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The First Deep Breath Reviewed by Deborah Klugman Geffen Playhouse Through March 5 There are moments in Lee Edward Colston II’s family melodrama where one or another of the characters reflect on human behavior in an eloquent and/or meaningful way. These are moving moments when, watching intently, you think to yourself: I know so well […]
Nimrod Reviewed by Terry Morgan Theatre of NOTE Through March 19 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 […]
Harold and Maude Reviewed by G. Bruce Smith The Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre Through March 19 RECOMMENDED Harold and Maude, the 1971 dark comedy film that was commercially and critically unsuccessful when first released but eventually attracted a cult following, is also an adapted stage play (by the late Colin Higgins, author […]
The Dry YearsReviewed by Steven Leigh MorrisGhost Road Theatre Company at The Broadwater StageThrough March 4 RECOMMENDEDThere’s so much to recommend in Christine Breihan’s staging of John Guerra’s play, even though the work feels in need of one more pass to address some dramaturgical clutter.Let’s start with the almost gothic beauty of a rural, drought-plagued California valley […]
Ride the CycloneReviewed by Katie BuennekeChance TheaterThrough February 26“Lip sync for your life!” RuPaul tells contestants every week on Drag Race. Ride the Cyclone, now making its California premiere at Chance Theater in Anaheim, makes a similar proclamation, impelling six dead teenagers to sing for a chance to leave the show’s carnival purgatory and survive […]
Selling KabulReviewed by F. Kathleen FoleyEnsemble Theatre Company at the New VicThrough February 19From the fall of Saigon to the abandonment of the Kurds in Northern Syria, the U.S. has a dismal track record when it comes to the treatment of allies in war zones.Sylvia Khoury’s Pulitzer-finalist play, Selling Kabul, now being presented by the Ensemble […]
Not/NowReviewed by Taylor KassWrite Act RepertoryThrough March 5It’s every millennial’s worst nightmare — one tiny text typo and an entire friend group throws a surprise party for their bestie who they thought was now engaged, but who is very much not engaged. In Not/Now’s world-premiere production at Write Act Repertory, playwright Darrin Yalacki and director […]
StagedReviewed by Dana MartinLaguna PlayhouseThrough February 25Not every new work is stage worthy. Laguna Playhouse’s new comedy Staged by Martin Bergman and Rita Rudner finds charm in fits and spurts but the world-premiere production is clunky and underwhelming.Fenella Fennington (Rudner) and Jarvis Haverly (Mike McShane) are a star-studded couple in a stormy marriage that ends […]
