Deborah Klugman – Capital & Main Written and directed by Diane Rodriguez, The Sweetheart Deal is an amiable blend of political agitprop and audience-pleasing melodrama that unfolds against the backdrop of the struggle to empower the United Farm Workers union. Read more… Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze In 1970, when Americans had causes to fight for, we … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Dan O’Brien has written an American gothic tale on a par with Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Shepard’s best works. Like many of the characters in Shepard’s plays, the protagonist seeks the truth, but the answers will not assuage his guilt or pain. Read more… Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Early in Dan … Read more
Erin Conley – OnStage Most people know about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the event historically seen as the inciting incident of World War I. But what do we really know about the assassins? In Archduke, a new play by Rajiv Joseph currently making its world premiere at Center Theatre Group’s Mark … Read more
Rob Stevens – Haines His Way I have always been a proponent of good political theatre, not agitprop theatre such as written by Italian playwright Dario Fo. I prefer political writing that is more balanced like the great teleplays that David E. Kelley wrote for L.A. Law…Read more… Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Chilean playwright Guillermo … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw African-Americans figured prominently in American horseracing in the mid 19th century. Many trainers were slaves who worked on farms in the South, taking care of the horses for their owners. Some slaves also became jockeys, earning money (that they were able to keep for themselves) by auctioning off their riding skills … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Writer/performer Terry Maratos’s solo show about an angry addled man and his struggles with his family is chockful of the broad caricature and shtick-laden narrative that I normally find grating. But Goonie is a rare exception. Read more… Now running through May 5
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania It is one of the age-old theater questions: Can a performance rise the level of a so-so script, adding depth missing from the dialogue and characterizations? Broadway actor Matt McGrath proves the answer can be yes in The Legend of Georgia McBride, a comedy, now playing at the Geffen, about drag queens in … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Capital & Main In John Strand’s play, The Originalist, the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia (Edward Gero) is presented as a lovable curmudgeon — rather like the tough, gruff but charismatic professor you might have had back in your university days. To appreciate the character, and the play, you need to … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw In Revolution in a Catsuit, directed by Michael Philip Edwards, playwright/lead performer Somi De Souza aims to tackle the problems of ethnic minorities in the entertainment industry — the tendency for directors, casting directors and producers to stereotype people of color and, even more deplorably, cast white actors in minority roles. Read … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly In the program notes for Supper, Phinneas Kiyomura remarks that his play about four right-wing billionaire brothers is not about the Koch brothers. But you could have fooled me. Read more… Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw The clan on display in Phinneas Kiyomura’s bleak comedy brings to mind that familiar adage of Tolstoy’s … Read more