Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive A Noise Within’s production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is ANW’s seventh mounting since 2019 of August Wilson’s 10 “American Century Cycle” plays, directed by Gregg T. Daniel, and in my humble opinion, it is the best one I’ve seen so far. Wilson’s wide ranging decalogue of dramas about … Read more
Anita W. Harris – LA Theatrix While some of us can multitask, others — like Francis Henshall (Kasey Mahaffy) in “One Man, Two Guvnors” — find it inexplicably and hilariously challenging. Richard Bean’s 2011 take on Carlo Goldoni’s 1746 Italian “The Servant of Two Masters” re-sets the story to 1960s Brighton, England, complete with skiffle … Read more
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA For me, the best part of Charles Dickens’ classic 1843 novella is that it conjures a time of year when dead people apparate to terrorize rich people in the middle of the night until they agree to pay their employees better. Now, that’s a fable for 2024 if there ever … Read more
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage Skin of Our Teeth plus comments on Civility of Albert Cashier, TH IR DS, Memnon, Cyrano de Berqerac, Duel Reality, Dragon Lady, God Will Do the Rest, Clarkston, Kill Move Paradise. Read more…
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage The importance of A Noise Within, as reflected in the LADCC nominations. Plus ‘Fatherland,’ ‘Black Cypress Bayou,’ ‘Winter’s Tale,’ ‘Marilyn, Mom &’ more. Read more…
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage A Noise Within got a jump on other midsize companies by opening its fall season last Saturday — before Labor Day — with Lydia Diamond’s 2006 adaptation of Toni Morrison’s 1970 novel “The Bluest Eye”. I missed its first LA County production, in Santa Monica in 2011, so I was … Read more
Rob Stevens – Haines His Way William Shakespeare died in 1616. At that time, there really were no definitive printed versions of any of his three dozen plays. Two of Shakespeare’s fellow King’s Men players gathered and printed what has become known as The First Folio in 1623. If they had not done so at … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw. In Manuel Puig’s stage play, Kiss of the Spider Woman, two fundamentally different personalities — a gay man accused of sexual relations with a minor, and a political prisoner-slash-macho straight guy working to overthrow a repressive regime — are housed together in a dingy cell with wretched food, dim lighting, … Read more
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage. Plus Geffen’s ‘Breath,’ Kristina Wong, and more. A flood of openings gushed through Greater LA theaters in February — although two of the new productions were delayed by an outbreak of COVID. During the first weekend of the month, South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa planned to activate the “repertory” … Read more
Katie Buenneke – Stage Raw. I must start this review by confessing that this production of Much Ado About Nothing is a victim of my own expectations. Much Ado is my favorite Shakespearean text, and I’ve always respected the craft A Noise Within puts into their productions of the classics. I expected to love this show — but sadly, … Read more