Lovell Estell III – Stage Raw Irish playwright-performer Pat Kinevane returns to the Odyssey Theater with a new piece that explores “life lived on the fringes of society.” Kinevane’s previous works, Forgotten and Silent, were performed at the Odyssey in 2011 and 2012, and with Underneath, the third piece in the trilogy, he brings us a very unconventional ghost … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw In 1958, 18-year old Shelagh Delaney saw a production of Terrence Rattigan’s play Variations on a Theme, and was appalled by what she saw. The play had a reputation for boldness in tackling hot-button issues — it dealt with homosexuality, promiscuity, and bisexuality — but in Delaney’s view it was … Read more
Lovell Estell III – Stage Raw So what do an ostentatious transsexual, a sassy Blaxploitation film star and a bitter washed up TV actress all have in common? Norma Desmond! Read more… Now running through September 25
Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze No doubt avid theatergoers and especially those fascinated by playwright Tennessee Williams will have already bought tickets to his rarely produced “Kingdom of Earth,” running at West Los Angeles’ Odyssey Theatre. Read more… Now running through August 14
Myron Meisel – Stage Raw Most of American society tends to regard terrorism as a contemporary phenomenon, part of our unshakeable conviction in the uniqueness of our own experience. In fact, terrorism has been a constant in world politics since at least the French Revolution, inevitably perceived in terms ranging from ignoble to glorious. So … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Writer/performer John Posey’s solo show is about the strained relationship between a driven football-crazed dad and his more laidback and thoughtful son. In the program, Posey notes that the story is not autobiographical, though it does contain elements of real life and is drawn from the stories of people he … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw The upside to reinterpretations of classic works is a fresh look at how that art still speaks to us and remains vital. The downside produces Coriolanus on Mars. Read more.. Now running through April 10.
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Sometimes all a play really needs is two characters and some genuine emotion. Set in 1930s Berlin, playwright Janet Schlapkohl’s evocative two-hander tells of a pair of identical twin sisters (played by bona fide identical twins Elizabeth Hinkler and Emily Hinkler) beset by troubles as the Nazis rise in power … Read more
Melinda Schupmann – Arts In LA When Awake and Sing! was produced in 1935, it was a transformative experience for theatergoers. Playwright Clifford Odets was an early member of the Group Theatre in New York, a lab for Stanislavski’s system of acting with a shared commitment among the collective for social change through theater. Read more… Now … Read more
Les Spindle – Frontiers L.A. There’s a hint of Gone With the Wind and a touch of vintage nighttime soap opera, merged with appealing musical interludes, in this ambitious stage adaptation of Carole Eglash-Kosoff‘s sprawling historical novel. Read more… Now running through Oct. 4.