It was a convivial group of actors, directors and theater artists of all kinds who mingled with the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle (LADCC) members last night at the lovely theater space of Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) in Downtown LA. Gathering were the nominees for this year’s LADCCawards ceremony. The LATC is generously providing their venue for the awards night, to … Read more
Slipped Disc by Ingrid Lausund. Mayank Keshaviah – LA Weekly Bertolt Brecht, in defining his vision of “epic theater,” coined the term Verfremdungseffekt, or “alienation effect,” which implied that in order to be effective, theater should keep an audience from fully losing itself in the story being told. Playwright Ingrid Lausund, also German, seems to have embraced … Read more
Hah Nah by Joy Cha. Mayank Keshaviah – LA Weekly A Korean U.S. Army field nurse trying to track down her missing father while encamped in his hometown during the Korean War seems like fertile ground. Butthe tree that emerges from it, nurtured by writer and performer Joy Cha, unfortunately never bears fruit. Read more…
Build by Michael Golamco. Dany Margolies – ArtsInLA.com Technology and human relationships combine to warmhearted effect in Michael Golamco’s world premiere. Even his not terribly likeable two characters turn universal, sympathetic, and somewhat heroic by play’s end. Read more… Mayank Keshaviah – LA Weekly For those more familiar with ‘World of Warcraft’ than Waiting for Godot, Michael Golamco’s newest play may appeal as … Read more
Encounter by Aparna Sindhoor, Anil Natyaveda, and S M Raju. Dany Margolies, ArtsInLA The wisdom of the adage “Show, don’t tell” quickly becomes apparent in this dance-theater piece. And symbolic “showing” can be even more evocative than realism, which may explain why the storytelling here leaves the viewer shattered. In a universal tale about shortsighted despotism and evilly … Read more
The Changeling by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, adapted by Dave Barton. Mayank Keshaviah – LA Weekly In pre-19th century plays, the language, culture and norms are far enough removed from their modern equivalents that only proper adaptation and direction foster true understanding. With Middleton and Rowley’s Jacobean tragedy, Dave Barton, who handles both, does a serviceable job in terms of comprehensibility, but the effect … Read more
The Pianist Of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek. Mayank Keshaviah – LA Weekly History is most powerful when we see the “all” through the small — the panorama of the textbook through the peephole of the personal. Acclaimed pianist Mona Golabek give us just that in sharing the story of her mother, Lisa Jura, a budding piano … Read more
Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies by Matt Chaffee. Mayank Keshaviah – LA Weekly “It’s not easy to say what this play is about. It’s not that kind of play,” says writer-director Matt Chaffee in the program notes, and he’s quite accurate in his assessment. What the play is about, he goes on to say, is “four friends … Read more
At a May meeting of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, David C. Nichols was chosen as the Circle’s president for a one-year term. Nichols, who writes for the L.A. Times and other local publications, had previously held that office from 2008 to 2010. Outgoing president Bob Verini, who has held the office since 2010, will take over as Awards Chair for the LADCC Awards ceremonies … Read more
Prize recipients, nominees, critics, publicists, theater practitioners and aficionadi all mingled in the foyer of A Noise Within’s glamorous theater in Pasadena following the 43rd Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards event, which was held on Monday, March 19, 2012. For a full list of the nominees, go here. You can now follow theLos Angeles Drama Critics Circle on twitter via @LADramaCC. Enjoy this photo … Read more