Theatrical Plays

Theater Issue 2013: Why Be a Playwright in L.A.?

Alexander Woo, a Playwright Who Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the 'Idiot Box'

Why Be a Playwright in L.A.? 5 Writers Share their Reasons

The pay stinks. Hollywood is more glamorous (and pays more). And Broadway is 3,000 miles away. So why be a playwright in L.A.? That's the question posed by our theater issue this year, which comes out just in time for our theater awards on Monday. Check out Steven Leigh Morris' main story in the i ... More >>

The Nether, Jennifer Haley's New Play at Kirk Douglas Theatre, Takes Place in a Virtual Reality of Sexual Fantasies

The pay stinks. Hollywood is more glamorous (and pays more). And Broadway is 3,000 miles away. So why be a playwright in L.A.? That's the question posed by our theater issue this year, which comes out just in time for our theater awards on Monday. Check out Steven Leigh Morris' main story in the i ... More >>

Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including a Triumphant Return of a Latter-Day Judy Garland

Tracie Bennett knocked the socks off our critic Tom Provenzano with her impersonation of Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow at the Ahmanson, which he made this week's Pick of the Week. Also Bill Raden had good things to say about S.O.E. -- Jami Brandli's clever, three-character riff on the venerable ... More >>

A New Play About...LAUSD School Lunch?

Cornerstone Theatre Company does not believe in art for art's sake. Nor, for that matter, do they believe in merely putting on plays. At least not in the marbled-restroom, big-ticket-opulent sense of, say, the way the Taper puts on plays. Rather, Cornerstone believes in art as a means of social cha ... More >>

Donald Freed's Play Tomorrow Interlinks Macbeth, George W. Bush and a Theatrical Dynasty

Cornerstone Theatre Company does not believe in art for art's sake. Nor, for that matter, do they believe in merely putting on plays. At least not in the marbled-restroom, big-ticket-opulent sense of, say, the way the Taper puts on plays. Rather, Cornerstone believes in art as a means of social cha ... More >>

Nina Raine's Play Tribes Depicts a Family That Talks a Lot But Doesn't Listen

Cornerstone Theatre Company does not believe in art for art's sake. Nor, for that matter, do they believe in merely putting on plays. At least not in the marbled-restroom, big-ticket-opulent sense of, say, the way the Taper puts on plays. Rather, Cornerstone believes in art as a means of social cha ... More >>

Emancipation Proclamations

Ingmar Bergman's Nora and two plays by Horton Foote at Open Fist Theatre present defiant women, in ways that feel almost nostalgic

L.A. Theater 2013: A Preview

Ingmar Bergman's Nora and two plays by Horton Foote at Open Fist Theatre present defiant women, in ways that feel almost nostalgic

Jon Robin Baitz's Play Other Desert Cities at the Mark Taper Forum, Reviewed

Ingmar Bergman's Nora and two plays by Horton Foote at Open Fist Theatre present defiant women, in ways that feel almost nostalgic

Ovation Awards 2012: Center Theatre Group Leads L.A. Theater Prizes Announced Last Night

Center Theatre Group, which runs the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre downtown and the Kirk Dougas Theatre in Culver City, got lots of love at the 2012 Ovation Awards Monday night at downtown's Los Angeles Theatre. The company was awarded Best Season, while the Michael Arabian's staging of Wai ... More >>

How a Tiny L.A. Theater Succeeded by Focusing on Local Playwrights -- Leading to a New Stage Version of King Kong

Whether or not Los Angeles is a "theater town," it is certainly a town filled with theaters -- and actors. Small stages and itinerant acting companies are as ubiquitous here as car dealerships, and it's difficult to spit or pay a restaurant check without encountering another headshot-packing devotee ... More >>

Playwright Charles Mee Wants You to Steal From Him, Because He Will Steal From You

See also: *Our Latest Theater Reviews In Under Construction, a 2009 work by endlessly curious playwright Charles Mee, a character says, "If I understand something, I have no further use for it." Considering the world premiere of his latest play, Orestes 3.0: Inferno -- now playing at City Garage ... More >>

Mary Poppins, Moliere, 12 Angry Men and a Japanese Swordfight Play in This Week's New Theater Reviews

A bucket full of enthusiastic reviews this week, starting with the Pick of the Week, Sweet Thursday, Pacific Resident Theatre's stage adaptation of the novel by John Steinbeck. Also garnering good notices: Neo Ensemble Theatre's Epic Proportions, Moliere's The Fools at Santa Monica Playhouse, also i ... More >>

Radar L.A. Returns Next Year, Plus the Latest New Theater Reviews

Radar L.A., the festival of local and Pacific Rim performance troupes that performed last summer, has secured the funding to return to Los Angeles in September, 2013. This was confirmed by Olga Garay, Executive Director of L.A. city's Department of Cultural Affairs, and Diane Rodriguez, Director of ... More >>

Sex-Change Comedy (Missing Dick), in the Latest New Theater Reviews, Plus New Works Festivals Bustin' Out

REDCAT's annual New Original Works Festival opens this weekend with Poor Dog Group's The Murder Ballad; Opera Povera's To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation; and puppeteer Susan Simpson's, Exhibit A. For compete schedule visit redcat.orgNext week, the Ojai Playwri ... More >>

The New Electric Ballroom, House and Very Still and Hard to See

Three plays that favor genuine emotion, at Rogue Machine and the Production Company at the Lex

A String of GOs in This Week's New Theater Reviews, Plus a Best of Fringe Award

The third annual Hollywood Fringe festival is now history, and this L.A. Weekly best of award goes to Eric Davis' demonic Red Bastard. Also check out this week's stage feature on Theatricum Botanicum's production of Shaw's The Heartbreak House, and Guy Zimmerman's The Black Glass. Our critics were ... More >>

Why Clybourne Park Is Overrated

I have a dirty theater secret: I thought Clybourne Park was pretty good. As in merely pretty good. As opposed to the modern classic it's now perceived to be, after its premiere Off-Broadway brought it the Pulitzer Prize, followed by runs at the Mark Taper Forum, a hop to Broadway, and finally, on Su ... More >>

Fellowship!: the musical parody of Lord of the Rings Returns to the Steve Allen Theater, Plus the Latest New Theater Reviews

Bryan Harnetiaux's new play, Holding On -- Letting Go is difficult to watch for the way it captures the realistic agonies of a wife slowly losing her husband to liver cancer. It is nonetheless a tender drama, well rendered under James Reynold's direction at the Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasade ... More >>

Quiara Alegria Hudes wins 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama; Good People at the Geffen, and More New Reviews...

David Lindsay-Abaire's Tony-nominated play about class rifts in America, Good People, now playing at the Geffen, is this week's Pick of the Week, by Neal Weaver. Paul Birchall was also taken with Doug Knott's autobiographical solo show at the Asylum Lab Theatre, Last of the Knotts Find all the lates ... More >>

We Don't Need No Playwright: How Ensemble-Created Work Is Changing L.A. Theater

David Lindsay-Abaire's Tony-nominated play about class rifts in America, Good People, now playing at the Geffen, is this week's Pick of the Week, by Neal Weaver. Paul Birchall was also taken with Doug Knott's autobiographical solo show at the Asylum Lab Theatre, Last of the Knotts Find all the lates ... More >>

Short Eyes, King of the Desert, The Lonesome West, and more New Stage Reviews . . .

​Miguel Pinero's 1970s prison play Short Eyes nabs this week's Pick of the Week.​ Good notices also for Martin McDonagh's The Lonesome West at Santa Monica's Ruskin Theatre Group; Rene Rivera's King of the Desert at Casa 0101 in East L.A.; and Molly Smith Metzer's new play, Elemeno Pea at South ... More >>

Seminar, Maple and Vine and The Mountaintop in New York

​Miguel Pinero's 1970s prison play Short Eyes nabs this week's Pick of the Week.​ Good notices also for Martin McDonagh's The Lonesome West at Santa Monica's Ruskin Theatre Group; Rene Rivera's King of the Desert at Casa 0101 in East L.A.; and Molly Smith Metzer's new play, Elemeno Pea at South ... More >>

Gregory Moss' House of Gold

Ionesco Meets JonBenet Ramsay

Gil Cates dies at 77

Craig SchwartzA Noise Within cuts open a new path in Pasadena​GIL CATES DIES: The Geffen Playhouse's artistic director, and Academy Awards producer, was found in a UCLA parking lot Monday night, having died of natural causes. More on this story to come. A Noise Within opened it's new Pasadena digs ... More >>

For the Record: The Coen Bros.: a Cabaret Show About Big Lebowski Filmmakers, and Other Reviews

​Anti-Semitic graffiti found on a market wall in central Houston last month is just one symptom of why The Merchant of Venice belongs on our shores. The Porters of Hellgate have their version running at the Whitmore Theatre in North Hollywood. See Theater feature on Wednesday​Capsule reviews of ... More >>

D. Tucker Smith's Quake

​Anti-Semitic graffiti found on a market wall in central Houston last month is just one symptom of why The Merchant of Venice belongs on our shores. The Porters of Hellgate have their version running at the Whitmore Theatre in North Hollywood. See Theater feature on Wednesday​Capsule reviews of ... More >>

Stage Raw: Othello

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS (after the jump) NEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Merry Wives of Windsor in Topanga Canyon and Griffith ParkBrian HelmOthello​On a care-free, car-free Carmageddon weekend, all of our critics got to their shows. Among the favorites, Lovell Estell III's warm apprai ... More >>

Stage Raw: D is for Dog

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Gregg Ostrin's KowalskiKris BicknellD is for Dog​This week, Deborah Klugman was smitten with Kate Polebaum's new play about 1950 suburbia gone awry, D is for Dog. Also, weekly critics filed strong reviews this week for As You Like ... More >>

Gregg Ostrin's Kowalski

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Gregg Ostrin's KowalskiKris BicknellD is for Dog​This week, Deborah Klugman was smitten with Kate Polebaum's new play about 1950 suburbia gone awry, D is for Dog. Also, weekly critics filed strong reviews this week for As You Like ... More >>

Stage Raw: Posting Delayed

COMPLETE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Radar L.A.With apologies for the delay, This week's NEW THEATER REVIEWS will be posted tonight.

Stage Raw: Bash'd

NEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Radar L.A.Sean LambertBash'd, A Gay Rap Opera​A string of recommends comes with this week's theater reviews: Bash'd, A Gay Rap Opera at Celebration Theatre, Blackbird at Rogue Machine, Blood Wedding at the Odyssey, Broadsword at the Back Dahlia, Closet Land at ... More >>

We'll Do Our Own Damn Theater Panel: 'Uninvited' 99-Seat Theaters Rebel Against Radar L.A. and TCG

Stephen BirchPadua Playwrights' Guy Zimmerman makes a point​ The first jolt of Los Angeles' big summer of theater came to its convulsive close yesterday with the final curtain of the Radar L.A. festival and the wrap of downtown's TCG National Theater Conference. And even as the last of the vis ... More >>

Theater Reviews

Stephen BirchPadua Playwrights' Guy Zimmerman makes a point​ The first jolt of Los Angeles' big summer of theater came to its convulsive close yesterday with the final curtain of the Radar L.A. festival and the wrap of downtown's TCG National Theater Conference. And even as the last of the vis ... More >>

Stage Raw: Aaron Sorkin's First Stage Play

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS NEW THEATER REVIEWS Stage FEATURE on The Chinese Massacre and House of the Rising Son ​Maia MadisonAaron Sorkin's first stage play, Hidden in This Picture, is reviewed by Amy Nicholson; Neal Weaver was taken with the collection of theater-celeb-scribed gay-theme ... More >>

Tom Jacobson's The Chinese Massacre (Annotated) and House of the Rising Son

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS NEW THEATER REVIEWS Stage FEATURE on The Chinese Massacre and House of the Rising Son ​Maia MadisonAaron Sorkin's first stage play, Hidden in This Picture, is reviewed by Amy Nicholson; Neal Weaver was taken with the collection of theater-celeb-scribed gay-theme ... More >>

Stage Raw: Juno and the Paycock

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on God of Carnage and The Merchant of Venice​Photo by Ron Sossi Writes Paul Birchall of Sean O'Casey's play at the Odyssey, "This staging of O'Casey's play artfully mixes blarney and despair in almost equal measure." Mayank Keshaviah e ... More >>

Theater Reviews: The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Crucible, Goodbye, Louie ... Hello

Also, Tartuffe, Silent Sky, The Bluest Eye and more

Stage Raw: The Crucible

New Theater ReviewsTheater Awards ReportTheater Awards Slide-Show by Timothy Norris​Photo by Byron Turk is from Theatre Banshee's production of The Crucible, which critic Amy Lyons argues is a powerful manifestation of our culture of fear; Bill Raden was less impressed with Lauren Gunderson's new ... More >>

L.A. Theater's Moment of Truth

In the national spotlight this summer, will we show we've grown up, or just embarrass ourselves?

Stage Raw: Pursued by Happiness

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Edward Anthony's Wish I Had a Sylvia PlathL.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDS NOMINEES                          & ... More >>

Theater Reviews: The Birthday Present, Broken Glass, The Eccentricities of a Nightingale

Also, Endgame, Girls Talk, Bonded and more

Stage Raw: Eccentricites of a Nightingale

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Free $$$ and TrioL.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDS NOMINEESNEW REVIEW GO THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE ​Photo by Craig Schwartz It's New Year's Eve in Tennessee Williams' drama, and Alma Winemiller is enchanted by the crisp snaps ... More >>

Mondays L.A.: Naked and Furious

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Free $$$ and TrioL.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDS NOMINEESNEW REVIEW GO THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE ​Photo by Craig Schwartz It's New Year's Eve in Tennessee Williams' drama, and Alma Winemiller is enchanted by the crisp snaps ... More >>

Neil LaBute's The Break of Noon and Crack Whore Galore — Live!

Prophets and profits

Tennessee Williams, Wired

The Wooster Group's Vieux Carre at REDCAT

Lemon Durang Pie

The Wooster Group's Vieux Carre at REDCAT

Stage Raw: Hyperbole: Origins

NEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on John Steppling's Phantom LuckNEW REVIEW  GO HYPERBOLE: ORIGINS ​ Photo by Rogue Theatre Ensemble It's not easy to wrap sentences around this fantastical storytelling spectacle created by a collaboration of artists under Sean T. Calwelti's direction, a ... More >>