La Havana Madrid @ SOUTH COAST REPERTORY

Dana Martin – Stage Raw La Havana Madrid, a long-forgotten social club that turned into a ’60s social movement, finds new life in Mission San Juan Capistrano’s courtyard. Writer/performer Sandra Delgado’s play of the same name articulates both the oppression and the triumphs of Latin American immigrants who arrived in Chicago during a period of … Read more

#HFF23 — Getting There @ The Hudson Theatres

Dana Martin – Stage Raw Rebecca O’Brien is determined to survive. Getting There, written and performed by O’Brien and directed by Cameron Watson, is a story that circles the biggest battle of her life: breast cancer. The one-hour solo show is part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival and is now playing at the Hudson Guild … Read more

Evolution of a Sonero @ Latino Theater Company

Dana Martin – Stage Raw Flaco Navaja is more than a badass salsa singer. Latino Theater Company, in association with Chicago’s UrbanTheater Company, presents the West Coast premiere of Evolution of a Sonero, a coming-of-age story written and dynamically performed by Navaja (with a libretto arranged by Carlos Cuevas) chronicling the evolution of Navaja’s life as an artist and human being. Read … Read more

THE REALISTIC JONESES at Rubicon Theatre Company and Laguna Playhouse

Terry Morgan – ArtsBeat LA, reviewed at Rubicon Theatre, January 2023. The first time I saw a play by Will Eno was about 15 years ago, by Circle X Theatre Company of The Flu Season. It was an excellent production in many ways, but there was one scene in which a character died, and instead of having … Read more

UNRIVALED at Boston Court Pasadena

Patrick Chavis – LA Theatre Bites. Boston Court and Playwrights’ Arena Present: Unrivaled @ Boston Court Pasadena – 7.5 out of 10 – Above Average! More… Katie Buenneke – Theater Digest Sei Shōnagon (Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz) wrote The Pillow Book, an assemblage of musings that entertained not just her fellow ladies-in-waiting in the court of Empress … Read more

MEASURE FOR MEASURE, Foolish Production Company at the Broadwater

Dana Martin – Stage Raw. Loose morals, licentious proposals and live vinyl rule the night at the Broadwater in Hollywood. Foolish Production Co’s latest production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure is a mixed bag of madcap moodiness…. Under Mulhearn’s direction, the show moves quickly and the play’s five acts and multiple plot twists are condensed … Read more

TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992 at the Mark Taper Forum

Dana Martin – Stage Raw. Center Theatre Group meets the moment with Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, conceived, written and revised by Anna Deavere Smith. The original production premiered on Broadway in April, 1994. Smith wrote it as a solo piece, which she developed from hundreds of interviews following the 1992 L.A. uprising. This updated version has expanded … Read more

MEAN GIRLS at Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Dana Martin – Stage Raw. …Mean Girls is updated from the movie in order to reflect an era of smartphones and selfies but still manages to feel dated. Even the most feared book in school, the almighty Burn Book, loses a bit of its sting. Yet — Mean Girls doesn’t talk down to its audience and … Read more