Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw Antony J. Bowman’s afterlife drama begins with his amiable central character, architect Michael (Josh T. Ryan), vividly describing his sudden death in a violent car wreck in upstate New York. Michael then proceeds to narrate the story from a state of limbo, observing his grief-stricken wife and best-friend colleagues during … Read more
Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA Ann Noble gives a magnificent performance in Edward Albee’s absurd drama The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?, now playing at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Davidson/Valentini Theatre. Ostensibly a study of the irreparable destruction of a perfect marriage, Albee softens us up with his dry humor and jokey lines swirling around a premise, … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA On the heels of Spike Jonze’s award-winning film Her comes another whimsical, futuristic, seriocomic speculation about artificial intelligence’s commercial and emotional potential. This one is Jordan Harrison’s world premiere play at the Taper, titled Marjorie Prime, and concededly it lacks the heft of Jonze’s celebrated Oscar winner, not to mention its unforgettable … Read more
Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw LA Opera has launched its new season by bringing back their 2006 staging of La Traviata. Director and designer Marta Domingo’s chic concept reimagines and transposes Giuseppe Verdi’s timeless romance to the decadent Roaring 20s. The spare, almost minimal, sets are buoyed by dazzling flapper-style gowns, wreaths of diamonds and stylish … Read more
David C. Nichols – LA Times The delicate art of origami provides both metaphor and motor for “Animals Out of Paper” at the David Henry Hwang Theater, and it enfolds the viewer with deceptive simplicity and considerable craft. Read more… Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA The paths of three loner characters intersect in Rajiv Joseph’s Animals Out of … Read more
Steven Leigh Morris – LA Weekly David Mamet’s play Race, about a rich, white guy seeking a law firm to defend him from accusations of raping a black woman, ought to feel ripped from the headlines — even though it premiered on Broadway nearly five years ago. Read more… Melinda Schupmann – Showmag A David Mamet play … Read more
Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw One of the hits of this summer’s Hollywood Fringe Festival is back at Theater Asylum. For her hilarious play Women, playwright Chiara Atik has re-imagined the stripped down plot of thebeloved roman à clef Little Women as viewed through the lens of the popular HBO TV series Girls. Read more… Now running through Oct. 25.
Bob Verini – Arts In LA The unarguable triumph of is the choreography of Janet Roston, which sets a company of 10, many of them veterans of university ballet and modern-dance programs, to dizzying displays of complex movement. From their first worshipful celebration of the young Psyche (Ashley Ruth Jones), through their incarnation of various … Read more
Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw In Robin Uriel Russin’s new dramedy, family members from three generations quarrel during a Passover Seder – this Seder being especially significant for the protagonist Christina (Stacey Moseley) because it’s her first since she converted from the Catholic faith to Judaism. Read more… Now running through October 11.
Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw Downtown Rep company has selected an historic building in which to stage Anton Chekhov’s 1895 bourgeois family drama, his first major play. The central courtyard of Pico House serves admirably for the company’s semi-modern production set in Hollywood, as well as providing a sheltered and cozy outdoor theater experience for … Read more