Terry Morgan – ArtsBeat LA, reviewed at Rubicon Theatre, January 2023. The first time I saw a play by Will Eno was about 15 years ago, by Circle X Theatre Company of The Flu Season. It was an excellent production in many ways, but there was one scene in which a character died, and instead of having … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania Ava: The Secret Conversations, written by and starring Elizabeth McGovern, looks at the life of golden-age movie star Ava Gardner. But oddly, it focuses more on a periphery character, a sycophantic hack writer. This might come as a disappointment to those who want to spend time with Gardner rather than this … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw. In Manuel Puig’s stage play, Kiss of the Spider Woman, two fundamentally different personalities — a gay man accused of sexual relations with a minor, and a political prisoner-slash-macho straight guy working to overthrow a repressive regime — are housed together in a dingy cell with wretched food, dim lighting, … Read more
Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld. Tony-nominated playwright Lucas Hnath’s THE THIN PLACE is an eerie meditation on grief, regret and the need for closure, though it is undermined by the lack of a satisfying conclusion… Obie Award- and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning Hnath (“Red Speedo”; “A Doll’s House, Part 2”) carefully delineates each character with precise … Read more
Dana Martin – Stage Raw. Center Theatre Group meets the moment with Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, conceived, written and revised by Anna Deavere Smith. The original production premiered on Broadway in April, 1994. Smith wrote it as a solo piece, which she developed from hundreds of interviews following the 1992 L.A. uprising. This updated version has expanded … Read more
Terry Morgan – ArtsBeat LA. As part of its “Sondheim Celebration” this year, the Pasadena Playhouse has a new production of Sunday, but although it is professionally done and largely enjoyable, a couple of issues in direction and performance keep this show from being everything it could be… Alabado is terrific as Dot, an appealing combination of … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw. The Trump administration was noted for an almost Shakespearian level of hubris, and the world is still waiting with bated breath for the comeuppance we’ve always been told follows such behavior. Life always models itself after literature, right? For those of us who can’t wait for reality to accord with … Read more
Terry Morgan – ArtsBeat LA. Plays in which family secrets are tragically revealed are nothing new – Oedipus and his mom were shocking audiences back as far as 429 BCE. In the U.S., the 500 lb. gorilla of this genre would be Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night, and the most influential of recent plays of … Read more
Patrick Chavis – LA Theatre Bites Circle X Theatre Company’s West Coast premiere production of Do You Feel Anger? @ Atwater Village Theatre – 10 out of 10 – Masterpiece! LA THEATRE BITES RECOMMENDED. Read more… Terry Morgan – Stage Raw There’s a Cowboy Junkies song from 1993 called “Hunted,” which is about the ever-present threat of … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw There has been much discussion in recent years on social media concerning whether or not the 1998 film Die Hard qualifies as “a Christmas movie.” On the surface, the Bruce Willis actioner may not seem to be a good candidate for “holiday classic,” what with its brutal murders, hangings and cocaine abuse. … Read more