David C. Nichols – LA Times
“I’m smarter than most people. That’s why I’m unemployed and living in a one-bedroom apartment in Hollywood.”
So says the protagonist of “The Twilight of Schlomo” at the Elephant Space, and there’s more than just sardonic humor in that assessment. Timothy McNeil’s maturation into one of our most original playwrights continues with this compelling study of a former stand-up comic at the crossroads, possibly his best work yet.
Read more…
Neal Weaver – Arts in LA
The antihero of Timothy McNeil’s play, the third work in his Hollywood Trilogy, is Richard (Jonathan Goldstein), a former standup comedian who abandoned his profession seven years ago—or perhaps it abandoned him. Now he lives in a drab one-bedroom apartment in east Hollywood and works as a wine salesman. Read more…
Les Spindle – Frontiers L.A.
The Yiddish term schlemiel is defined as “an awkward and unlucky person for whom things never turn out right.” In The Twilight of Schlomo, by accomplished Angeleno playwright Timothy McNeil, the plight of an unseen but mentioned character named Schlomo underlines the play’s key themes. The fine line between a typical schlemiel and the ill-fated Schlomo illuminates the ways that despair and humor can be only a heartbeat apart. McNeil’s seriocomedy about contemporary ennui in the urban jungle offers a portrait of the midlife crisis of an endearing lost soul named Richard, struggling to maintain a meaningful existence in a funky East Hollywood neighborhood. Read more…
Now running through February 9.