Stage Raw

WINTER SOLSTICE at City Garage

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Margaret Gray – LA Times There’s nothing scary, at first, about Rudolph, the elderly gentleman who shows up at Albert and Bettina’s house one Christmas Eve in “Winter Solstice,” a 2013 play by the German writer Roland Schimmelpfennig, translated by David Tushingham, which is having its West Coast premiere at City Garage.Read more… Katie Buenneke … Read more

VIETGONE at East West Players

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Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw  Translating personal experiences or family history into theatre can be a tricky proposition. On the one hand, simply recounting events as they happened doesn’t necessarily create fascinating drama. On the other hand, fictionalizing things too much may betray the truth of the story.Read more… Now running through November 18

CAL IN CAMO at VS Theatre

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Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw It could be said that Sam Shepard perfected the strain of poetic realism that runs in American playwriting, particularly in works such as True West and Buried Child. Symbols abound, from characters representing civilization and wilderness to bushels of corn growing from a dead field.Read more… Now running through November 9

ROPE at Actors Co-op

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Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Rope, Patrick Hamilton’s 1929 suspense thriller at Actors Co-op, commences with an electrifying moment — the sort of cleverly crafted theatrics one might expect from director Ken Sawyer. In a pitch-black theater, the soft strains of a popular love ballad (“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”) can be heard.Read more… Rob … Read more

DEAR EVAN HANSEN at the Ahmanson Theatre

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Frances Baum Nicholson – Stage Struck Review When news the Tony-winning “Dear Evan Hansen” was headed for L.A. on its first national tour, a dash for tickets seeming mildly reminiscent of the “Hamilton” frenzy began. Erin Conley –  On Stage and Screen There have been plenty of musicals about complicated, grieving families over the years, … Read more

THE BENCH, A HOMELESS LOVE STORY at Hudson Guild Theatre

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Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw This solo performance is written and performed by Robert Galinsky. In addition to being a writer and actor, Galinsky is a lifelong social activist, volunteering with numerous organizations, including teaching classes for incarcerated youth at New York City’s Rikers Island Detention Center.Read more… Now running through November 9

OPPENHEIMER – Rogue Machine at the Electric Lodge

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Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw  Although Rogue Machine is a small theatre company, it’s always punching above its weight class and generally achieving whatever artistic challenges it sets for itself. This year the group had a particularly difficult task — it had to find a new home, a misfortune that sometimes sinks otherwise stable organizations. … Read more

EVERYTHING THAT NEVER HAPPENED at Boston Court Pasadena

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Frances Baum Nicholson –The Stage Struck Review Boston Court Pasadena’s Co-Artistic Director Jessica Kubzansky loves Shakespeare. That I know. She has directed insightful productions of the Bard’s work at several venues, and in her “RII” at BC she  pared one play down to great effect, allowing more focus on essential and timeless themes in a … Read more

RAG HEAD at The Complex

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Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw In August 2012, white supremacist named Wade Michael Page entered a Gurdwara, or Sikh temple, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and shot and killed six people —another of the all too frequent hate crimes that continually debase our nation. Here in Los Angeles, Sikh writer/performer Sundeep Morrison became alarmed….Read more… Now … Read more