Los Angeles

A TIMELESS TRAGEDY TAKES ON A GILDED GLOW A beautifully conceived update proves Shakespeare’s young lovers lose none of their power in a new era There’s something magical about sitting in the woods at Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum as the sun sets, when countless crickets and frogs add their songs to the sounds of nature…

MORE VICTORIAN THAN NEW ROMANTIC Long Beach Shakespeare Company delivers Wilde’s classic with clarity and charm, even if its concept never fully blossoms Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest hardly needs reinvention. More than a century after its premiere, its razor-sharp epigrams, social satire, and exquisitely constructed farce remain as funny as ever. Long…

NO STRINGS ATTACHED? THINK AGAIN Erik Patterson’s provocative world premiere boasts superb performances but mistakes repetition for depth In F**king Strangers, receiving its world premiere from Echo Theater Company, playwright Erik Patterson begins with an arresting image: a terrified young man stranded beside a freeway, begging his mother to stay on the phone until help…

THE PROOF IS IN THE FAMILY Ed Begley Jr. and daughter Hayden Begley bring David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama to the stage for a four-performance benefit supporting Parkinson’s research Jason Jeske presents a special four-performance engagement of David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Proof at the El Portal Theatre, starring Ed Begley Jr. and his daughter, Hayden…

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARRRR A spirited cast and an unforgettable setting help this classic weather a few rough seas in Ellen Geer’s adaptation Driving up the twisty road along Topanga Creek to Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum for the first time and walking into the sprawling wooded compound, I was already halfway charmed before the…

THE POLITICS OF MARRIAGE Strong writing and performances outweigh a staging that plays it safe The worst that can be said of Ray Richmond‘s Another Distraction From the Epstein Files at Bad Ladder is that it’s not very “fringy.” Richmond’s smart two-hander is a homage to the works of Clifford Odets (1906–1963), a classic kitchen…

THE WAR THAT FOLLOWED HIM HOME Rather than celebrate a legend, Brian Rohan reveals the man still haunted by war At the outset of World War II, Jimmy Stewart (1908–1997) became the first major Hollywood star to enlist. A flying enthusiast from early on, Stewart was already a licensed pilot when he joined the Army…

ONE MAN, MANY TRUTHS An extraordinary performer turns theatrical self-examination into something unexpectedly profound Stefan Marks is a spellbinding storyteller, and My One Woman Show (The Search for a Truthful Moment) at The Hollywood Fringe is far more than a clever send-up of the solo-performance genre. Beginning as a funny, self-aware examination of the agonies of…

LIFE IN A BLENDER A chaotic solo show anchored by an engaging performer. Kelly Mullis‘s solo show Army Brat at the Broadwater Second Stage carries a very accurate subtitle: “The Fever Dream into the Life of a Military Kid.” As penned by the performer, the show is a splattering of her life, her father’s life,…

BURNED BY AMBITION Sometimes the bravest artistic choice is asking for help. In Theft of Fire, Garrett Hildebrandt is presentable, well-spoken, talented, and smart. However, he’s not as talented as he believes himself to be and not smart enough to recognize that. (It’s excusable; he’s young.) Hildebrandt strides the stage at The Actors Company Let…

FROM BARK TO HEART A barking-dog complaint grows into something far more interesting I have been a fan of Richard Lucas since I reviewed his short, humorous, autobiographical novel The Dog Log, which chronicles life next door to two constantly yapping Yorkies and their hoarding, annoying owner as told through the device of a “dog…

ET TU, SHOESTRING? An ambitious historical comedy collapses under its own weight— but not without flashes of promise There are many different reasons for failure. All of them sting. The Fall of the Roman Republic… On a Shoestring Budget, now striding the stage at the Actors Company’s Other Space Theatre, is a failure. But a…

UNDER PRESSURE Ann Noble directs Ann Loud in a nicely twisted mystery set in a multi-crew submersible some 30,000 deep. Ann Loud, who penned the script and plays all five characters, skillfully captures the raw nerves of the crew and captain as they struggle to set the world’s record for longest sustained deep dive while…