Author Archive
THE QUALITY OF LIFE
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007
When I see a production as beautifully written, directed, and performed as The
Quality of Life, I thank my lucky stars that I live in Los Angeles (well, in
Alhambra, actually, but who’s splitting hairs?). Where else could I be treated
to internationally known film and TV vets like Scott Bakula, Dennis Boutsikaris,
Laurie Metcalf, and JoBeth Williams returning to their stage roots, an award-
winning writer/director like Jane Anderson with serious film/TV/stage credits,
and a design team as fine as the one assembled at the Geffen for this
production?
(read more)
ANON
Sunday, October 21st, 2007
Kate Robin’s provocative new play Anon begins as a light romantic comedy
and soon develops into something a good deal more weighty. Trip (Blayne
Weaver) and Allison (Kit Pongetti) meet cute when animal psychologist Allison
makes a house call at Trip’s apartment because his cat (named Cat) has
been peeing in all the wrong places. She advises him to talk to Cat, confide in
her, buy her more toys, keep her litter box tidy (with a metal scooper), and by
all means give her a less generic name. Her $200 fee paid, Allison accepts Trip’
s impulsive invitation to dine with him (Chinese take-out) and the evening
ends with a bout of passionate lovemaking.
(read more)
“MASTER HAROLD” … and the boys
Saturday, October 20th, 2007
The Colony Theatre Company’s last production, Trying, proved to be its biggest and
most critically acclaimed hit in years, and has scored an impressive 8 Ovation
nominations—in every category for which it was eligible. A decidedly tough act to
follow, but follow it they have, with a superb and supremely moving production of
Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold” … and the boys.
(read more)
TOM, DICK, AND HARRY
Friday, October 19th, 2007
Nobody writes farce better than the UK’s Ray Cooney, whose plays are a staple
of regional and community theaters across the U.S. His most recent comedy,
Tom, Dick and Harry (written with son Ray Cooney) is getting its West Coast
Premiere at International City Theatre in Long Beach, and thanks to Cooney’s
brand of nonstop mayhem, crackerjack direction by Todd Neilsen and a
sensational cast, this is a chance to see Cooney farce at its best.
(read more)
THE FASTEST CLOCK IN THE UNIVERSE
Thursday, October 18th, 2007NOT RECOMMENDED
The Fastest Clock in the Universe, by Philip Ridley, is the blackest of black
comedies. Captain Tock, a 50ish bespectacled gent in a black vaguely Chinese
smock and dark trousers, shares an East End of London flat with a much younger
and entirely self-centered hunk named Cougar Glass. Their relationship is
perversely symbiotic. Symbiotic= a close association of animals or plants of different
species that is often, but not always, of mutual benefit. (Emphasis in this case on
the “not of mutual benefit.”) Glass gets adoration from (and gray hairs plucked
by) Tock. Just what Tock gets from Cougar, other than constant humiliation, is
open to debate. Today is the 11th time Cougar is celebrating his 30th birthday,
and he has invited a 15 year old schoolboy as his annual present to himself. When
the schoolboy arrives with his pregnant girlfriend in hand, things get ugly.
SPIN
Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
Maryland governor Ben Wiley’s approval rating is down to 32% following an
incident in which he “copped a quick feel” in his private office in the State house.
It was a setup, he tells gubernatorial advisor/“miracle worker” Billy Dodge. She was
wearing no bra and “they were hanging there like ripe fruit.” What was a
governor to do?
(read more)
DANGEROUS CORNER
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
Theatre 40’s revival of Dangerous Corner, J.B. Priestley’s 1932 London and Broadway mystery thriller, is both a well realized period play, with attention paid to costumes, hair, and set design, and a surprisingly modern piece of theater with plot twists any contemporary playwright would be proud of. Fast paced, well acted and directed, and authentically designed to take the audience back seventy-five years, Dangerous Corner is a suspenseful and conversation-provoking treat.
(read more)
Since 2007, Steven Stanley's StageSceneLA.com has spotlighted the best in Southern California theater via reviews, interviews, and its annual StageSceneLA Scenies.
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