John Klopping
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw
In 2008, the New York Times published an article about a burgeoning new enterprise in India: the establishment of surrogacy clinics catering to couples in need of a woman to bear their child.
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Now running through June 1
(Photo by John Klopping)
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw
If your concept of a fairy tale is based on Disney’s saccharine stories in which the Little Mermaid easily finds love or Belle blissfully enjoys the company of the oddly photogenic beast, playwright Mary Zimmerman’s gorgeously rendered adaptation of a number of fantastic stories will frankly blow your mind.
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Rob Stevens – Haines His Way
When the Brothers Grimm first published their first two volumes of Children’s and Household Tales in 1812 and 1815 they were criticized because the stories were considered not suitable for children because of the subject matter.
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Now running through December 16
(Photo by John Klepping)
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw
Playwright Boni B. Alvarez cunningly adapts Anton Chekhov’s 19th century drama “Ivanov,” shifting the setting from the Russian provinces to California’s own land of internal exile (that is, if you’re a gay man of a certain age), Palm Springs. Read more…
Now running through July 1
Photo by Nardeep Khurmi
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw
It is a terrible thing for a theater critic to admit, but I’d never seen this scabrously funny Tony Award-winning musical, about the price put on the most fundamental of bodily functions, before attending the Coeurage Theatre Company’s fresh and sprightly production. Read more…
Now running through February 25
(Photo by Nardeep Khurmi)
Bob Verini - Stage Raw
In the vast scheme of Tennessee Williams’ long career, the 1978 Vieux Carré stands as one of his lesser plays, derivative and ill-shaped. Among the works of his final two decades, however, it’s one which can still credibly command a stage if given a vigorous and mature production. Read more…
David C. Nichols – LA Times
The singular theatrical voice of Tennessee Williams pulsates through “Vieux Carré” at the Lankershim Arts Center in North Hollywood.
Although this resourceful Coeurage Theatre Company production of Williams’ kaleidoscopic memory play doesn’t resolve the property’s liabilities, it’s a noble and inventively executed effort. Read more…
Now running through March 12
Photo by John Koppling
Les Spindle – Edge on the Net
Prolific Chicago-based playwright, Phillip Dawkins, is back. When his riveting ensemble drama “The Homosexuals” was presented at L.A.’ s Celebration Theater in 2013, it certainly whetted one’s appetite to view more of his work. In a staging by L.A.’s Coeurage Theatre Company, Dawkins’ zany seriocomic reverie, “Failure: A Love Story” is an ambitious and determinedly offbeat work, spotlighting a spirited ensemble cast. Read more…
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly
Philip Dawkins’ unorthodox play Failure: A Love Story isn’t the first to counsel music, love and laughter as an antidote to death, but it may be unique in heralding that milestone in a blithe and gleeful way. Read more…
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw
One truthful takeaway (amongst many) of playwright Philip Dawkins’s beautifully wistful and charming tour de force is this: Everyone you love will probably die. In fact, take out that “probably.” Everyone you love will die and, in this work of slapstick tragedy, you can either be a grump about it, or you can just live your life as hard as you can and not worry about it. Read more…
Now running through August 29.
Photo by Nardeep Khurmi and John Klopping
Terry Morgan - Stage Raw
“Nothing human disgusts me,” goes the famous quote from Tennessee Williams’s The Night of the Iguana, and Steven Fechter’s play The Woodsman puts that credo to the test for theater audiences. It deals with the difficult subject of a pedophile trying to resist his baser urges and to become a better man, and it does so quite successfully. Read more…
Now running through June 13.