Stage Raw

ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE at Pacific Resident Theatre

by

Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw Eccentricities of a Nightingale was Tennessee Williams’ 1951 rewrite of his earlier Summer and Smoke. It was supposedly his preferred version of the story, and one can see why. The main character of Alma is more clearly delineated, and the drama springs more from her choices than from fate. The current production … Read more

DISGRACED at the Mark Taper Forum

by

Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw Because of the confluence of events surrounding the American presidential election — including Donald Trump’s provocative and unconstitutional attempts to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S., the mass shootings in Orlando, and the heated debate about how to deal with Muslim terrorists, Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning Disgraced seems even more relevant than … Read more

HOME/SICK at the Odyssey Theatre

by

Myron Meisel – Stage Raw Most of American society tends to regard terrorism as a contemporary phenomenon, part of our unshakeable conviction in the uniqueness of our own experience. In fact, terrorism has been a constant in world politics since at least the French Revolution, inevitably perceived in terms ranging from ignoble to glorious. So … Read more

SPEAKING IN TONGUES at the Matrix Theatre

by

Myron Meisel – Stage Raw Australian Theatre Company, formed by local Aussie talent to showcase their national theater literature, returns to the Matrix after their successful 2014 debut, Holding the Man, with a double presentation (not in repertory) of two major opuses playing alternately through a four week run: Read more… Now running through July 2

BULL at The MET Theatre

by

Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw Mike Bartlett’s Bull, a loose companion piece to his play, Cock, is witty and devastating in its depiction of workplace cruelty. Although it can be hard to watch, Rogue Machine’s West Coast premiere is a terrific production, tightly directed by Jennifer Pollono and brilliantly acted by a superb ensemble. Read more… Now … Read more

POWER! STOKELY CARMICHAEL at the Lounge Theatre

by

Lovell Estell III – Stage Raw Though he is not as well known or recognized as Malcom X or Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael, a.k.a., Kwame Toure, was a firebrand Black Nationalist, revolutionary and civil rights activist who left an indelible mark on the stormy era of the 1960’s. The man who coined the phrase, … Read more

HEDDDA GABLER at the Antaeus Theatre Company

by

Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly If you’re someone who usually dismisses 19th-century theater classics as stuffy and stiff, you might want to reconsider and go see Hedda Gabler at Antaeus Theatre Company, where Jaimi Paige delivers a mesmerizing performance as the beautiful and manipulative title character. Read more… Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze Who is … Read more

BILLIE HOLIDAY: FRONT AND CENTER at the Fremont Center Theatre

by

Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Fans of “swing” and the singing of Billie Holiday will appreciate the music in Billie Holiday: Front and Center. The show, directed by B’Anca, features Sybil Harris as the renowned songstress, who suffered racist affronts throughout her professional career but ultimately wowed audiences at Carnegie Hall before dying prematurely of cirrhosis … Read more