THE TEMPEST by Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles and After Hours Theatre Company

Martίn Hernández – Stage Raw. While inundating storms may have receded recently, another one is brewing over at the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles which has partnered with After Hours Theatre Company for a sumptuous “immersive” co-production of William Shakespeare’s tale of revenge, love, and compassion. After boarding the “King’s Ship” on its journey from … Read more

BEST OF BEST OF THIS WEEK THIS WEEK, Open Fist Theatre Company at Atwater Village Theatre

Martίn Hernández – Stage Raw. Following in the satirical footsteps of Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show, this Open Fist Company production takes the past year’s cream of the crop of its Thursday night comedy sketch show, This Week This Week, and skewers our calamitous society with mostly hilarious results. Creator and director Ron West and his … Read more

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MCKENNA at the Hudson Backstage Theatre

Martίn Hernández – Stage Raw. Playwright-director Steven Silverman’s dark yet amiable comedy offers up a multi-ethnic family whose members, despite living or being raised in racially turbulent Chicago, have no apparent animus over each other’s skin colors. No, these folks are dealing with more explosive issues common to many a kith and kin, regardless of … Read more

FOR THE LOVE OF A GLOVE at the Carl Sagan – Ann Druyan Theatre at the Center For Inquiry West

Martίn Hernández – Stage Raw. Mix a B-movie sci-fi plot with the life story of the “King of Pop,” add some inventive puppetry and a talented and uninhibited ensemble, and the result is a profane, hilarious, and razor-sharp skewering of the pop culture industry, systemic racism and religious hypocrisy. With director Julien Nitzberg’s clever book … Read more

BROTHERS PLAY by Break With Traditions Productions at Legacy LA

Martίn Hernández – Stage Raw It is Christmas in Chicago, and for Irish American brothers Jude (Jeffrey Nordling), Francis (Rob Nagle), and Thomas (Jamie Wollrab) that means some unseemly celebrations, despite their saintly names. Jude, the oldest, is committed to visiting the local gambling boats; middle child Francis is savoring the wares at his favorite … Read more

CHRISTMASTIME ORIGINS at Group Repertory Theatre

Martίn Hernández – Stage Raw Welcome to the studios of K-GRT 73, North Hollywood’s home of radio theatre, otherwise known as the upstairs space of the Group Repertory Theatre. Artistic Director Doug Haverty has adapted four works from veteran Los Angeles theater journalist and playwright Julio Martinez’s The Eight Plays of Christmas: A Series of Radio … Read more

LITTLE THEATRE at Rogue Machine

Martίn Hernández – Stage Raw In the 1990s, playwright Justin Tanner was the wunderkind of small venue L.A. theatre. Tanner churned out hit after hit, like Pot Mom, Zombie Attack, and Teen Girl, for the now defunct Cast Theatre, where he was resident playwright. The Cast was also where artistic director Diana Gibson reigned supreme, raking in the bucks … Read more

THE EMPIRE STRIPS BACK at Montalbán Theatre

Martίn Hernández – Stage Raw Ranging from the hypnotic to the hilarious, the sublime to the silly, director Russell S. Beattie’s loving burlesque lampoon of the Star Wars movie canon offers up a bevy of ecdysiasts displaying a different way of The Force. Depicting various classic characters, the show highlights the balletic and gymnastic talent of these … Read more