Spindle – Frontiers L.A. There’s a hint of Gone With the Wind and a touch of vintage nighttime soap opera, merged with appealing musical interludes, in this ambitious stage adaptation of Carole Eglash-Kosoff‘s sprawling historical novel. Read more… Now running through Oct. 4.
Margaret Gray – LA Times Los Angeles can be careless with its history, unsentimentally bulldozing the past to make room for the future. Unlike certain cities I could mention — Athens, say, or Rome — Los Angeles could never be accused of hoarding. Read more… Now running through Oct. 4.
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Playwright Miki Johnson’s discerning but uneven one act takes place in small-town America and calls to mind Thoreau’s phrase “lives of quiet desperation.” Read more… Now running through Oct. 11.