{"id":767,"date":"2023-06-07T01:17:25","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T01:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/remake\/?p=767"},"modified":"2023-06-12T00:39:08","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T00:39:08","slug":"best-of-best-of-this-week-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/remake\/best-of-best-of-this-week-this-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of Best of This Week This Week"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

Best of Best of This Week This Week<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

Reviewed by Mart\u1f77n Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong>
\nOpen Fist Theatre Company at Atwater Village Theatre<\/strong><\/em>
\nThrough April 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Following in the satirical footsteps of\u00a0Saturday Night Live\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Daily Show<\/em>, this Open Fist Company production takes the past year\u2019s cream of the crop of its Thursday night comedy sketch show,\u00a0This Week This Week<\/em>, and skewers our calamitous society with mostly hilarious results. Creator and director Ron West and his exuberant ensemble, writers, and a special guest artist deliver a cornucopia of skits revealing that just because one possesses a high position does not mean one possesses a high intellect. In fact, mediocrity just may win one the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorkshop,\u201d written by West, decimates corporate culture as a facilitator (guest star Rebecca Metz from FX\u2019s\u00a0Better Things<\/em>\u00a0at this performance) leads a seminar where cooperation is essential, but the screwball office workers attending only prove that, yes, there is an \u201cI\u201d in team. Ash (Ash Sanford), overflowing with White culture, goofily answers test questions from her \u201csistah\u201d Mary (Mary Valena Broussard) to determine how Black she is to regain her \u201cBlack Card,\u201d written by April Barnett. The hilarious \u201cCivil War Next Door (Murder House),\u201d by Amanda Weier, mixes Ken Burns\u2019s PBS documentary oeuvre with Nextdoor.com comments from wealthy L.A. environs, delivered in exaggerated Southern accents by the cast. All of this highlights the exclusive inclinations of such patrician enclaves on a website that supposedly celebrates diversity and community \u2014 \u00a0accompanied by that insufferable fiddle music from the original series.<\/p>\n

With Russia desperate for new recruits for its invasion of Ukraine, Putin resorts to an outrageous scam, tricking Hollywood actors into thinking they\u2019re auditioning for a fake war movie in Rob Janas\u2019s over-the top \u201cOh, Say, Can You Stanislavski?\u201d A conceited Guy Travis (Brendan Mulally) gets the role, but can the Meisner Technique save him and his new comrades from a Ukrainian onslaught? The show\u2019s take on North Korea\u2019s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un (Saunders) in \u201cNorth Korean Rocket Show\u201d by David Doman, however, falls flat from predictability. Also, as in reality, Donald Trump\u2019s (Mulally) presence as the whipping boy in a number of pieces gets tiresome.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnchorman\u201d George Caleodis pops in between skits with uproarious and up-to-date news reports lambasting SpaceX, Amazon, hypocritical politicians, right-to-lifers, bank failures (\u201cWho told 2008 it could return?\u201d), and Duke University\u2019s March Madness rankings. While his jabs are mostly aimed at conservatives, liberals are not immune. Caleodis describes former L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti\u2019s parents spending $90,000 to lobby for his ambassadorship to India as \u201cthe most expensive study abroad program ever\u201d and President Biden also gets rightfully slammed for opening Alaska to oil companies, defaulting on his campaign promise of \u201cno more drilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the final piece \u201cBest Day Ever\u201d by Alaina Warren Zachary portrays a hysterical lovefest between Biden (Eric Carthen) and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Lou Saliba) \u2014 to the tune of \u201cWe Go Together\u201d from\u00a0Grease\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 the fact that the USA has appropriated $115 billion of tax money for Ukraine while this country goes to hell in a handbasket, there may be extra grist for more bipartisan parodies.<\/p>\n

Open Fist Theatre Company at Atwater Village Theatre, 3629 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Apr. 2.\u00a0www.openfist.org<\/a>. Approximate running time: 80 minutes with no intermission.<\/em><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”902″ image_size=”full” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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