Myron Meisel – The Hollywood Reporter If war and conflict must be begrudgingly considered the natural condition of Mankind, then The Iliad of Homer, voiced and written some 2,800 years ago, remains the most profound exploration of these primal drives to domination and destruction. The act of combat has never been more piercingly described (not … Read more
Dany Margolies – Arts In LA The audience plays an active part in Becky’s New Car, and Becky is very much the hostess of this evening of theater. She greets us immediately, hospitably offers a beverage, and shows us around her world. She also asks for our help, but if her ethics are not our … Read more
Dany Margolies – Arts In LA Stagecraft and education combine here, as two performers from Scotland’s Visible Fictions theater company reenact the myth of the orphaned ancient Greek prince and the brave sailors who went with him to the ends of the Earth, looking to bring their nation peace, justice, freedom, and, Jason hopes, fun. … Read more
David C. Nichols – LA Times “I’m smarter than most people. That’s why I’m unemployed and living in a one-bedroom apartment in Hollywood.”So says the protagonist of “The Twilight of Schlomo” at the Elephant Space, and there’s more than just sardonic humor in that assessment. Timothy McNeil’s maturation into one of our most original playwrights … Read more
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