Stage Raw

AN UNDIVIDED HEART at Atwater Village Theater

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Deborah Klugman – Capital & Main Directed by Chris Fields, Yusuf Toropov’s An Undivided Heart, co-produced by the Echo Theater Company and the Circle X Theatre Co., is an aspiring work that aims to be deep but doesn’t get there. Read more… Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw  Any play that starts with a kid standing next to a burning typewriter … Read more

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS at Actors’ Co-op

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Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Thomas More was an exceptional man — a lawyer, writer and scholar who rose from the merchant class he was born into to become a chancellor for King Henry VIII. Friends with Europe’s great intellectuals, including Erasmus, who published his work, he is remembered today for his novel Utopia (a term he … Read more

THE MADRES at the Skylight Theatre

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Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw Stephanie Alison Walker’s stirring drama is set in Buenos Aires in the 1980s, when Argentina was ruled by a ruthless military junta. Anyone who spoke out against the regime could be taken into custody and “disappeared,” and even those who privately disagreed with the government and its policies were in … Read more

BINGO HALL – Native Voices at the Autry Museum

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Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw  One of the nice things about being a theatregoer in Los Angeles is the diversity of theatre one is able to enjoy. On any given weekend, there are shows up at East West Players (which specializes in Asian American work), Ebony Repertory Theatre (which explores the African-American experience) or at … Read more

THE ART COUPLE at the Broadwater Black Box

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Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh and Neil Simon: two icons of the brush and canvass, another of the written word and stage, are all cleverly brought together in this striking world premiere by playwright Brendan Hurt.Read more… Now running through March 17

ALLEGIANCE at the Aratani Theatre

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Ellen Dostal – Musicals in LA After nearly nine years, Allegiance has come home to Southern California. The co-production by East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center opened to a sold out crowd on Wednesday night, less than half a mile from the Japanese American National Museum where it had its … Read more

SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF A PLAY at the Celebration Theatre

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Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw  There’s little that chills the blood of a theatre critic more than the three words “one-man show.” When these things are bad, they tend to be especially so, and unlike a usual play, there’s nothing else to distract one from the spectacle. On the other hand, when they’re good, they … Read more

THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST at LATC

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Katie Buenneke – Stage Raw The Happiest Song Plays Last is, as the title implies, the last play in the Elliot trilogy, three works by Quiara Alegría Hudes playing concurrently in Los Angeles. The first two plays, Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue and Review: Water by the Spoonful, stand more or less independent of each other, especially since Elliot is more … Read more

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at Boston Court Performing Arts Center

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Terry Morgan  –  Talkin’ Broadway Often, when classic plays are “updated” or “reimagined,” the implication is that the work needed such treatment to remain relevant to a modern audience. In my experience, this rarely is the case, and such reinventions are generally more of a way for a director to stamp his or her stylistic … Read more