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.
Margaret Gray – LA Times South Coast Repertory’s generosity to new playwrights has a fairy godmother-like charm. The company commissioned a play from the relatively unknown writer Melissa Ross and has mounted a lavish, gorgeous world premiere production of it. Read more… Now running through April 26.
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Sister opens on a dark bare stage, its single set piece being a plain white toilet, the kind you find in rundown apartments. The story takes place in a crummier section of Hollywood. We learn about that when the main character Denise (Erica Gimpel) directs a trick to her residence, in … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Writer-director Michael Phillip Edwards drew inspiration for his spooky comedy Blood from a Jamaican storyteller he knew in childhood, a man named Parsons, whose wild tales mixed moral imperative, ominous foreboding and pitch-black humor. Read more… Now running through May 30.
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw This one-woman show, written, performed and co-directed by Alyson Renaldo (with Chris deCarlo) may be about virginity, but that doesn’t mean it’s devoid of sex. Read more… Now running through April 19. This one-woman show, written, performed and co-directed by Alyson Renaldo (with Chris deCarlo) may be about virginity, but that … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Playwright David Grieg’s compelling drama is a sequel of sorts to Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Given that just about everyone is dead at the end of Shakespeare’s play, one could well ask “what on earth can happen in a sequel to Macbeth?” Do the Three Witches move on down to Fort Lauderdale to get … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA A good rule of thumb for movie-to-musical adaptations is—and this isn’t original with me; I’ve heard it from many of my buddies in the tuner biz—if you’re dealing with a great movie, do something to keep it great, but do so in a distinctly different way. Read more… David C. … Read more
Margaret Gray – LA Times A Noise Within’s new production of “Julius Caesar” has plenty of style. Or rather, plenty of styles: bold but random design elements that compete for attention with the substance. Read more… Now running through May 8.
