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 make Internet contact with his hitherto unknown male victims before meeting them (ostensibly for a … Read more
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 expertise by Mike Nichols and Elaine May way back in the 1950s. But improvised opera? Read … Read more
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, and now his long-estranged dad to death—closes a broadcast with a spontaneous, brief “rest-in-peace” prayer. … Read more
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 impressive musically and in dramatic performance. It’s an accomplishment all the more notable for being … Read more
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 War II and the Vietnam War combined. Read more… Now running through May 17.
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw There have been a number of plays in which the action occurs at a funeral, but now, Liz Shannon Miller’s Clutch is being staged in a venue actually dedicated to funerals, weddings, and bar mitzvahs. We’re asked to believe, however self-consciously, that we’re at the real funeral of former football star and … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw “The whole world’s in a state of chassis!” said Jack Boyle, the iconic Irish lotus-eating blackguard of Juno and the Paycock, Sean O’Casey’s great drama about the tragic flaws of an Irish family. Read more… Steven Leigh Morris – LA Weekly Corktown 57 unfolds entirely in the Irish-quarter grocery-shop basement of Frank Keating (John … Read more
Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw A couple debates their options after their untrained Rottweiler dismembers the new neighbors’ small dog. But a series of lies and missteps brings Eden and Michael (Christine Woods and Graham Sibley) into an awkward friendship with their unsuspecting neighbors (the missing dog’s owners) Nicole (Katie Lowes and Amy Rosoff share … Read more
David C. Nichols – LA Times Occupation,” now receiving its West Coast premiere at Sacred Fools Theater, explores the ramifications of globalization and imperialism with considerable ambition and erratic dramaturgy, to put it mildly. Read more… Now running through May 9.
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly In Break of Noon, Neil LaBute departs from his typical preoccupation with gender warfare and builds a story around the sole survivor of a mass murder, who claims to have heard God. Read more… Now running through May 10.