F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw The Los Angeles premiere of Reel to Reel at Rogue Machine may be one of the most unusual—and quietly moving— productions you are likely to see this season. Read more… Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA What John Kolvenbach has created could so easily slip into gimmickry but never does … Read more
F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw Clocking in at 80 minutes, this two-hander may be compact in length, but it is dramatically dense in its densely dramatic portrayal of adolescent angst, sexual ambiguity, parental abuse, poverty, and the overwhelming peer pressure that can derail a young life. Read more… Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA What … Read more
Katie Buenneke – Theater Digest Heroes of the Fourth Turning at Rogue Machine [LA]. I first saw this play on Zoom in October 2020, when Trump was still president, and before Roe v. Wade was overturned. Though the world is quite different on those two fronts now, it still packs a tremendous punch, and I’m … Read more
Tracey Paleo – Gia On The Move Six wives, six musical powerhouses and six opportunities to vote for your favorite Tudor Queen! As brief as their royal reigns (with the exception of first wife Catherine of Aragon) the story of SIX is a nice bit of feminist reductionism and may in fact be the future … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw. Show me a play about a working woman who pits her strength and smarts against predatory banks, and you’ll have me rooting for it, and her, from the start. Directed by Gregg T. Daniel, francisca da silveira’s can i touch it?, a rolling premiere at Rogue Machine, features all the ingredients … Read more
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage. Plus Geffen’s ‘Breath,’ Kristina Wong, and more. A flood of openings gushed through Greater LA theaters in February — although two of the new productions were delayed by an outbreak of COVID. During the first weekend of the month, South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa planned to activate the “repertory” … Read more
Socks Whitmore – Stage Raw. John Perrin Flynn, the producing artistic director of Rogue Machine Theatre, states clearly in the program for their latest production: “We don’t do musicals.” And yet, the show itself — the world-premiere run of Come Get Maggie, a feature-length retro science-fiction/forbidden romance created by Diane Frolov and Susan Justin — is exactly … Read more
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage Plus ‘Annie,’ ‘Clyde’s,’ ‘Invincible,’ Sheldon Epps’ memoir. Tis the season for Troubadour Theater’s annual holiday hoot. As usual, it’s a refreshing antidote to too many competing “Christmas Carol”s. This year Troubies director Matt Walker takes aim at the 1988 shoot-’em-up film “Die Hard.” Its setting — a corporate holiday party in … Read more
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
Terry Morgan – ArtsBeat LA In my experience, ninety percent of the time that there’s an issue with a theatrical production, the problem is the play itself. It’s surprisingly rare for the main trouble to be with the acting or direction or design. And so it is with Samuel D. Hunter’s A Great Wilderness. I’ve enjoyed other … Read more