Deborah Klugman

Credit: Ed Krieger

Best Theater Serving Its Community

CASA 0101, founded by Latina playwright and community spokeswoman Josefina Lopez in 2000, was birthed in a humble converted storefront in Boyle Heights, catering from the start to a neighborhood audience that has supported it with gusto. In 2011, the company acquired a second location — a larger, more modern......
Emily Robinson

A Play About Well-To-Do White People, Minus Any Pesky Social Commentary

The marital problems of an upper-middle-class couple (with particular focus on the vague discontent of an adulterous wife) are the stuff of soap opera. Without unique or vivid characters, meaningful social commentary, or rich and textured dialogue, chances are the play won’t be involving. Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros' Big Sky, directed by......
Jaimi Paige and Daniel Blinkoff in Hedda Gabler at Antaeus Theatre Company; Credit: Photo by Karianne Flaathen

Not All 19th-Century Theater Classics Are Stuffy and Stiff

If you’re someone who usually dismisses 19th century theater classics as stuffy and stiff, you might want to reconsider and go see Hedda Gabler at Antaeus Theatre Company, where Jaimi Paige delivers a mesmerizing performance as the beautiful and manipulative title character. Henrik Ibsen’s play caused a scandal after its......
Julian Rozzell Jr.

The Story of a Slave Named Hero Has the Trappings of a Greek Tragedy

If Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks weren't already established in our 21st century pantheon of foremost American playwrights, Father Comes Home From the Wars would place her there. The first three parts of a projected nine-part cycle, Father Comes Home at the Mark Taper Forum is a drama of epic proportion......
Connor Kelly-Eiding as Ester and Teagan Rose as Amy in Dry Land; Credit: Photo by Darrett Sanders

A Teen Exercises Her Right to Choose Right Before Our Eyes

With the right to choose under fire nationwide, a play featuring a 17-year-old grappling with an unwanted pregnancy couldn’t be timelier. Ruby Rae Spiegel’s Dry Land, directed by Alana Dietz for the Echo Theater Company, fits that description. The high point is a riveting scene in which Amy (Teagan Rose),......