Stage Raw

THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM – 1963 at the Hudson Backstage

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Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw The title of the play — which is adapted by Reginald Andre Jackson from the novel by Christopher Paul Curtis — might suggest a hard-core diatribe about racism, but fortunately it takes a gentler approach. The first act is largely a domestic comedy that deals with such issues as bullying, … Read more

THE HOTHOUSE at Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center

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Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen It’s Christmas Day at a psychiatric hospital, and its director is having a stressful morning. Patient 6457 has unexpectedly died and patient 6459 has given birth, and neither event looks very good for the institution. As the day progresses, things only get more and more out of control … Read more

THE CHOSEN at the Fountain Theatre

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Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen Reuven and Danny spend their childhoods living five blocks apart, but only meet for the first time as teenagers when a contentious baseball game ends with one of them in the hospital. This sets the scene for The Chosen, adapted for the stage by Aaron Posner and Chaim … Read more

A DELICATE SHIP at the Road on Magnolia

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Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw Anna Ziegler’s play is a subtle examination of tangled human emotions — perceptive but only moderately satisfying. The play is threaded with many references to the mythological Icarus who fell to his death when he flew too close to the sun. Sarah quotes W. H. Auden’s poem “Musee Des Beaux … Read more

FREUD’S LAST SESSION at the Odyssey Theatre

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Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw George Bernard Shaw once observed that it is useless to argue with a clergyman because his livelihood depends on his not changing his mind. But the remark could equally well be applied to anyone whose career depends on defending and maintaining a particular point of view —and that could be … Read more

LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS at the Hudson Guild Theatre

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Lovell Estell III — Stage RawSam Steiner’s wildly eccentric two-hander follows the relationship of Bernadette (Brynn Alexander) and Oliver (Philip Asta) as they struggle to exist in an Orwellian world on steroids, where the government limits the number of words citizens can use daily. It’s an engaging premise with abundant potential, yet the playwright fails … Read more

BUGABOO & THE SILENT ONE at the Lounge Theatre

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Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw Bugaboo (Bug) is the nickname of a feisty blue-collar woman (Heidi Sulzman) who’s incarcerated in the Henderson County, West Virginia jail on a drug charge. She’s been alone in her cell for 42 days, which is hard on her because she’s a compulsive non-stop talker and has been deprived of … Read more

SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS at The Eli & Edythe Broad Stage

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Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw If film is primarily a visual medium, then theatre is mainly about the spoken word. The emphasis should fall upon “spoken.” Plays are meant to be performed, not read. So, when playwright Bess Wohl decided to make her play Small Mouth Sounds largely silent, she was adding a level of difficulty to … Read more

ALADDIN at the Pantages Theatre

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Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen There is an inescapable nostalgia factor attached to Disney Theatrical Productions, and it was on full display at the Pantages in Los Angeles last night as the national tour of Aladdin opened to a very receptive crowd. For the most part, this stage adaptation of the 1992 film, which debuted … Read more