F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw The superb actors, many of whom have been with the Latino Theater Company for years, deliver on all levels, from the funny to the devastating. The ease of their long association is apparent in director José Luis Valenzuela’s staging, which establishes an authentic family dynamic of liveliness, humor, and … Read more
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive In “Master Harold”…and the Boys, which was set in 1950 and written circa 1982 when apartheid was still enforced in South Africa, playwright Athol Fugard seems to have dramatized Frantz Fanon’s theories about the psychological impact of racism and colonialism on the human mind. Through action, dialogue and character, Fugard, … Read more
Anita W. Harris – LA Theatrix The 4,000-year-old epic tale of Gilgamesh was brought to life last weekend in the form of a lush opera five years in the making. With culturally inflected orchestral music, a rich libretto in English and Akkadian, and an astounding cast of vocalists and dancers, “Gilgamesh: The Opera” mesmerized and … Read more
Edward Hong – The Nerds Of Color Though Kim’s Convenience, now having its run at Center Theatre Group, is enjoyable in its many funny and touching moments, Ins Choi’s 2011 play is very much outdated in its necessity to showcase Korean identity & culture that is completely catered to white people. Despite a well rounded … Read more
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA Arthur Miller often tackles the universal themes of morality vs. what his great classic’s everyman anti-hero Joe Keller calls “practicality,” but this time out the author leaves just a tad room for his audience to discover things for ourselves without incessant preaching about how dastardly our world operates. Read more… … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania Julia Child’s charismatic personality is explored in Claudia Shear’s new play The Recipe, a comedy with too few laughs and too few fresh insights into the life of the iconic chef. Lisa Peterson helms a breezy production that keeps the action moving, but her direction of its lead ultimately sinks it. … Read more
Patrick Chavis – LA Theatre Bites Podcast 9 out of 10! Exceptional Show! LA Theatre Bites Recommended! Listen more… Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Some of the most impressive moments are the fight scenes, eliciting kudos for both fight coordinator Jonathan Rider and a disciplined ensemble. Equally, the final showdown between Richard and his nemesis, … Read more
Anita W. Harris – LA Theatrix Rising playwright Beth Hyland’s “Sylvia Sylvia Sylvia,” having its world premiere at Geffen Playhouse, is just what you’d want in a new play — ambitious and compelling in a well staged and performed production. Bringing to life poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes as they affect a current writer … Read more
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA The accessibility of Suzy Eddie Izzard’s performance as Shakespeare’s most notorious prince is unquestionably on display in her jarringly unique delivery of Hamlet’s most well-known speech, the character’s often caricatured third soliloquy, presented simply and with great warmth and humanity instead of spouted in grandly theatrical style filled with rage, … Read more
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive British socialist J.B. Priestley’s “An Inspector Calls” is a clever dramatization of the British class system. Especially worth seeing as staged at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. Read more… Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld A classic of mid-20th-century English theater, Priestley’s script has complexity. He gives each of his characters … Read more