Steven Leigh Morris
2011 MARK TAPER FORUM SEASON ANNOUNCED
John Lithgow Photo by Nigel Perry
John Lithgow will ring in the New Year spinning yarns in Stories By Heart, previously produced at the Lincoln Center and at the National Theatre of Great Britain. Jane Fonda stars in Moisés Kaufman's 33 Variations (to be performed at the Ahmanson). The docket also includes Lanford Wilson's Burn This and Theresa Rebeck's family drama, The Novelist. Closing the season is Morris Panych's Vigil, directed by the author and starring Olympia Dukakis “in a clever pas de deux that re-defines the word droll“
CITY GARAGE BIDS FAREWELL TO THE ALLEY BEHIND THE MALL
City Garage artistic director Frederique Michel said that due to a major funder ceasing subsidy to the company next year, 2010 will mark the final year of the theater at its Fourth Street, Santa Monica location, that it's held for 15 years. Charles Mee's Paradise Park will be the closing production there. Relocation plans for 2011 are unclear, at this point.
For COMPLETE THEATER LISTINGS, press the More tab directly below
COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS for August 27-Sept. 2, 2010
Our critics are Pauline Adamek, Paul Birchall, Lovell Estell III,
Rebecca Haithcoat, Martin Hernandez, Mayank Keshaviah, Deborah Klugman,
Steven Leigh Morris, Amy Nicholson, Tom Provenzano, Bill Raden, Luis
Reyes, Sandra Ross and Neal Weaver. These listings were compiled by
Derek Thomas
Productions are sequenced alphabetically in the following
cagtegories: Opening This Week, Larger Theaters regionwide, Smaller
Theaters in Hollywood, Smaller Theaters in the valleys , Smaller
Theaters on the Westside and in beach towns. You can also search for
any play by title, using your computer's search engine.
OPENING THIS WEEK
ASIMPROV from Tyrone Giordano's workshop., $10. Deaf West Theatre, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; Sept. 2-4, 8 p.m….
THE CLEAN HOUSE “Sarah Ruhl's unpredictable and sublime rumination on
the importance of laughter and mess in our lives.”. International City
Theatre, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach; opens Aug. 27; Fri.; Sat.;
Sun., 2 p.m.; thru Sept. 19. (562) 436-4610.
LAST FARE A one-man mystery written and performed by Dominic
Hoffman., $20. Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice; Sat., Aug.
28, 8 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 29, 7 p.m.; Thurs., Sept. 2, 8 p.m.. (310)
306-1854.
THE MEN OF MAH JONGG Richard Atkins' comedy about four mature Jewish
men finding happiness through the ancient Chinese game of mah jongg.
Theatre 40 at the Reuben Cordova Theater, 241 Moreno Dr., Beverly
Hills; opens Sept. 1; Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru Sept. 26.
(310) 364-0535.
NAACP FESTIVAL OF 10-MINUTE PLAYS Produced by the Beverly
Hills-Hollywood NAACP., $10. Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S. Spring
St., L.A.; Sat., Aug. 28, 3 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 29, 3 p.m.. (213) 489-0994.
NEIGHBORS Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' story of a family of rowdy actors
who move next door to an upwardly mobile academic. Directed by Nataki
Garrett., $25. Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave., L.A.; Sat., Aug. 28,
7:30 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 29, 2:30 p.m.; Thurs., Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m.. (323)
852-1445.
PHI'LA Jamal Y. Speakes' musical addressing “overwrought racial
contention” between friends, centered on a black teenager who moves
from Philadelphia to L.A., $20. Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S.
Spring St., L.A.; Sun., Aug. 29, 8 p.m.. (213) 489-0994.
SACRED FOOLS' CREEPY CARNIVAL! Carny-style madness to kick off the
company's 14th season., $15. Sacred Fools Theater, 660 N. Heliotrope
Dr., L.A.; Sat., Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m.. (310) 281-8337.
SURFIN' TIKI VARIETY SHOW Stories, music, acts and art from the
Captured Aural Phantasy Theater crew., $10. The WHERE Gallery, 1519
Griffith Park Blvd., L.A.; Sat., Aug. 28, 8 p.m….
TAPE Stephen Belber's acclaimed three-person motel-room drama,
directed by Joelle Arqueros., $20. Bill Becker's NoHo Stages, 4934
Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; opens Sept. 2; Thurs., 8:30 p.m.;
thru Sept. 30. 323-839-0023.
TITUS REDUX Circus Theatricals and Not Man Apart Physical Theatre
Ensemble co-produce this high-energy adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.
Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City; opens Aug.
29; Sun., 7 p.m.; Tues.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Sept. 11. (213) 628-2772.
TRANSITIONS A trilogy of one-acts dealing “ordinary people
struggling with a call from God”., $20. Los Angeles Theater Center, 514
S. Spring St., L.A.; Sat., Aug. 28, 8 p.m.. (213) 489-0994.
THE WOMEN Short stories by L.A.'s “best female writers . . .
performed by top film, television and stage actors.”. MBar Supper Club,
1253 N. Vine, L.A.; Fri., Aug. 27, 7:30 p.m….
CONTINUING PERFORMANCESIN LARGER THEATERS REGIONWIDE
GO FREE MAN OF COLOR A young, well-spoken and
highly educated black man is tapped to become the leader of a nation.
But it's not who you think. The year is 1828, the place is Athens,
Ohio, and the man is John Newton Templeton (Kareem Ferguson), a freed
slave whose education is facilitated by the Rev. Robert Wilson (Frank
Ashmore). Wilson, a strictly principled man, enrolls John in Ohio
University. Wilson's wife, Jane (Kathleen Mary Carthy), initially cold
to Templeton when he comes to live with them, softens over time;
however, she plants doubts in Templeton's head about Wilson's plan to
make him the governor of Liberia. Charles Smith's spare three-character
study unfolds through intimate moments and intellectual discourse,
powerfully examining the issues of its day, as well as questions
surrounding citizenship and belonging, which continue to occupy us. The
dialogue is especially refreshing for its crisp diction, for which the
credit goes to both the cast and director Dan Bonnell. The show also
appeals visually, as David Potts' set, consisting of stark silhouettes,
brings to mind both the popular 18th century portraiture and African
woodcuts. Similarly, A. Jeffrey Schoenberg's authentically plain
costumes avoid the dual pitfalls of theatrical period garb, which is
often either too showy or simply looks fake. The cast is stellar all
around, taking us on a journey that stresses the urgency of fulfilling
the promises upon which our country was built. (Mayank Keshaviah).
Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third St., Burbank; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2
p.m.; Sat., 3 p.m.; thru Sept. 12. (818) 558-7000.
HAMLET It's anyone's guess what vision might have guided director
Ellen Geer's fervent but unfocused, Medieval-dress version of
Shakespeare's most baroque and psychologically nuanced tragedy. There's
certainly little hint of the Oedipal undercurrents or political
allegorizing that have been a mainstay of 20th-century productions. Nor
is there much sign of the paralyzing conflict between faith in purpose
and intellectual certainty, which traditionally drives its hero's
famously agonized inaction. In the case of Mike Peebler's Hamlet,
neither his mission nor its justness ever seems in doubt; Peebler
attacks the role with the zeal and righteous wrath of the recently
converted. Even his soliloquies are delivered at the audience as if
from a pulpit. Gertrude (Melora Marshall) in turn appears more pissed
off at her son's increasingly antic disposition than aggrieved by what
it might imply about his sanity. Claudius (Aaron Hendry), by contrast,
comes off as positively good-natured, a guy caught with his hand in the
cookie jar rather than his fingerprints all over a nefarious regicide.
Willow Geer is convincing as a feisty yet vulnerable Ophelia, though
even here the method of her madness seems more a response to the murder
of Polonius (a very broad Carl Palmer) than any jilting by Hamlet.
Director Geer keeps it all moving at a fast clip, but some
exasperatingly eccentric blocking divides the focus of too many
critical turning points — most egregiously in the mousetrap scene —
all but obliterating their dramatic purpose. (Bill Raden). Will Geer
Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga; Sat., Aug.
28, 4 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 12, 3:30 p.m.; Sat.,
Sept. 18, 4 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 19, 3:30 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 25, 5 p.m.;
Sat., Oct. 2, 4 p.m.. (310) 455-3723.
LIFE COULD BE A DREAM Writer-director Roger Bean's doo-wop jukebox
musical. Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach;
Sat.-Sun., 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Tues.-Fri., 7:30 p.m.; thru Aug. 29.
(949) 497-2787.
GO LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE Ilene Beckerman's
book, on which Delia Ephron and Nora Ephron based their “intimate
collection of stories,” is the kind you'd grab from the display near
the register at a Barnes and Nobles, to serve as a dressy envelope for
a birthday check to your goddaughter or an upgraded Mother's Day card.
But if the recipient read it instead of tossing in onto a pile of
similarly gifted minibooks, she'd find a classy little number, a J.
Peterman catalog minus the pretentiousness. With sparse text and
barebones sketches, Beckerman records her history through the clothes
she and her female relatives wore. Director Jenny Sullivan constructs
the stage version in much the same way: The star-studded ensemble wears
black (there's an ode to the color, every woman's old faithful) while
sitting in a straight line; and Carol Kane, who reads as Beckerman,
handles the main prop, a “closet” full of the book's renderings
situated on wire clothes hangers. But this is Nora Ephron, and
chumminess quickly trumps austerity. The scenes themselves are
ruminations on relationships thinly veiled as (mostly) funny riffs on
clothes — Tracee Ellis Ross almost runs away with the show every time
the spotlight's hers but particularly so with “The Shirt.” Kane, who
must be one of the most endearing actors ever, dances her monologues'
transitions so delicately and adroitly you can only marvel. There are a
couple of moments (“The Bathrobe,” “Brides”) during which all but those
with a particularly voracious emotional appetite will find themselves
choking on the syrup. Fortunately, though, the Ephron sisters have
nimbly stitched together the scenes so that there's far more head
nodding than eye rolling. (Rebecca Haithcoat). Geffen Playhouse, 10886
Le Conte Ave., Westwood; Tues.-Fri., Sun., 8 p.m.; Sat., 3 & 8
p.m.; thru Aug. 28. (310) 208-5454.
NEW REVIEW GO
MASTER CLASS
In the wooded Theatricum Botanicum, though
the crickets are competing to hit the high “C,” they can't rattle Ellen
Geer's imperious turn as Maria Callas — the soprano is used to swatting
down her rivals. Today, her targets are the overconfident Julliard
students in her master class: they're too soft, too simple. When it
comes to la Divina and her precious time, these three coeds (Elizabeth
Tobias, Meaghan Boeing and Andreas Beckett) can't win. Weak voices are
an insult, better voices an affront. Would you expect hugs from a
scrapper who saw even the audience as her enemy? Terrence McNally's
fanged comedy is gleeful schadenfreude when Callas destroys these
hopefuls and burnishes her own legend but sublime when discussing the
art of opera — after she's shredded the students' egos, she gifts them
a foundation to rebuild. But while director Heidi Helen Davis helps
Geer sharpen her knives, both are lost in McNally's too on-the-nose
inner monologues. These are meant to expose Callas' vulnerability,
particularly in her memories of Aristotle Onassis, who by the play's
setting had already dumped the diva for Jackie Kennedy. Here, these raw
pains ring like fluttery pop psychology — if Callas heard them, she'd
shriek. “This isn't just opera, this is your life,” she commands, and
like Tosca and Medea, she is the heroine of her own tragedy. Will Geer
Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga; Sat., Aug.
28, 8 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 4, 8 p.m.; Sat.,
Sept. 11, 8 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 25, 4 p.m.
(310) 455-3723. (Amy Nicholson)
NEW REVIEW GO
ON THE VERGE (OR THE GEOGRAPHY OF YEARNING)
When you receive the hieroglyphic text,
“omg r u going to b here l8r?” from your mother, not your preteen
cousin, the days of spitting at the spelling of “Quik,” or “E-Z,” seem
positively quaint. Indeed, “language takes a beating in the future,”
says Harriet Whitmyer as Fanny, one of three spirited, prefeminist
explorers in Eric Overmyers' time-tripping, word-whirling play. For
those greedy geeks of us who've always gobbled sentences faster than
they're written, Overmyer offers the equivalent of a buffet table
buckling under the weight of one of each of Jonathan Gold's “99 Things
to Eat in L.A. Before You Die”: All deserve your undivided attention,
but the next tastes equally as delicious as the last. Yet the true coup
is that Overmyer actually says something with all those lovely words.
Though the women (a terrific Anna Kate Mohler and Susan E. Taylor
complete the trio) are trekking — lustily, not fearfully — through
“terra incognita,” they are unmitigatedly familiar with their internal
ranges. This is an Eden where women can take nips of liquor from their
own flasks, eat “bear chops and moose mousse” and wield knives and guns
with the ease of gangsters, while simultaneously bemoan “life without a
loofah” and sweat over the sight of a man (the funny Diego Parada).
Fear steadily increases, as the future begins to tumble into their
consciousnesses but so does their inclination to embrace it, for better
or worse. Daniel Bergher's and Sean Gray's light and sound designs
nicely complement the dialogue-thick script. Andrew Vonderschmitt
directs. Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St.; Long Beach.
Fri.-Sat., 8:00 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through September 18. (562)
494-1014 (Rebecca Haithcoat)
SMOKE & MIRRORS Will Osborne and Anthony Herrera's mystery, set
on a desert island filming location. Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E.
Anaheim St., Long Beach; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Aug. 28. (562)
494-1014.
SPEAK OF ME AS I AM It's easy to understand why singers and dramatic
artists would want to portray the legendary Paul Robeson. Actor,
athlete, intellect and man of principle, Robeson fearlessly battled for
justice — and paid the price. This solo show, featuring opera baritone
KB Solomon, meshes some of the highlights of Robeson's life with
renditions of the songs (“Old Man River,” “Going Home”) for which he's
most famous. The (uncredited) script relays information about Robeson's
life in no particular order but repeatedly returns to his battle with
HUAC's hearings and their painful aftermath. Directed by Jeffrey
Anderson-Gunter, Solomon (whose bio lists music credits but no acting)
spins an expository monologue that remains on the surface and seems
most suitable for youthful audiences unfamiliar with the material.
Designer Michael Boucher has crafted a low-budget but attractive set,
and Joyce S. Long's lighting adds professional sheen. (Deborah
Klugman). Barnsdall Gallery Theater, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.;
Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; Through Sept. 5.; thru Aug. 29. (323)
960-5772.
THE THREE MUSKATEERS Alexandre Dumas' swashbuckler. Will Geer
Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga; Fri., 8
p.m.; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 26, 7:30
p.m.; Sun., Oct. 3, 3:30 p.m.; thru Sept. 24. (310) 455-3723.
apertickets.com/event/121721. (Bill Raden)
NEW REVIEW GO
A WITHER'S TALE
The Troubadour Theatre Company, led by
writer-director and chief jester Matt Walker, is renowned for witty
mash-ups of Shakespeare with pop tunes. Watching this lampoon of A
Winter's Tale and Bill Withers, die-hard Troubie fans may lament the
less-than-usual ratio of comedy to drama. Combining a handful of
Withers' gentle pop hits with Shakespeare's problematic play (is it a
drama? is it a romantic comedy?) makes for a more low-key experience
than usual. Echoing Othello, an irrationally jealous King (Matt Walker)
incarcerates his pregnant wife, Hermione (Monica Schneider), on
suspicion of fraternizing with his best friend, King Polixenes (Matt
Merchant), and orders the execution of their baby girl. The somber saga
builds to Walker's showstopping rendition of “Ain't No Sunshine,”
enhanced by Jeremy Pivnick's elegant lighting design. Clocking in at 90
minutes (no intermission), this show's strength lies in the plaintive
musical numbers. The five-strong band is superb and features some
haunting underscoring and solos from John Krovoza on cello and violin.
The entire cast sing, harmonize and dance exquisitely — credit Ameenah
Kaplan for her deceptively simple yet tight choreography. Sets for a
Troubie show are typically spartan, which makes Sharon McGunigle's
luscious period costumes particularly noteworthy. Falcon Theatre, 4252
Riverside Drive, Burbank; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 4 p.m.; through
September 26. (818) 955-8101. A Troubadour Theatre Company production
(Pauline Adamek)
CONTINUING PERFORMANCES IN SMALLER THEATERS SITUATED IN HOLLYWOOD, WEST HOLLYWOOD AND THE DOWNTOWN AREAS
AS THE GLOBE WARMS Solo performer Heather Woodbury creates elaborate worlds. For her performance What Ever,
Woodbury elasticized herself into 100 characters for a sprawling
American epic. This follow-up is a semi-political soap opera that will
run a new installment every weekend for three months, and, gauging by
its launch, Woodbury's interested in charting the rise and fall of the
artistic class and the crystallization of the divide between the two
Americas. On the 4th of July 1985, a cowed girl picks up a video camera
and discovers she's an artist; 25 years later, she's dead and her
brother is attempting to describe her archive of tapes to a barbecue of
gentrified Californian creatives who deign to do their own sculpting
rather than hiring interns for the “dirty” work. On the other coast, a
preacher, his shrewish Tea Party wife and their daydreamy teen daughter
fret about the BP oil spill and a species of endangered frogs that
might prevent them from expanding their church's parking lot. Woodbury
has little patience for both blues and reds and loves to skewer the of
hypocrisies of both camps. To help her stay true to her own voice, she
could use a director (none is credited) to help her shape and simplify
her frantic character changes; she has a capable range of accents but
spends scenes shifting wildly around in her chair to make sure we're
following who's who. Besides the chair, the only prop onstage is a
handycam that records each episode for the internet and streams it live
on a screen against the wall. It's unclear yet if the distraction will
prove purposeful, but what's certain from the starting gate is that the
enthusiastic Woodbury has energy for miles (and months). (Amy
Nicholson). Echo Curio, 1519 Sunset Blvd., L.A.; Sat., 8 p.m.; thru
Oct. 2. (213) 977-1279.
ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT SUNDAY Jordan Black directs the Groundlings
Sunday Company. Groundling Theater, 7307 Melrose Ave., L.A.; Sun., 7:30
p.m.. (323) 934-9700.
NEW REVIEW GO
CHESS IN CONCERT
Photo by Gabriel Griego
This rock opera, with lyrics by Tim Rice,
book by Richard Nelson, and music by Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus
of ABBA, was first produced as a concept album. Now, after a number of
unsatisfactory theatrical variations, Rice has wisely named the concert
version as the official one. Like the game of chess, the show is
abstract, and the concert version matches that, putting the focus on
the characters, their emotional conflicts and the virtuosity of the
performers. The action is set at the international chess championship
matches. Act 1 pits Soviet champ Anatoly (Peter Welkin) against the
willful, petulant, show-boating American, Frederick (Blake McIver
Ewing). Anatoly wins but immediately defects to England, setting the
stage for the dynamic Act 2. Defector Anatoly is pitted against a
high-powered Soviet player (Christopher Zenner). Soviet official
Molokov (Gregory North) is hell-bent on making sure the disloyal
Anatoly loses and will do anything to make realize that outcome,
including psychological warfare, blackmail and ruthless meddling with
the personal lives of Anatoly, his estranged wife (Emily Dykes) and his
Hungarian girlfriend, Florence (Nicci Claspell). Director Robert Marra
provides a crisply elegant production, musical director/conductor Greg
Haake impeccably renders the challenging score, and the performers are
terrific, including Gil Darnell, Rich Brunner and the excellent chorus.
Met Theatre, 1089 Oxford Ave., Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., through
August 29. (323) 960-7735. Produced by The Musical Theatre of Los
Angeles. (Neal Weaver)
COMEDY DETH RAY $5. Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, 5919 Franklin Ave., L.A.; Tues., 8:30 p.m.. (323) 908-8702.
EAT THE RUNT A satirical comedy written by Avery Crozier, where
office politics, sexual harassment, religion, political correctness,
and societal and cultural norms are all up for grabs. In each
performance audiences decide what roles the actors will play. Theatre
of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd., L.A.; Tues.-Thurs..; thru Sept. 9.
(323) 856-8611.
THE EINSTEIN PROJECT Paul d'Andrea and Jon Klein's atomic bomb play. Plus: The Face of Jizo
by Hisashi Inoue. Junction Theatre, Barbarella Neighborhood Bar &
Kitchen, 2609 N. Hyperion Ave., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.;
thru Sept. 4, brownpapertickets.com…
THE EXERCISE Lewis John Carlino's 1968 play centers on a series of
improvisations, conducted by the Actor (Daniel LaPratt, alternating
with Keith Wyffels) and the Actress (Anadel Baughn, alternating with
Susan Hanfield) in an attempt to solve some troubling acting problems.
Initially, it seems they're only casual acquaintances, but as they
work, it becomes clear that they have had a traumatic personal
relationship. Soon, they are at loggerheads in an age-old conflict:
He's concerned with simulating emotion to show the audience, while she
wants to use her acting to explore her own identity and achieve
gut-level emotional truth. He regards her as a self-indulgent emotional
masturbator, and she sees him as a coward who can never allow himself
to lose control. Eventually, she challenges him to meet her on her
terms. Though the premise is a fascinating one, the production doesn't
always work. Baughn is constantly convincing, but it's not until Act 2
that LaPratt achieves the same emotional conviction. And there's
something murky here, whether it's inherent in the script or due to a
lack of clarity in director Kenn Schmidt's production. Nevertheless,
the piece is always interesting to watch, and there's excellent work
from both actors. (Neal Weaver). Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica
Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru Aug. 29,
plays411.com/theexercise. (323) 960-7724.
FIRST LOOK FESTIVAL OF NEW Schedule at openfist.org. Open Fist
Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; Through Sept. 18. (323)
882-6912.
FLAT: A PLAY ABOUT SMALL BREASTS AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT'S GREAT IN
LIFE In a tween's world, having or not having breasts is usually the
first experience of the grass being greener. For every generously
gifted fifth grader covertly and desperately binding her rapidly
blooming chest with an Ace bandage, there's a Judy Blume character
begging God for “something” to fill her training bra. Ellen Clifford
never received that something. Heavily influenced by Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues,
Clifford's autobiographical show recounts past and present episodes,
most of which gleefully celebrate her breasts, or lack thereof. The
problems arise less from the subject matter — several of the
monologues could run as essays on the popular sort-of feminist Web
site, Jezebel — than with the adolescent-awkward construction and
execution. She employs accents where none are needed (the “these my ho
boots” bit, confusing in that it's supposed to introduce her struggle
with anorexia, is especially cringe-inducing, bordering on offensive)
and interacts with the audience by passing around the gel inserts from
her push-up bra. Given that this is a show about, well, her, Clifford
seems surprisingly uncomfortable throughout the performance, which is
exacerbated by a clenched-teeth gaiety. Neither do the two unnecessary
performers accompanying her — the precise, talented mime, Mitchel
Evans, and director Lora Ivanova, who only serve to slow the
already-bumpy pace — benefit her. Though some refreshing confessionals
(“I'm a terrible Dolly Parton impersonator,” she says after
lip-synching “9 to 5”) provide a smile here and there, ultimately the
show feels as artificial as a boob job. (Rebecca Haithcoat). The Black
Box Theater, 12420 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru
Aug. 28…
GO FOUR PLACES The family outing on display in
Joel Drake Johnson's unsettling comedy resembles a gathering of ornery,
wounded jackals. Siblings Warren (Tim Bagley) and Ellen (Roxanne Hart)
motor to their parents' Chicago home to take their diminutive,
gray-haired mother Peggy (Anne Gee Byrd) out for a what is presumably a
pleasant lunch. At first blush, this seems innocent enough, but
something about Ellen's painful, labored smile as she hugs the wheel,
and Warren's cold, mummified expression, suggest that something is
amiss. It isn't long before the moral underbelly of this clan emerges
along with some ugly revelations. Mom's harmless exterior drips away
with each rum and Coke she knocks back (and every trip to the bathroom,
where she pees blood), and there emerges a subtly vicious female, a
practiced manipulator who delights in tormenting her children with
reminders of their lacerating miseries and failures. But an even darker
secret surfaces concerning Peggy's alcoholic, invalid husband (who
never appears onstage but is a towering presence, nevertheless), and
rumors that she is abusing, and even attempting to murder him. The
manner in which Drake tells this story — blending humor and stark
ugliness, while exploring themes of sibling rivalry, marital infidelity
and even euthanasia — is thoroughly engaging and held in sharp balance
by director Robin Larsen. The characters are fully fleshed out, both in
the writing and the performances, as disturbing for their and their
vulnerabilities as for their anger. Rounding out a superb cast is Lisa
Rothschiller. (Lovell Estell III)., (323) 960-4424. Theatre/Theater,
5041 Pico Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 5 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.;
thru Aug. 29. (323) 422-6361.
GAYS R US $14. THE IMPROV, 8162 Melrose Ave., L.A.; First Wednesday of every month, 8 p.m.. (323) 651-2583.
THE GOOD NEGRO A black minister (Phrederic Semaj) stands at his
pulpit, exhorting his congregation to fight racial injustice. A member
of a “citizen's patrol” (Brian E. Smith) brutally beats a black woman
(Theresa Deveaux) for taking her child into the whites-only restroom.
These opening scenes in playwright Tracey Scott Wilson's fictionalized
account of the early civil rights movement are among its most
effective. Wilson strives to bring the pages of history into human
focus by portraying the infighting among a group of activists
struggling to organize nonviolent protest in Selma, Alabama, in 1963.
At the center of the effort is the minister, James Lawrence, a
committed and charismatic leader with a beautiful, devoted wife (Numa
Perrier) — and an adulterous penchant for pretty women. Spied upon by
the FBI, the organization is also hampered by contentiousness within
its ranks, with Lawrence's fiery second-in-command (Damon Christopher)
and a new tactical organizer from out of state (Austen Jaye) at each
others' throats. While the play offers a compelling reminder of the
vicious racism in our not-so-distant past, the script's docudrama
flavor and uncomplicated characters require much finessing on the part
of the ensemble. Under Sam Nickens' direction, that hasn't yet
happened, with performances, on opening night, ranging from serviceable
to over-the-top. The exceptions include Perrier, intense and authentic
as Lawrence's betrayed wife; and Deveaux, whose character suffers great
personal loss, and whose portrayal of sorrow ably brings home the
tragedy of events. Upward Bound Productions. (Deborah Klugman). Stella
Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3
p.m.; thru Sept. 19. (323) 960-1054.
Greater Tuna Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard's small-town
Texas comedy. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra
Madre; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m.; thru Sept. 25. (626)
256-3809.
NEW REVIEW GO GRIFFITH PARK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Photo by Ivy Augusta
Don
John (Sean Pritchett) is such a bastard. Really. He's the bastard son
of Don Pedro (Luis Galindo), prince of Aragon. Imagine smearing the
reputation of an innocent bride, Hero (Mary Alton) in order to cast
doubts in the mind of her groom, Claudio (Erwin Tuazon) — who believes
the worst without fact-checking. If this weren't a comedy, it would
look a whole lot like Othello. Oh, that's funny,
what a coincidence: This same company just did that play earlier this
summer, also al fresco in Griffith Park. Independent Shakespeare
Company's artistic director and managing director, respectively,
Melissa Chalsma and David Melville (also husband and wife in real life)
play the dubiously romantic couple, Beatrice and Benedick, cousins who
pleasure in hurling insults at each other with echoes of the Taming of the Shrew.
That love resides beneath such hostility is an unflinchingly optimistic
idea in an unflinchingly optimistic comedy. Melville's Benedick is a
comedic masterpiece — surly while lampooning his own world-weariness,
in the tradition of English comedian Gerard Hoffnung. Chalsma, like the
rest of the ensemble, bounces every syllable off the highest leaf of
the farthest tree. No microphones. This is what old cranks like me call
training. Director Ron Bashford throws in a Commedia parade, with masks
and music. Characters who are hiding do so amongst the audience of
picnickers. On the eve I attended, there were hundreds in the crowd,
absorbing the multiple players of wit like a sponge. Independent
Shakespeare Company in Griffith Park, 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, L.A.;
Thurs.-Sun., 7 p.m.; through August 29. Free. (323) 913-4688. (Steven
Leigh Morris)
GROUNDLINGS RIVER ADVENTURE Despite evidence of comic timing, this
Groundlings sketch comedy-improv show lacks the kind of comedic
distinction that has made the troupe's reputation. Directed by Damon
Jones, this outing is a tepid series of scripted sketches, broken up by
four improvised sequences where an emcee calls on the crowd for cues.
Early on, the audience seemed predisposed to have a good time, judging
by the hysterical laughter that seemed disproportionate to the comic
stylings onstage. Half-baked routines included a sketch depicting a
daffy Stephenie Meyers in drag, which poked fun at the popular author
and her fans, and a familiar bit involving couples playing a guessing
game called “Taboo.” A three-piece band kept the mood vibrant by
playing during the interludes, while the cast slipped into yet another
fright wig or costume. But as the evening wore on, the long musical
breaks between routines provided useful opportunities for people to
check their devices. By the third improv sequence, the emcee was
fielding facetious suggestions from the audience. That, disassembling
improvs, plus some lazy writing, made for a disappointing night.
(Pauline Adamek). Groundling Theater, 7307 Melrose Ave., L.A.; Fri., 8
p.m.; Sat., 8 & 10 p.m.; thru Oct. 2. (323) 934-9700.
THE HAPPY HAPPY SHOW April Hava Shenkman hosts this anything-goes
comedy cabaret., free. El Cid, 4212 Sunset Blvd., L.A.; Thurs., 8 p.m..
(323) 668-0318.
I'M NOT HERE ANYMORE W. Colin McKay has cast his play in the form of
a mystery. Josh (Dayton Knoll) is a former GI who has served multiple
tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and suffers from combat trauma upon his
return home. He has frightening flashbacks, which can drive him to
violence, and he's haunted by two people (or are they hallucinations?)
from his time in the Gulf. Kim (Casey Fitzgerald) is a girl who was
killed by a roadside bomb, and Eddie (Sal Landi) is his former buddy,
whom he believes aims to kill him if he reveals dark secrets about his
time in the combat zone. There are also two doctors, Mel (Brian
Connors) and David (Dig Wayne), who are at odds about Josh's treatment.
But there are too many mysteries, and too few reliable “facts” for us
to know precisely what's going on. Josh is clearly an unreliable
narrator, the two ghosts/hallucinations have agendas of their own, and
so perhaps do the doctors. We can never be certain whether Josh is
dogged by psychotic fantasies, or telling uncomfortable truths the army
wants to keep under wraps by committing him to a mental hospital. Good
work from the actors and director Al Bonadies, but the script is
perplexing. (Neal Weaver). Pan Andreas Theater, 5125 Melrose Ave.,
L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Aug. 28. 323-468-8062.
JEWTOPIA Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson's story of two single men: a
gentile obsessed with dating Jewish women and a Jew obsessed with
dating gentile girls. Greenway Court Theater, 544 N. Fairfax Ave.,
L.A.; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 3 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 3:30 p.m.; thru Sept.
19. (323) 655-7679.
NEW REVIEW
GO
KARMA THE MUSICAL
Is Hindsight really 20-20? In this
engaging musical, a baby boomer named Christine (book writer Susan C.
Hunter) travels back to the 1960s to counsel her younger self on how to
avoid error and heartbreak. Supremely confident, perky college-age
Chris (Katie McConaughy) dismisses Christine's cautionary exhortations
(“You're old!” she snaps at the woman she will become), then treks off
to a rock concert to hook up with peace marcher Greg (Trevor Murphy),
who will father — and later abandon — their child. Bolstered by
composer Les Oreck's spirited score and lyrics, the play cruises
through several decades, tracking Chris' struggles as a single mom
while noting, Forrest Gump-like, the broad societal changes our nation
undergoes. One funny scene depicts the hippie “commitment” ceremony
that Greg persuades Chris is as binding as a marriage. It isn't. The
piece also replays the bitterness surrounding the Vietnam war,
integrating that conflict via Chris' brother Frank (Matt Pick), a
marine who resents Greg's politics. And the production gains traction
from Liz Heathcoat's lively choreography, executed by an enthusiastic
ensemble, and from videographer Scott Hunter's background montage of
cultural icons. That said, the show has multiple rough edges, including
an uneven standard of performance and vocals that need improving.
Director Michael Eiden does a respectable job of maneuvering a large
cast in a small space, but this show does require more room. Among the
ensemble, Brittany Beaudry stands out as Chris' supercool pal, Gloria.
Heathcoat as Greg's sanctimonious mom and Pick as the upstanding Frank
are notable in smaller roles. Write Act Repertory Theatre, 6128 Yucca
Ave., Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; through August 28. (323) 469-3113.
(Deborah Klugman)
KEEP IT CLEAN Comedy Hosted by JC Coccoli., free. 1739 Public House,
1739 N. Vermont Ave., L.A.; Mon., 9:30 p.m.. (323) 663-1739.
LA TOOL & DIE: LIVE! Stage version of Sean Abley's 1970s gay
porn film. Celebration Theatre, 7051-B Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.;
Fri.-Sat., 10:30 p.m.; thru Sept. 11. (323) 957-1884.
LIFE OF EASE Phillip William Brock's story of an Oklahoma
grandmother and her grandson. Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica
Blvd., L.A.; Through Aug. 28, 8 p.m.; Wed., Sept. 1, 8 p.m.; Sat.,
Sept. 4, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 5, 2 p.m.; Thurs., Sept. 9, 8
p.m.; Sun., Sept. 12, 2 p.m.; Through Sept. 8, 8 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 18,
2 & 8 p.m.. (323) 882-6912.
MARY LYNN SPREADS HER LEGS Writer-performer Mary Lynn Rajskub
cruises the low road in this raunchy obstreperous one-woman show about
childbirth and motherhood, directed and developed by Amit Ittelman.
Adopting a pugnacious in-your-face persona at the top, the performer
first describes — then graphically illustrates — how she abandoned
her intellectual self to metamorphose into a fun-loving hottie. An
unexpected pregnancy alters her life — though not her smug irreverence
leveled nonstop at doctors, midwives, family members, producers and
fans (all of whom she portrays). When her colicky child (also depicted
by Rajskub) refuses her milk, she's filled with fantasies of
infanticide. Straddling standup, Rajskub's performance contains a humor
that hits home with a strata of her audience, while irritating or
offending others. Her skills are without question: the expressiveness
of her body language or the split-second changes in countenance convey
a shift from one character to the next. Notwithstanding these qualities
and some entertaining moments, there's not much that's witty or
insightful or ribald about this material. It would be helpful if there
were some likable character or sentiment to counterbalance the story's
bitter, hollow message. (Deborah Klugman)., $20. Steve Allen Theater,
at the Center for Inquiry-West, 4773 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat.,
8 p.m.; thru Oct. 30. (323) 666-4268.
GO MEDEA Euripides' tragedy concerning a betrayed
woman and her monstrous revenge remains a timeless examination of
humanity's struggle with its darker, primal urges. With the exception
of a misstep at play's end, Travis Terry brilliantly directs a superb
cast, relocating the story to a contemporary lunatic-asylum setting.
The text reveals a few contemporary words — and ,i>trash — while
preserving the antique language that's so rich with imagery and
passion. Adalgiza Chermountd's Medea is first heard wailing from behind
a white paper wall, part of designer Dionne Poindexter's central set
piece of Medea's quarters, which rotates with ease. “Whipping her
grief-tormented heart into a fury,” Chermountd has a disheveled yet
formidable presence, and her multihued interpretation ranges from
coherent and ferocious to deranged. Her unspeakable deed is chillingly
depicted. Commenting in unison, the chorus of young girl (Shaina
Vorspan), mother (Lauren Wells) and grandmother (Karen Richter) double
as asylum orderlies, with Shaina Vorspan giving an especially
expressive performance. There are some welcome moments of levity in R.
Benito Cardenas' playful interpretation of Aegeus, one of Medea's
fellow lunatics. A highlight is the scene when Medea's duplicitous
ex-husband, Jason (Max Horner), attempts to “correct her exaggeration”
with his version of events. Aside from a tacked-on happy ending that
feels utterly false, this unpretentious production holds many rewards.
(Pauline Adamek). Knightsbridge Theater, 1944 Riverside Dr., L.A.;
Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 6 p.m.; thru Aug. 29. (323) 667-0955.
GO THE MYSTER OF IRMA VEP It's been 18 years since
this manor mystery was the No. 1 <0x00AD>produced play in
America, and it hasn't worn out its welcome. In a dreary, rural house,
the widowed master (Kevin Remington) has brought home a bride (Michael
Lorre), a tremulous blond actress who might not have the wits to
survive the local vampires and werewolves (or the grudging maid and
infatuated stable boy). Charles Ludlam's fleet-footed thriller comedy
is in the key of camp, but this production tampers down the winks and
nudges, staging it as an exercise in theatrical imagination. Lorre's
sparse set design is a model of how to turn a small budget into an
asset. The furniture and decorations are drawn with thin, white lines
on flat, black-painted wood, and the actors set the tone by first
finishing the final touches with chalk. Irma Vep is always staged as a
play for two performers, and Remington and Lorre (who also directs) are
great sports, changing from a bumpkin with a wooden leg to a
bare-breasted Egyptian princess in less time than it takes to tie your
shoes. The actors' physicality is great, but dresser Henry Senecal and
stage manager Akemi Okamura also take deserved bows at the end. (Amy
Nicholson). SPACE916, 916 N. Formosa Ave., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 2 p.m.; thru Sept. 4. (323) 667-1304.
GO OPUS Because classical music can be such a
sublime art form, one tends to regard those musicians as inhabiting a
more celestial sphere than the rest of us. Playwright and classically
trained violist Michael Hollinger confutes that notion with this
percipient drama, which examines the political and emotional fracas
within a string quartet. In Hollinger's canny script, the tensions
generated among members of a prominent musical group have been
exacerbated by an affair between two of them: Elliot (Christian
Lebano), a domineering egotist with little tolerance for opposition;
and Dorian (Daniel Blinkoff), a supersensitive artist with a history of
emotional problems. When Dorian up and quits prior to a prestigious gig
at the White House, he is replaced by Grace (Jia Doughman), a
conscientious novice with tremendous talent and the inner aplomb to
withstand Elliot's needling and increasingly truculent demands.
Directed by Simon Levy, the drama begins with a studied manner before
launching into full dynamism, as the particulars of the players'
dilemmas and entanglements come into focus. In a solid ensemble,
Doughman is noteworthy for her character's impeccable truth; likewise
Cooper Thornton is highly effective as Alan, the down-to-earth second
violinist who reacts with growing consternation and dismay to
snowballing events. The performers mime their concerts in admirable
sync (sound design is by Peter Bayne, with input from musical advisers
Roy Tanabe and Larry Sonderling). Complemented by designer Ken Booth's
lighting, Frederica Nascimento's backdrop, with its cubes in autumnal
colors, seems reflective of the quartet's rich but cloistered world.
(Deborah Klugman). Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., L.A.;
Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru Sept. 26. (323) 663-1525.
GO PARASITE DRAG As screwed-up families go, the
one on exhibit in Mark Roberts' ultra-dark comedy makes a serious run
for the top prize. The first glimpse of Gene (Robert Foster) reveals a
sullen man hunched over a kitchen table, with an ice pad on his eye, as
he nurses a shiner he got from his wife, Joellen (Mim Drew); she sits,
staring out of the door, wryly commenting on the impending tornado
about to strike their tiny Midwestern town. Eight years without sex,
and trapped in a loveless marriage, they are bonded only by the
conventions of small-town propriety, shallow pretense and Gene's
fanatical Christian beliefs. The real twister, however, comes in the
form of Gene's boorish, foul-mouthed brother, Ronnie (the outstanding
Boyd Kestner), and his countrified wife, Susie (Agatha Nowicki), who
drop in unexpectedly. Apparent from the outset is the seething
resentment between Gene and Ronnie, which Roberts' fine script slowly
heats to critical mass, uncovering a dark undercurrent of shared
emotional and psychological mutilation. Sordid revelations emerge about
the family's troubled past, their mother's bloody suicide and the
sexual molestation of a drug-abusing sister, who is now dying of AIDS
in a hospital. The final plot turn is raw and dirty. Notwithstanding
the play's bleak tapestry, Roberts instills plenty of comic relief into
his writing. The characters are well sketched and without a trace or
urbanity. David Fofi delivers spot-on direction and draws very good
performances from his cast, particularly Nowicki, who artfully blends
Southern charm and simplicity with trailer-trash attitude. (Lovell
Estell III). Elephant Space Theatre, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.;
Thurs.-Sat..; thru Sept. 18. (213) 614-0556.
GO POINT BREAK LIVE! Jaime Keeling's merciless
skewering of the 1991 hyper-action flick starring Keanu Reeves and Gary
Busey is loaded with laughs, as well as surprises, like picking an
audience member to play Reeves' role of Special Agent Johnny Utah. It's
damn good fun, cleverly staged by directors Eve Hars, Thomas Blake and
George Spielvogel. (LE3). Dragonfly, 6510 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.;
Fri., 8:30 p.m.; Sat., 8 p.m.. (866) 811-4111.
REDHEAD CUBAN HAUSFRAU HUSBAND Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were
pioneer celebrities who set the standard for clean, white-bread
television comedy. They also were one of Hollywood's original power
couples amassing a fortune from ownership of their own studios. But in
his self-described musical homage to the I Love Lucy show,
writer-director Fletcher Rhoden falls short of telling their story or
of telling any story that's the least bit compelling. The herky-jerky
script contains no semblance of narrative cohesiveness or flow, though
it comes spiced here and there with historic details about Ms. Ball's
life. Performer Joan Elizabeth Kennedy fails to channel Lucy
convincingly, and is consistent only in singing off-key. Ditto for
Derek Rubiano, whose Cuban accent wobbles in a remedial performance.
Rhoden's music and lyrics are competent though without a hint of any
Latin-American origins or influence in the music. Rhoden's direction
does little to shore up the holes in his script. Jodi Skeris and
Michael Anthony Nozzi are presumably standing in for other actors as
the zany neighbors, but that's hard to tell from the program. (Lovell
Estell III). Mount Hollywood Theater, 4607 Prospect Ave., L.A.;
Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Sept. 4. (323) 667-9113.
NEW REVIEW SAD HAPPY SUCKER
Photo courtesy of Lyric Hyperion Theatre
If the devil is truly to be found in the
details, then playwright Lee Kirk's painfully pallid homage to French
Absurdist master Eugène Ionesco isn't in need of a dramaturg so much as
an exorcist. The play begins promisingly enough, with the introduction
of Eddie (Eddie Bell), a young suburbanite whose feet have become
mysteriously rooted in place where he stands in the back yard of his
dotty Mother (Lauri Johnson). It's the kind of patently surreal premise
whose real-world, life-and-death consequences Ionesco would have
explored with a deliriously relentless logic to foreground a deeper,
ontological inquiry. However, unlike on planet Earth, where the first
responders to such a crisis might be an EMT unit or the fire
department, Kirk sends in a spectacularly inept doctor (Valentine
Miele), who somehow still makes house calls. When the physician becomes
likewise immobilized but is told no rope is available for an attempted
winch to freedom, even that obstacle is given the lie by an ignored,
albeit handy garden hose pointlessly ornamenting Christian Zollenkopf's
incongruously realistic backyard set (convincingly accented by Alicia
Ziff's diurnal lighting). Director Sean Gunn and his supremely gifted
cast do manage to milk Kirk's situational ludicrousness for sporadic
laughs. But these are not enough to finally push the text's
bantamweight dramatic stakes (the characters' imperiled dignity) and
non sequitur-laden plot into the heavyweight division of Ionescan
existential despair. Lyric Hyperion Theatre, 2106 Hyperion Ave., Silver
Lake; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 7 p.m.; through October 10. (323)
342-2261.
SEX, RELATIONSHIPS, AND SOMETIMES . . . LOVE Monologues on all of
the above, by Joelle Arqueros. Renegade Theatre (formerly the Actor's
Playpen), 1514 N. Gardner St., L.A.; Sun., 6, 7:30 & 9 p.m.; thru
Sept. 26. (323) 769-5566.
SHAKE A man named Bill (Jo Egender) and his ex, Peggy (Alina
Phelan), stand eight uneasy feet apart after a chance encounter in a
park. She's homeless; he's a lapsed alcoholic. What turned their love
upside-down? Joshua Fardon's chronological play ticks backward every
month for a year, from August 2002 to September 10, 2001, and unpacks
the affairs and betrayals and guilts sprung from strangers named Matt
(Troy Blendell), Julia (Michelle Gardner) and Robin (Bridgette
Campbell). The mystery comes in the reverse momentum. Told forward,
it's a soap opera — going back, a parlor game. We know this drama
traces back to the fall of the towers, but when we get there, we
realize Bill and Peggy's relationship was already headed to destruction
— 9/11 simply changed the route. More catastrophic is the entrance of
Claire (Hiwa Bourne), a femme fatale who uses the disaster for her own
ends, though even she, too, is scrabbling for a purpose. Kiff Scholl's
direction knows that with every scene, the characters know less and
hope more. Under his guidance, Phelan's New York naif is especially
heartbreaking. She's a girl with simple dreams, and within the year,
even those are impossibly far away. (Amy Nicholson). Theatre of NOTE,
1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru
Sept. 5. (323) 856-8611.
SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT $20, seniors $15, children under 2 free. Bob
Baker Marionette Theater, 1345 W. First St., L.A.; Sat.-Sun., 2:30
p.m.; Tues.-Fri., 10:30 a.m.; thru Sept. 26. (213) 250-9995.
STILL STANDING Playwright Shyla Martin sets out to tell the tale of
Laura (Venessa Peruda), a Los Angeles woman who discovers a startling
letter while sorting through the belongings of her deceased father. In
it, the writer, Celeste Ellis (Monique McIntyre), informs Dad that she
has borne him a daughter, and asks for child support. Laura is
thunderstruck to discover that she has a half-sister. Her Aunt Sarah
(Eileen T'Kaye) urges her to go to Katrina-ravaged New Orleans to track
down the mysterious sister. But the meeting with that sister, Tracey
(Nichelle Hines), proves awkward because, though both women had white
fathers and African-American mothers, Laura is ostensibly white and
Tracey is recognizably black. When the two women eventually form a
bond, it's threatened by unforeseen events. The story is potentially
interesting, but Martin's naive dramaturgy dilutes its power. Many
short scenes, in different locales, make for long, debilitating scene
changes; plot details emerge in haphazard, confusing fashion; and there
are red herrings: Tracey's brother (Rondrell McCormick) elaborately
hides a mysterious packet, which is never explained or referred to
again. Director Nick Mills has assembled a capable cast, but the play's
fragmentary scenes and shifting focus defuse their efforts. (Neal
Weaver). Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sun..;
thru Sept. 12. (323) 960-7863.
GO STREEP TEASE “Meryl Streep, gay icon?” I asked
Google. She's no Judy Garland, but enough affirmative results returned
that, when considered alongside creator Roy Cruz's all-male review of
some of Streep's finest screen scenes, she seems well on her way. In
her roles, she's checked off, among others, driven activist,
“guilty-until-proven-innocent” outsider, and frost-bitten bitch. In her
“real” life, she's eschewed ascribing to Hollywood's rigid standards of
beauty, becoming successful on her own terms. Cruz and director Ezra
Weisz have constructed a well-structured, tight show that's over almost
before you want it to be, even though the theater is stuffy to the
point of sweaty (further proof of their sense of humor — hand-held
fans emblazoned with Streep's face are given as trivia prizes). In case
you lack an “inner Streep,” Cruz prefaces each monologue with a
synopsis of the movie. Mimicking the Academy Awards' setup, a swell of
music sweeps the performer down the aisle and up the stage, and he
poses dramatically as the lights fade. Since the cast chose their own
pieces, they're all well reenacted; naming a favorite is really more
about your own favorite “Meryl moment.” That said, Trent Walker's scene
from Silkwood is white-trashtastic; and Taylor Negron's from Sophie's Choice
coalesces the audience into one being, collectively holding our breaths
and back our tears. The show's great affection for the un-diva is best
revealed in its gentle ribbing, though: Mike Rose's re-creation of a
scene from The River Wild should be included if Ms. Streep
ever gets a roast. (Rebecca Haithcoat). BANG, 457 N. Fairfax Ave.,
L.A.; Sun., 7:30 p.m.; thru Aug. 29. (323) 653-6886.
STRIPPED (A COMEDY ABOUT A DRAMA) Who'd have guessed that the gaudy
neon sign around the corner advertising Psychic Readings could be
hiding a theater. There is indeed a tiny space upstairs for
storytelling that is probably more real that the storytelling going on
downstairs. In this case, the story is Kirsten Severson's tale of the
tumultuous end to her five-year relationship with “The Prince.”
Accompanied onstage by two video screens, Severson describes the good
times in their relationship (including the clever “Peas in a Pod” video
montage) before transitioning to the fateful voice mail that begins her
descent into insecurity and heartbreak. Originally a solo show titled . . . I Think You Went a Little Far With the Herpes Thing . . . ,
the piece has since been developed into a feature film, and now returns
as a half-film/half-staged solo show. The combination of media
unfortunately doesn't gel, and despite some good lines and moments,
director Carlos Velasco's pacing drags in a number of spots and
Severson's stage presence feels halfhearted at times. Instead the video
sequences — which are well lit and crisply edited — are the show's
most engaging aspect. As a short film it could prove visually
arresting; as a piece of theater, however, it's little more than
another love story gone awry. (Mayank Keshaviah). Psychic Visions
Theatre, 3447 Motor Ave., L.A.; Fri., 8:30 p.m.; thru Aug. 27. (310)
535-6007.
GO A TALE TOLD BY AN IDIOT A new L.A.-based
ensemble called Psittacus Productions is extending a performance of A
Tale Told by an Idiot from the Hollywood Fringe at Son of Semele
theater. It's a mash-up of Shakespeare's Macbeth that includes the
character of Guy Fawkes, which suggests an influence from Bill Cain's Equivocation.
Every scene of the hour-long piece is a plot against somebody's life or
a murder, starring — among the very strong ensemble — the lighting plot
of designer Dan Weingarten. The action unfolds behind a scrim and is
lit entirely with pin lights, some on the floor, some held by the
performers. We see only faces, shifting eyes and shadows creeping
across scrims and walls. The three witches (Casey Fitzgerald, Madeleine
Hamer and Liz Saydah) appear in masks, and all we see are those masks,
or three hands crawling up a wall, or feet tremulously stepping. In
some scenes we just see two daggers, barely illuminated, and little
more. With composer Graham Galatro's composition, the effect is
mesmerizing, culminating in the closing line, that comes in Macbeth
right before the more famous “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of
sound and fury, and signifying nothing.” The line that lingers is that
line's direct predecessor: “Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no
more.” This is the lucid essence of the piece. Fine performances also
by Casey Brown, Louis Butelli, Lisa Carter, Daryl Crittenden, Darin
Dahms and Chas LiBretto. Robert Richmond directs. Psittacus Productions
at . Son of Semele, 3301 Beverly Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun.,
7 p.m.; thru Aug. 29…
[TITLE OF SHOW]”Musical about making a musical.” Music and lyrics by
Jeff Bowen, book by Hunter Bell. Celebration Theatre, 7051-B Santa
Monica Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru Sept. 11.
(323) 957-1884.
GO TOPDOG/UNDERDOG Lincoln and Booth are bizarre
monikers for a pair of siblings. In this solid revival of Suzan-Lori
Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, capably directed by Martin
Papazian, names aren't the only ironic peculiarity here. Lincoln (A.K
Murtadha) and Booth (M.D. Walton) are African-Americans, named by a
neglectful, long-gone father as a joke; they now cling to one another
for survival yet harbor volcanic resentments toward each other. The
play's potency lies in this attraction-repulsion dynamic and the
resultant venomous acrimony, which Parks so neatly dissects. Lincoln,
the oldest, is kicked out by his wife and forced to move into Booth's
sleazy, trash-strewn apartment. Life isn't unbearably wretched for him;
he has a “real” job as an arcade attraction playing the Great
Emancipator — complete with whiteface, fake beard, stovepipe and
trashy overcoat — while patrons shoot him for recreation. Once a
master of the three-card monte street hustle, he now salves what's left
of his dignity with false hopes and Jack Daniels. His pistol-packing
brother, however, dreams of being the ultimate monte player, seeing the
game as his ticket out of poverty and an affirmation of his manhood.
Parks sketches an ugly portrait of thwarted urban life, sibling rivalry
and crippling self-delusion. Though not much happens in this two-hour
comedy, the writing is thoroughly engaging. Yet it's Walton and
Murtadha's rugged, emotionally charged performances that work the
magic. (Lovell Estell III). Lillian Theatre, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd.,
L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.; thru Sept. 12. (323)
960-7719.
WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY? Maria Bamford and Melinda Hill bring excellent
standups every week — really, like Blaine Capatch, Patton Oswalt, Matt
Besser — you get the idea., free. Hollywood Studio Bar & Grill,
6122 W. Sunset Blvd., L.A.; Mon., 8 p.m.. (323) 466-9917. GO
GO A WOLF INSIDE THE FENCE “You can't lose your
way in a history class. You can only go backwards,” says Linus McBride
(Arthur Hanket), a history teacher who seems to be losing his passion,
and possibly his marbles. The target of the advice is Marion McNeely
(Charlotte Chanler), a troubled transfer student at McBride's public
Oregon high school. With dark secrets of his own, Linus cultivates an
attachment to Marion. At the same time, Judy cultivates an interest in
the girl, with whom she shares more than she would care to admit, while
losing interest in her boyfriend, Math teacher Harold Carson (Colin
Walker). What develops is an intense series of events as these wounded
animals become entwined in each other's lives. Playwright Joseph Fisher
weaves a rich tapestry of dark chocolate secrets and twisted desires,
pairing it perfectly with a dry champagne wit that sparkles in the
mouths of this talented cast. Hanket, particularly, wields Fisher's
rapier wit with impeccable comic timing and an understated manner that
leads to some devastatingly funny lines. The credit for this must, of
course, be shared with director Benjamin Burdick, who strikes a fine
balance between the piece's humor and horror. The minimally staged
performance is a good reminder that when fancy sets, lighting and other
aspects of modern stagecraft are put away, the heart of good drama is
compelling characters and a well-crafted text. (Mayank Keshaviah). Open
Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; Sun., Aug. 29, 2 p.m.;
Through Sept. 3, 8 p.m.; Through Sept. 11, 8 p.m.. (323) 882-6912.
GO YELLOW Del Shores' family comedy-drama studies,
once more, the mores and traditions of the Deep South, perhaps the
country's most extreme forms of religiosity and homophobia, which have
been haunting the playwright for all these years. How does one get out
alive, with the curses of the underworld hanging over a believer:
change or be changed? Does one run to New York City, or San Francisco
or West Hollywood? Lead a double life? Become a playwright? Yellow
is neither tragedy nor soap opera; its “disease-of-the-week” dimension
surges between the two along a riptide of sentimentality. That said, Yellow
is a rippingly entertaining show, thanks largely to Shores'
precision-bombing satire of self-absorbed teenagers and drama clubs.
(Steven Leigh Morris). Coast Playhouse, 8325 Santa Monica Blvd., West
Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.; thru Sept. 5…
CONTINUING PERFORMANCESIN SMALLER THEATERS SITUATED IN THE VALLEYS
AMADEUS Written as Theophilus (from the Greek) on his birth
certificate, Mozart's middle name can be interpreted as either “lover
of God” or “loved by God.” Antonio Salieri clearly believed the latter,
and his jealousy of Mozart fuels the drama in Peter Shaffer's 1979
award-winning play. As court composer, Salieri (Peter Swander) has the
favor of Emperor Joseph II (David Robert May) and admires Mozart's
music — until he meets the young prodigy. Mozart's (Patrick Stafford)
sexuality and vulgarity drive the devout Catholic wild, and as Salieri
can't reconcile the philistine with the ethereal music he creates, he
becomes determined to destroy Mozart. In that quest, Swander often
speaks of passion, yet it rarely feels as if his character possesses
the passion his words suggest. Part of this may have been director
August Viverito's desire for a slow build, even though it does
eventually pay off in Act 2. Stafford's Mozart, on the contrary, is id
perfectly personified, with occasional glimpses of the genius hiding
behind the schoolboy pranks. Danielle Doyen, who plays his wife,
Constanze, pairs well with Stafford, and like the rest of the cast, is
capable. However, her 1980s, Madonna-style outfits, along with Mozart's
gold pants and the emperor's raspberry zoot suit, are questionable
choices by designer Shon LeBlanc. While for Salieri “a note of music is
either right or it's wrong,” for me the show had a pleasant melody but
not one that stuck with me for long. (Mayank Keshaviah). Chandler
Studio, 12443 Chandler Blvd., Valley Village; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru
Aug. 28. (800) 838-3006.
BECOMING NORMAN Utah native Norman P. Dixon has had two coming-out
parties: first, as a gay man and second as an artist. At times, he's
been one or the other — say, when he graduated with a drama degree
from BYU — but this solo show marks the 45-year-old's insistence on
claiming both after spending the last 15 years toiling in office work
and retail. The first half of the night follows the artist as pretty
blond boy slowly learning that (a) there was a closet, and (b) he was
in it. No quick revelation in Orem, Utah, a town, as Dixon describes,
“where people didn't even think Boy George was gay.” Dixon is a
handsome blond with a theatrical voice, and he powers through his life
story with a blend of self-congratulation and insecurity. This serves
him less well when his autobiography decamps from Salt Lake to Los
Angeles and we hit waves of tales wherein his talents are spotted, he's
offered a semi-big break and he sabotages himself in fear. Dixon's
journey is both topical and familiar — who hasn't moved out to L.A.
with big dreams? — and its only surprises come from his warm support
network. When the former Mormon sent out four dozen letters announcing
he was gay, only two respondents were upset. Between anecdotes, Dixon
belts out songs he wrote about his struggle, built around words like dreams and wings and flying.
We're happy he's happy. Debra De Liso directs. (Amy Nicholson). NoHo
Arts Center, 11136 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 3 p.m.; thru Sept. 12. (800) 595-4849.
BOYS' LIFE Watching director Dan Velez's uninspired production, it
might seem hard to believe that Howard Korder's acerbic vignettes of
slackers and their caddish sexcapades was a Pulitzer finalist in 1988.
Which is not to denigrate either the judgment of the Pulitzer committee
or the efforts of a clearly capable cast but merely to question the
vision behind a revival that steamrolls the pathos and ulterior probing
of an astute script into a pancake-flat excuse for sketch-comedy
laughs. Jack (Ben Rovner), Don (David Rispoli) and Phil (Jason Karasev)
are a trio of 30-something buddies stuck on the pot-addled threshold
between perennial adolescence and defining themselves as men. The
group's enabler is the married, albeit savagely cynical Jack, who goads
his bachelor comrades into misadventures with women who invariably
prove more than their equal. Phil is the most plaintively romantic of
the bunch and therefore the most tragically susceptible to Jack's
self-serving manipulations. Only slightly more resilient is Don, who
surmounts a potentially fatal infidelity to finally break free of
Jack's corrupting influence, thanks mainly to the understanding and
maturity of his fiancée (Tori Ayres Oman). Rovner gives a standout
performance, but Jack's underlying strains of fear and despair — the
comedy's critical dramatic ballast — are too often lost in the saucy
surfaces of Velez's staging. Tanya Apuya's costumes lend occasional
wit, but barely perfunctory (and uncredited) lighting and Sarah
Kranin's impoverished set prove more hindrance than help. (Bill Raden).
Crown City Theatre, 11031 Camarillo St., North Hollywood; Thurs., 8
p.m.; Sun., 8 p.m.; thru Sept. 12. (818) 745-8527.
THE GOOD BOOK OF PEDANTRY AND WONDER Moby Pomerance's witty story of
a 19th-century editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. Boston Court,
70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru
Sept. 5. (626) 683-6883.
IN & OUT: THE U.S. OF ALIENATION World premiere of David Wally's
dramedy about human connection. Whitefire Theater, 13500 Ventura Blvd.,
Sherman Oaks; Tues., 8 p.m.; thru Sept. 14. (866) 811-4111.
IT'S JUST SEX Jeff Gould's comedy takes the underpinnings of sexual
fantasy, fidelity and money and puts all of those nuances onstage in a
contemporary comedy about three married couples. The wife-swapping plot
is straight out of Hugh Hefner's pad, circa 1975. That the play
resonates today, in the ashes of the sexual revolution, is one
indication of how little has changed, despite how much has changed.
(Steven Leigh Morris). Two Roads Theater, 4348 Tujunga Ave., Studio
City; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7:30 p.m.. (818) 762-2272.
NEW REVIEW MACBETH
Photo by Amanda Marquardt
You can almost always expect generous
displays of the gleefully grotesque from the folks at Zombie Joe's, and
this production of the Bard's Scottish play is no exception. Director
Amanda Marquardt has added some ghoulish effects that neatly embellish
the play's supernatural elements. But any minimalist staging of a play,
especially Shakespeare, places much of the burden of success on the
actors, and this group doesn't quite pass muster. Aaron Lyons and Skye
Noel acquit themselves passably in the key roles of Macbeth and his
blood thirsty Lady. But there's something amiss in their onstage
chemistry; too often they give the impression of spoiled, squabbling
siblings rather than a conniving, ambitious king and queen. Some
liberties taken with the original narrative proffer some jarring
surprises and fun. The biggest problem is the overheated pacing: There
are many, many instances where the actors simply tear through their
lines, rendering them all but unintelligible and spoiling the potency
and beauty of Shakespeare's prose. The showstoppers and scene stealers
are, however, Lauren Parkinson, Nicole Fabbri and Lana Inderman, who
are from start to finish terrific as the three witches. Zombie Joe's
Underground Theatre, 4850 Lankershim Blvd.; N.Hlywd.; Fri., 11 p.m.
thru Aug. 20. (818) 202-4120. (Lovell Estell III)
QUICKIES T(h)REE: COMEDY AL FRESCO “Eight brand new, park-themed,
10-minute plays.”. Whitefire Theater, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman
Oaks; Fri., 8 p.m.; thru Aug. 27. (818) 627-8425.
STOP KISS “Love, prejudice, and women collide” in Diana Son's play.
Garage Theatre, 251 E. Seventh St., Long Beach; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
thru Aug. 28. (866) 811-4111.
String of Pearls Four actresses play 27 characters in Michele Lowe's
drama. Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd.,
North Hollywood; Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru Sept. 5. (818)
700-4878.
TOPDOG/UNDERDOG Suzan-Lori Parks' dark comedy about brotherly love
and family identity. Fremont Centre Theatre, 1000 Fremont Ave., South
Pasadena; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru Sept. 18. (866)
811-4111.
URBAN DEATH Zombie Joe's Underground's horror show. ZJU Theater
Group, 4850 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; Sat., 11 p.m.; thru Oct.
30. (818) 202-4120.
A WALK IN THE WOODS Lee Blessing's play is set in Geneva, during a
disarmament conference, where two negotiators seek to construct a
treaty acceptable to both sides. Stodgy, naive, idealistic American
John Honeyman (owlish Fox Carney) believes in rationality, and wants to
make the world safe from nuclear holocaust. Andre Botvinnik (volatile
Larry Eisenberg), a canny, cynical Russian with an impish sense of
humor, knows the two powers, the U.S. and Russia, are more interested
in seeming to want a disarmament agreement than in actually wanting
one. He no longer believes in the reality of their mission, and hopes
to make life more palatable by making a friend of Honeyman. He attempts
amusingly frivolous conversation, but Honeyman is incapable of
frivolity, and likes it that way. Their friendship can only bumble
along, with two steps back for every step forward. Their debates are
clever, literate and passionate, and their halting steps toward
friendship are touching and funny. Richard Alan Woody directs with
finesse and draws fine performances from his actors, but he never
manages to convince us that the stakes are particularly high, when they
couldn't be higher. (Neal Weaver). Lonny Chapman Group Repertory
Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 4
p.m.; thru Sept. 4. (818) 700-4878.
GO WITCH BALL Zombie Joe's Underground's
supernatural adventure through space and time. ZJU Theater Group, 4850
Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8:30 p.m.; thru Sept. 11.
(818) 202-4120.
CONTINUING PERFORMANCESSITUATED IN SMALLER THEATERS SITUATED ON THE WESTSIDE AND IN BEACH TOWNS
NEW REVIEW
ALIVE THEATRE LONG BEACH POPPIN' PLAY FESTIVAL
For the third consecutive year the CSULB
alums present four to five courses of theater per night, divided into
three different prix-fixe menus. The appetizer common to all three
nights, “What Can We” by Craig Abernathy, is a five-minute exploration
of making theatre. The concept is interesting, but the flavors don't
quite gel, so the meal gets off to a shaky start. The meat-and-potatoes
main course is Nathaniel Kressen's “Jumper's with the Gypsy,” a tale of
two lost souls in the city that never sleeps. From the start, it's hard
to invest in either character, and outside of a couple of good lines,
the scenario seems contrived in its attempts at being deep. Lloyd
Noonan's “An Agreement Between Father and Son” is a dark comedy in
which a father and son make a pact to deal with pain-in-the-ass
Grandpa. It is dark all right, relentlessly, so that darkness seems its
only purpose. Finally, “Eddie, A Musical About Failure” by R. Edward
and Ellen Warkentine provides the sweet ending to the evening.
Unfortunately it's less a chocolate soufflé and more a bowl of vanilla
ice cream. The generic score consists of series of character songs
that, while amusing and fun, don't tell much of a story. In fact, the
entire meal is perfectly encapsulated in a line from one of its songs:
“I know it's light on consequence and plot, but it's what I've got.”
The Lafayette Ballroom, 528 E. Broadway Ave., Long Beach; Thurs.-Sat.,
8: p.m.; through September 11. (562) 818-7364. alivetheatre.org An
Alive Theatre production. (Mayank Keshaviah)
NEW REVIEW GO
ALL MY SONS
Photo by Agnes Magyari
With the recent BP oil disaster, the Enron
debacle, and the misadventures of financial moguls like Bernard Madoff,
it is no wonder that theater company artistic directors all over town
are dusting off their copies of Arthur Miller's magnificent
evisceration of capitalism, American corruption and moral hypocrisy.
However, it is difficult to come up with new and innovative ways to
present the often compelling piece. Shakespeare and Beckett, to name a
pair, can be staged in a variety of settings and directorial styles,
but Miller's play gets to the heart of a family standing around on a
front porch next to a fallen tree. Director Edward Edwards stages his
intimate and psychologically nuanced production almost like a mystery —
even during the play's seemingly banter-filled opening scenes, we sense
an underlying unease and sadness; the puzzle is spotting all the clues
and then piecing them together to understand what is really going on.
Edwards' production is anchored by crackling acting work. Paul Linke's
unusually crusty Joe Keller, the family patriarch who let an underling
take the rap for a mechanical error that killed a number of pilots
during World War II, is full of alpha male bluster and bonhomie, but
even from his first appearance, his eyes possess a resigned coldness
that suggests the truth he's hiding and has accepted only too well. In
Catherine Telford's turn as Kate, Joe's grief-sick wife, we see a
character whose denial-stoked belief that her beloved, MIA son will
return from the war is a means of tamping down the ferocious rage that
ultimately explodes in the play's final act. As Joe's idealistic son
Chris, Dominic Comperatore's shyness shifts to disgusted anger, a turn
that hints at the possibility he was aware on some level of his
father's sleaziness. Although uneven turns are offered by some of the
supporting cast, Maury Sterling's crushed boyish performance as the
scorned son of the framed co-worker is brilliant, as is Austin
Highsmith's unusually appealing Ann, whose shocking reveal about the
dead son (often one of the more contrived plot twists in most
productions) is here powerfully well-motivated and believable. Ruskin
Theatre Group, 3000 Airport Road, Santa Monica Airport, Santa Monica;
Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through October 2. (310) 397-3244.
(Paul Birchall)
GO BECKY'S NEW CAR “When a woman says she wants a
new house, she really wants a new husband. When she says she wants a
new car, she really wants a new life.” In Steven Dietz's smart if
tonally uneven new play, these are the prophetic words of amiable and
grounded Becky Foster (Joanna Daniels), who worries that she has
squandered her best years as an office manager drudge at a car
dealership, while saddled with a lumpen husband (Jon Eric Preston) and
patronizing grad student son (Nick Rogers). A chance for a new life
comes prancing into Becky's dealership, when slightly spacey
billionaire billboard tycoon Walter (Brad Greenquist) randomly chooses
Becky as the sales agent for his mass-purchase of cars for all the
employees at his company. Walter, grieving over the death of his wife,
is inexplicably attracted to the earthy “real world” Becky, whose own
moral compass starts swinging around like a drunken sailor as she
contemplates ditching her family for a life of glamour and wealth.
Dietz's play receives its Los Angeles premiere in director Michael
Rothhaar's whimsical production that comes laced with melancholy. The
play's genesis is worthy of some note: The work was a personal
commission by a Seattle arts patron as a gift for his wife. As such,
the material occasionally tries a little too hard to please, with a
narrative that occasionally emulates the mood of 1930s screwball
comedies — a style that is an uneven alchemical fit with the
underlying tone of midlife despair, in which the work is also deeply
steeped. However, when Dietz is willing to let the play rise to silly
froth, the results are splendid. Scenes in which Daniels' bubbly Becky
repeatedly invites opinions from audience members — some of whom are
roped onstage into helping her with a wonderfully droll costume change
moment — balance charmingly with moments in which she finds herself
swept away by Greenquist's charismatic Walter. Although the
contrivances of the play's final third are too preposterous to sustain
even willing disbelief, the ensemble overall crackles with witty,
sympathetic performances — including Rogers as Becky's goofy son and
by Suzanne Ford's graceful turn as a prickly rival for Walter's
affections. (Paul Birchall). Pacific Resident Theatre, 703 Venice
Blvd., Venice; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru Sept. 19. (310)
822-8392.
GO BEDROOM FARCE The title is apt, since the
action occurs in three radically different bedrooms in a 1975 English
suburb. Kate (blond and taffy-voiced Kate Hollinshead) and Malcolm
(buff and playful Jamie Donovan) are having a party in their new flat.
Nick (Scott Roberts) and Jan (Ann Noble) are invited, but Nick has put
his back out and is confined to his bed in agony — and he's annoyed
that Jan is going to the party without him. Obstreperous and
self-obsessed Trevor (Anthony Michael Jones) and his noisily neurotic
wife, Susannah (Regina Peluso), are also invited, but their tempestuous
marriage is rocked by one of its endless crises. When Trevor makes a
pass at former girlfriend Jan, Susannah goes into massive hysterics,
wrecking the party. Trevor descends on bedridden Nick to “explain” his
behavior, while Susannah runs to Trevor's bemused parents, Ernest
(Robert Mandan) and Delia (Maggie Peach), for solace. Alan Ayckbourn's
play plumbs no great depths, but he's unflaggingly inventive in
exploring comic surfaces, and director Ron Bottitta has assembled a
likable and deftly stylish cast to keep the pot boiling on Darcy
Prevost's huge and handsome set. Kathryn Poppen's trendy '70s costumes
add further charm. (Neal Weaver). Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda
Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru Sept. 26. (310)
477-2055.
8 MIDSUMMER QUICKIES Eight short plays, written and directed by
Caroline Marshall, Tracy Merrifield, Marnie Olson and Kyle T. Wilson.
Psychic Visions Theatre, 3447 Motor Ave., L.A.; Sat., 8 p.m.; thru
Sept. 4. (310) 535-6007.
ELIZABETH SHAKESPEARE AND THE ASTUTE DETECTIVE Alan Ross' world
premiere about who really wrote the Bard's plays. Santa Monica
Playhouse, 1211 Fourth St., Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 6
p.m.; thru Oct. 3. (310) 394-9779.
ENGAGEMENT In writer-director Allen Barton's unexpectedly sour
romantic comedy, you can tell that the love match made in hell between
smart, emotionally withholding Republican, commitment-phobe Mark
(Everette Wallin) and warm, free-spirit liberal Nicole (Audrey Moore)
is careening off the rails when Mark tries to propose to her at a fancy
restaurant but must instead run from the table to vomit. Mark is glib,
funny and negative, while Nicole dreams of a soul mate with whom she
has a deep connection. And, while each partner sees the other's flaws,
they also think that they will be able to change him or her into the
perfect mate — an operation that ends predictably in tears. Barton's
play intends to skewer the notion of modern romance — e.g., the
characters' dealings are interspersed with complaints about Facebook
and Twitter, and the inevitable diminishment of the need for human
contact that these devices bring. However, more than a commentary about
the superficial technical devices that add clutter to our own emotional
confusion, the piece's theme truly explores a more timeless concept:
the emptiness of valuing being clever over feeling. That said, Barton's
writing is not always up to the challenge: The dialogue is talky and
repetitious while sometimes being so stridently mean, we can't
understand why either of the two lovers would stay in the same room
with each other. One problem may be that Barton's coolly ironic, snarky
staging never builds any sense of a love that can so quickly change to
hate — it's just hate that turns into more hate. The show is
double-cast, but on the night reviewed, Wallin's snarky man-boy was
strangely moving while still being thoroughly bilious, and Moore
offered a nicely melancholic turn as the increasingly wearied Nicole.
As her venomously embittered roomie who finds an unexpected lover
herself, Ellie Schwartz delivers the show's most ferocious yet
emotionally nuanced performance. (Paul Birchall). Beverly Hills
Playhouse, 254 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 7 p.m.; thru Sept. 19. (310) 358-9936.
GO JUST 45 MINUTES FROM BROADWAY Suffused with a
near-Chekhovian mix of the wistful and the melancholy, playwright Henry
Jaglom's world premiere comedy is a delight — an intimate and
thoughtful ensemble piece which is as much a paean to the theater as it
is a meditation on the perils of living entirely by emotion. In a
picturesque but run down country house in upstate New York (realized in
Joel Daavid's beautiful detailed set), a theatrical clan spends what is
probably for them a typical fall weekend of histrionics and melodrama.
These are people who have lived their whole lives for art — which, one
might say, means that dinner is never on time and no one gets up before
noon. Elderly thespian George (Jack Heller) and his beloved wife Vivien
(Diane Louise Salinger) are in the twilight of their careers, but
regret nothing about a life spent on the road performing small plays.
Also staying in their home is their beautiful, unstable daughter
Pandora (Tanna Frederick), who is taking a “rest” from acting after
getting over a recent failed romance. The typically “artsy” family
chaos turns even more tumultuous with the arrival of the family's
estranged eldest daughter Betsy (Julie Davis), who has grown weary of
her eccentric family. When Betsy introduces her lawyer fiance Jimmy
(David Garver) to the family, sparks unexpectedly fly — but the sparks
are between Jimmy and free-spirited Pandora. Some overwritten sequences
teeter on self indulgence, yet the piece is also wise to the follies of
human behavior — and director Gary Imhoff's subtle staging elegantly
juxtaposes the warmth and frustration underscoring the relationships
within so many families. The ensemble work is sensitive, yet comically
charged, with Frederick's calculatedly daffy turn as the
ever-performing Pandora smartly offset by Davis' increasingly angry
Betsy. Heller's leonine elderly actor-dad and Salinger's actress mom,
tender and sad, wonderfully craft the sense of elders who have never
truly grown up, and are amazed by what has happened to their bodies
while their minds remain youthful. A Rainbow Theatre Company
production. (Paul Birchall). Edgemar Center for the Arts, 2437 Main
St., Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 5 p.m.; thru Sept. 19. (310) 399-3666.
KATIE THE CURST The Actors' Gang's adaptation of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew,
a free summer show for all ages. Media Park, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver
City; Sat.-Sun., 11 a.m.; thru Aug. 29, theactorsgang.com…
GO PROCREATION The plays of Justin Tanner are like
Rice Krispies. They crackle when you pour in the right actors — and
the actors here from his own company are just right — and then they
kind of wash away. Maybe that doesn't matter. That crackling is the
sound of Tanner's satirical barbs directed at the foibles and delusions
of L.A. suburban white-trash types. (His latest farce is set in
Highland Park.) He does for (or to) L.A. what Del Shores does for (or
to) the South. Shores' plays come with more of a message and smidgen
more sentimentality. Tanner brings on a gallery of types, lets them go
until somebody lands on a revelation, or confession, which may or may
not make a jot of difference to the lunatic world being depicted. Maybe
it's apt that a play called Procreation should have 13
characters. One of them, Ruby (Danielle Kennedy), is a pregnant
grandmother (awaiting octuplets — she's even brought the sonograms
with her) with a sanctimonious gigolo beaux, played wonderfully cocky
by Jonathan Palmer. (They both visit SoCal from Colorado, and he offers
lectures on healthy lifestyle and self-discipline. He may as well be
preaching on the virtues of vitamins to drug dealers.) Everybody here
is in debt. Mom Hope (Melissa Denton) runs a novelty store called “Wish
on a Rainbow,” which smug hubby Michael (nicely goofy by Michael
Halpin) announced must liquidate immediately. Can they afford to send
their corpulent 15-year-old, bed-wetting son, Gavin (Kody Batchelor),
to the fat farm? (He tosses his urine-drenched blanket at his
relatives, for his own amusement. He will surely grow up to become a
playwright.) Hope's sister Deanie (goggle-eyed Patricia Scanlon) hoards
other people's garbage, while her terminally unemployed, good-natured
husband, Bruce (Andy Marshall Daley), makes a career out of asking his
relatives for loans. There are drug deals, offstage blow jobs and an
entire subplot of gay intrigue. Tanner's satire of behaviors roasts not
so much a culture of greed as a culture of need — derived from the
cruelty of snarky jokes and emotional neglect. One character says,
perhaps ironically, “Let's try to be more mindful of what we say from
now on,” as though that would fix anything. Call it Molière ultralite.
Sitcoms like this depend on the unspoken reactions to the torrent of
one-liners. Director David Schweizer has the cartoons just right, but
he drives the play on the fuel of its quips rather than the comedic
agony that lies beneath them. Which may be why the farce begins to wilt
after an hour or so, despite the effervescence of ongoing amusement.
The uncredited costumes are very witty. (Steven Leigh Morris). Odyssey
Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A.; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 7 p.m.;
thru Sept. 4. (310) 477-2055.
THE WAR CYCLE Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble presents three plays by Tom Burmester: Wounded, Nation of Two, and Gospel According to First Squad. Powerhouse Theatre, 3116 Second St., Santa Monica; Thurs.-Sat..; thru Sept. 11, latensemble.com. (310) 396-3680.
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