Melinda Schupmann – Arts In LA It might be deduced, knowing painter Mark Rothko’s iconoclastic nature, that he might not applaud the news that a recent Christie’s auction of paintings included one by him that sold for $86.9 million. Considered one of the great postwar modern artists, in the latter years of his life he … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly In Sarah Ruhl’s smart and pointed satire, it’s not just middle-class Victorian women who are sexually clueless: it’s their men as well. The time is the 1880s, and man of science Dr. Givings (Michael Oosterom) is using a primitive electronic vibrator to treat “hysterical” female patients, who depart reinvigorated and … Read more
Bob Verini – ArtsInLA Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn is a report from the feminist front. Folded within a thin narrative is a lot of intriguing conversation, which in the course of two acts brings out numerous perspectives on what women do (and should) need and what they do (and should) want. The talk is … Read more
Neal Weaver – LA Weekly Like the titular Italian dessert, this compilation of three one-act comedies features three different flavors. In the solo piece “Booby Prize,” writer-performer Lizzie Czerner brings a Tracey Ullman-like flamboyance to the tale of a woman cursed and blessed with a very buxom figure, which brings her both ridicule and lascivious … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly This polished and entertaining adaptation of Mark Twain’s coming-of-age classic is a rare case of family entertainment done well. Skillfully directed by Aaron Lyons from a streamlined narrative by Laura Eason, the story tracks the transformation of title character Tom (Mike Rosenbaum) from mischievous kid to thoughtful youth, a metamorphosis … Read more
Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly Drawing on the traditions of ancient Greek comedy (masks, songs, a giant phallus) Chuck Faerber’s mildly amusing farce is a zany rendition of the siege of Troy by a crack team of dimwits. Ten years into the Trojan war, the Greeks are still anxious to retrieve their abducted Helen from … Read more
Neal Weaver – LA Weekly I doubt that anyone has ever thought that Steven Cragg was Mark Twain, but it provides him with a useful gimmick to galvanize his one-man show. He appears costumed and bewigged in a deliberately seedy simulacrum of the outfit worn by Hal Holbrook in his Mark Twain solo show.Read more… … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Developed through workshops under Tim Robbins’ direction, this inspired production of Shakespeare’s fantasia snaps and crackles with the comedic shenanigans of a dynamic ensemble. Visual spectacle, so often integral when this piece is produced, here takes a back seat; instead, the performers merrily cavort across a setless stage, relying on … Read more
Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly A nicely acted, crisply directed and neatly written piece of 1950s sci-fi comedy, featuring nearly naked, green-painted, go-go-dancing space aliens — what’s not to love?! Playwright Matthew Sklar stars as Captain Dan Dixon in his creature-feature retro romp through space.Read more…Now running through September 14.
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Easily the most poignant moments in this dramatized telling of the Anne Frank story come in its epilogue, when Holocaust survivor Otto Frank (Jack Kandel) returns to his family’s hidden dwelling to discover his youngest daughter’s diary and inform us of the demise of his family and friends at the … Read more