GEM OF THE OCEAN at A Noise Within

Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Gem of the Ocean, August Wilson’s play about sin, salvation and the power of the supernatural, takes place in 1904, a mere four decades following the end of the Civil War. Written near the close of his career (it was his next-to-the-last play, preceding his final work, Radio Golf), it serves … Read more

HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN at Boston Court Pasadena

Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Americans live in a culture which values the new, the shiny, the unimpaired. If a plate or cup chips, most of us throw it away. In Japan, it’s a different story. A Japanese philosophy, wabi-sab, teaches that worn or imperfect objects may have great value.Kintsugi, the repairing of broken pottery, … Read more

LAS MUJERES DEL MAR – Playwrights Arena at Atwater Village Theatre

Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Part memory play, part social drama, Janine Salinas Schoenberg’s Las Mujeres Del Mar(Women of the Sea) tells the story of three generations of Mexican-American women who strive to love and support each other despite their past wounds and resentments. A world premiere mounted at Playwrights’ Arena, it’s skillfully directed by Diane … Read more

A PLAY IS A POEM at The Mark Taper Forum

Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw Ethan Coen is one of the greatest screenwriters of the past 50 years, with some of his works — Miller’s Crossing, Fargo and The Big Lebowski — standing as masterworks of the form. He’s also an accomplished short story author and poet, as attested to by Gates of Eden and The Drunken Driver Has the Right of Way, … Read more

IN CIRCLES at the Odyssey Theatre

Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw Gertrude Stein was a poet, novelist, essayist and playwright who is generally regarded as one of the more influential female writers of the 20th century. Her style was anything but conventional, and we have her to thank for such pithy expressions as “a rose is a rose is a … Read more

DEADLY at Sacred Fools Theater Company

Rob Stevens – Haines His Way Herman Webster Mudgett AKA Dr. Henry Howard Holmes AKA H.H. Holmes is a name little known today. Holmes was one of the first and most prolific serial killers in American history.Read more… Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Numerous books have been written about H. H. Holmes, a 19thcentury serial … Read more

SKINTIGHT at Geffen Playhouse

Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen Jodi Isaac (Idina Menzel) is feeling insecure. On paper, there’s no reason she should be—she is a successful lawyer at a top firm in Los Angeles, she has more or less successfully raised two young adult sons, and her father is a fashion retail mogul. But her husband … Read more

THE HEAL at Getty Villa

Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Everyone is wounded — that’s the overarching theme of The Heal, writer/director Aaron Posner’s ironical, imaginative play about living with pain and choosing to do the right thing even if you’re unclear just what that thing might be. Those three words reprise over and over in composer/performer Cliff Eberhardt’s opening song, … Read more

LATIN HISTORY FOR MORONS at the Ahmanson Theatre

Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen  In his sixth one-man show, Tony winner John Leguizamo is back on stage with Latin History for Morons, a timely and engaging piece that is part comedy special, part solo revue, and part poignant academic lesson.Read more… Katie Buenneke – Stage Raw John Leguizamo has a remarkable knack for drawing … Read more

OUR LADY OF 121ST STREET at the Loft Ensemble

Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw Stephen Adly Guirgis has a knack for scripting characters that “stick” with you, and a keen ear for dialogue that is, by turns, wrenching and humorous. In this dramedy, Guigis creates a gallery of raucous misfits who are brought together by the death of a beloved (and feared) mentor, … Read more