Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA A chilling stage adaptation of Orwell’s novel 1984 is now playing at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica through February 6. This adaptation, written and directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan, highlights today’s serious issues of state-sponsored surveillance, identity and intrusions into our privacy. Read more… Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Another day, … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw In a month where various iterations of A Christmas Carol proliferate like mistletoe, an antidote is required for those of us who prefer our holiday spirits bottled. Bob’s Holiday Office Party, written by Joe Keyes and Rob Elk, has been fulfilling this duty for two decades. Unfortunately, this twentieth anniversary production is … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly If you’re in need of a diversion in these terrible, wearisome times — and surely we all are — might I suggest Theatre of Note’s uproarious staging of Bill Robens’ western parody Rio Hondo, under the imaginative direction of Jaime Robledo. Read more… Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Even a fan of … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw As Pete Townshend was once known to opine, “The world begins behind your neighbor’s walls.” It’s one of the core mysteries of modern life – what do people do or say when they think they’re unobserved or unheard? Read more… Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly The characters In Jonathan Caren’s contemporary … Read more
Les Spindle – Edge on the Net In “Appropriate,” the initial conventionality in introducing the characters and basic storyline elicits raucous and sardonic laughs, as the depth of resentments among the siblings and their family members gradually come to light. Yet, there’s far more than garden-variety family baggage afoot here, Read more… Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Every theater company has its ups and downs. It’s the nature of artistic endeavor. Evidence Room, celebrating its 20th anniversary as a company, has an admirable history of successful and award-winning plays, most recently with its producing partner, the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble. Unfortunately, their new show, Martin Crimp’s adaptation of Pierre … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw One of the beauties of Natsu Onoda Power’s play is that it’s just as enjoyable for neophytes to “manga” (Japanese comics) as it would be for cognoscenti. The main reason to see this new show at Sacred Fools, however, is the spectacular production. Jaime Robledo’s direction is brilliantly creative, pushing … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw “Nothing human disgusts me,” goes the famous quote from Tennessee Williams’s The Night of the Iguana, and Steven Fechter’s play The Woodsman puts that credo to the test for theater audiences. It deals with the difficult subject of a pedophile trying to resist his baser urges and to become a better man, and it … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw John Bunzel’s new play is reminiscent of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, but more comedic in intent. The story takes place in the milieu of “wealth management” during a fictional financial catastrophe as the various characters attempt to screw each other over or profit from the chaos. Read more… Steven Leigh Morris – … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Rebecca Gilman’s 2000 play about stalking, Boy Gets Girl, unfortunately hasn’t become any less relevant 15 years after its initial production. Her observations that male dominance and female submission is culturally reinforced, and that most “romantic” movies are essentially stalker how-to guides, still hold true, which gives the play an undeniable … Read more