ANOTHER VERMEER
Saturday, February 27th, 2010RECOMMENDED
Art forger Han van Meegeren has been imprisoned by the Dutch following the end of World War II for having allegedly sold a beloved national treasure—an original Vermeer—to Nazi Reich Marshall Hermann Goering. His defense? That he was in fact a patriot who saved many Dutch lives. The painting, he asserts, was one he had forged, and the fortune Goering paid for it ($7 million in today’s currency) was money that otherwise would have gone into the war effort. Criminal or patriot? Artist or swindler?
(read more)
COULD I HAVE THIS DANCE?
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010RECOMMENDED
To the outside world, sisters Monica and Amanda would seem to have it made. They’re attractive, successful 30something businesswomen with active sex and/or love lives. Together they run Grapevine, the successful showbiz p.r. firm passed down to them by their mother Jeannette. Monica has a long-term boyfriend who adores her, while Amanda prefers to play the field dating much younger men on a one-night-stand basis. What could possibly be wrong with this picture?
(read more)
IN THE COMPANY OF JANE DOE
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
When was the last time you saw a surreal screwball comedy about human cloning? Tiffany Antone’s In The Company Of Jane Doe is just that play, and as might be expected from the preceding description, quite a unique concoction it is. Though Antone’s decidedly unusual blend of the nutty and the bizarre does lose momentum in its second act and may leave you scratching your head as you exit the theater, its wild and crazy cast of characters, imaginative design, and terrific performances make it well worth a look-see.
(read more)
THE BROWNING VERSION
Saturday, January 9th, 2010
By 2010 standards, not much happens over the course of The Browning Version’s seventy-five minutes, an hour and a quarter which unrolls in real time one evening in the sitting room of an English schoolteacher’s flat.
(read more)
SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION
Friday, January 8th, 2010
I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation. Between us and everybody else on this planet. I am bound to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people. It’s a profound thought.”
(read more)
AN OAK TREE
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
A grieving father confronting the driver responsible for his 12-year-old daughter’s death is a premise almost certain to create gripping theater. It’s hard to imagine a loss greater than a parent’s of a child, or a greater feeling of culpability than that of a person who has caused a child’s death. It’s not surprising, therefore, that Tim Crouch’s An Oak Tree proves gripping theater. What makes it quite out of the ordinary is its unusual format, one absolutely deserving to be called “unique.”
(read more)
SOUTHERN COMFORTS
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009RECOMMENDED
When was the last time you saw a romantic comedy about a couple of 70somethings who fall head-over-heels in love? Maybe never? If so, playwright Kathleen Clark remedies this omission in Southern Comforts, now getting its West Coast premiere in an entertaining, well-acted production at Theatre 40.
(read more)
EQUIVOCATION
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Imagine if you will that on or about the one-year anniversary of 9/11, an emissary from the President Of The United States visited the most popular contemporary American filmmaker (insert whatever name you wish here) with an order—that a movie be made about the events leading up to the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, a movie which would place the blame on Saddam Hussein and his “weapons of mass destruction.” The President, continues his envoy, has himself written a draft of the screenplay, and our filmmaker needs only spice it up with some dialog—and with witches thrown in for good measure. (Oh, and the President can’t be in the flick.) The filmmaker knows that if he makes the movie the President is demanding, he will be telling a deliberate lie, as well as demonizing “enemies” who just may be blameless. On the other hand, to refuse the President’s demands will mean being accused of treason, and punished accordingly.
(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.
COPYRIGHT 2026 STEVEN STANLEY :: DESIGN BY