Neighbors at The Matrix Theatre Company

by Rachel Stoll~
Provocative, inappropriate, lewd, crass, and offensive, Playwright Branden Jacob-Jenkins’s play Neighbors pushes boundaries in its West Coast premiere. The “18 or older” recommendation by The Matrix Theatre Company is well earned due to Neighbors strong language, challenging discussion on race and identity, and graphic sexual moments. Director Nataki Garrett does not pull any [...]

Parasite Drag at Elephant Theatre

by Joel Elkins
Unlike most theatre-going folks, apparently, I have never had formal aviation training. So I had to do a little research just to understand the title of this play. I discovered that an airplane wing cutting through the air creates an updraft known as “lift” as well as air resistance known as “drag.” Being [...]

Becoming Norman at NoHo Arts Center

by Sylvia Blush ~
Norman P. Dixon’s struggles are not any more gripping or action-packed than any one of ours, but the painstaking vulnerability in facing life’s fears is one we can all relate to.
Becoming Norman takes you on a spiritual journey of one man’s struggle to uncover his internal spirit; not to be confused with [...]

The Good Negro at the Stella Adler Theatre

by Freddy Puza~
What is the price of racial equality in America? At what length do we have to go to achieve it? More interesting, what, if anything, must be covered up in order to protect it? The Good Negro at the Stella Adler Theatre opens up a much-needed conversation about these fundamental issues as the [...]

MilkMilkLemonade at Theatre/Theater

by Joel Elkins~
Milk, milk, lemonade
‘Round the corner, fudge is made
Stick your finger up the hole…
Out comes a chocolate Tootsie roll.
– classic children’s rhyme
MilkMilkLemonade, now playing at the Rogue Machine, is about as grounded and focused as the nonsensical children’s rhyme upon which it is inexplicably titled.
Introduced by an awkward and nervous narrator, and interspersed with [...]

Still Standing at Theatre Asylum

by Vince Duvall~
What have Nick Mills and Vitality Productions built over at the Theatre Asylum on Santa Monica in Hollywood? Outside of the stale, albeit established style of companies like The Actors’ Gang or the steady stream of money that usually doesn’t make it outside the Geffen or downtown, Still Standing by Shyla Marlin is [...]

All My Sons at the Ruskin Group Theatre

by Geoff Hoff~
I realize that, over the few years I have been a theatre critic, I have become a bit jaded. I suspect it may be one of the inevitable consequences of the pursuit. I want every play I see to be brilliant, and enough aren’t that I no longer expect it, which is sad. [...]

Bedroom Farce at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

by Geoff Hoff~

Alan Ayckbourn has written more plays than many of us have seen in our lives, some 74 full length ones at last count, not to mention a one-act, plays for children, screenplays, scripts for television and radio, sketches for reviews and at least one book. He loves playing with setting. In Norman [...]

String of Pearls at The Lonny Chapman Theatre

by Sylvia Blush ~
If one thing can be said about The Group Rep’s production of String of Pearls, it would be their artistic zeal. The four actresses, Michele Bernath, Katelyn Ann Clark, Lareen Faye and Sean Kathryn O’Connor, each performed with a sense of eagerness and gusto; 27 roles split amongst the fiery quad.
String [...]

Topdog/Underdog at the Lillian Theatre

By Freddy Puza~
Friends. Work. Family. No matter the social dynamic, everybody somehow plays a role in the perpetual grab for power at some time or another. We either defend it, fight to get it or merely try to steer clear of it. The play, Topdog/Underdog, by Suzan Lori-Parks, tells the story of two brothers, Lincoln [...]