Dany Margolies – Arts In LA At its start, this Octavio Solis play is not easy to watch. The couple at its center is a mess: drugged, abused, irresponsible. The storytelling is unhelpful, as the characters seem not to know who they are. Then, too, the production, directed by Robert Castro, taxes the eyes if … Read more
Dany Margolies – Arts In LA For those who like protracted-lie farces, British playwright Ray Cooney is a master, and this one is a classic. In it, an average Joe weaves a tangled web, which gets unwound some two hours later, minus the intermission. The action is set in 1982 London, where Henry Perkins (Tom … Read more
Deborah Klugman – ArtsBeatLA What do Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy have in common? In Scott Carter’s intellectually upscale comedy, all three are smug anthropomorphic spirits, trapped in a single chamber purgatory and forced to communicate despite their disdain for any view contradicting their own. Read more… Dany Margolies – Arts In LA History’s … Read more
Myron Meisel – The Hollywood Reporter The smaller room at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica has been repurposed as a tavern with the audience seated at the bar or small round tables throughout the room. A quintet of rambunctiously versatile performers begin playing traditional melodies on the auld instruments on a postage stamp stage … Read more
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