what will happen to baby luna? (at TFPO)

Review of Luna Gale, on stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. 

Cynicism is an easy currency to trade in, especially when the subject is the government and its initiatives – and popular entertainment is a large marketplace. Consider child protective services and related efforts to help distressed children; how often is the social worker positioned relative to families as the internal affairs investigator is to the police? In Luna Gale, playwright Rebecca Gilman wisely resists the impulse to be cynical without resorting to romanticism. Her depiction of a social worker’s efforts on behalf of the titular baby is poignant, yes, but also ... READ THE REST AT THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

A Raisin in the Sun Heats Up The Kirk Douglas Theatre

It always puzzles me when fellow critics take notes during a performance. I’ll notice them scribbling away on their note pads or in the margins of the press kit – sometimes sedately, sometimes madly – and wonder how they can possibly foster an osmotic relationship with the performance. Imagine my bafflement, then, on learning that the performance of A Raisin in the Sun I attended also happened to be an evening of experimentation by the Centre Theatre Group. 



What do tweets and a seminal American play have to with each other? Find out in my review of A Raisin in the Sun, currently on stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, at The Front Page Online. Click here.

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. Directed by Phylicia Rashad. Performances by Kenya Alexander, Keith Arthur Bolden, Brandon David Brown, Kevin T. Carroll, Jason Dirden, Deidrie Henry,     Amad Jackson, Scott Mosenson, Kem Saunders, Kim Staunton, and Ellis E. Williams. On stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre until February 19, 2012. For tickets and information, visit the Theatre's website.

‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’: Laughter Hides a Hollow Heart : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

"Although Tadhg Murphy offers as fine a performance as one could ask for, it’s telling that the titular character in The Cripple of Inishmaan is played by an able-bodied performer. The lazy interpretation of this would invoke political correctness, but it would be more nuanced to contextualize it within the play’s general movement to keep disability at a distance. Hence, Irish playwright Martin McDonagh gives us the elements of a sitcom; a rural Irish island, a cast of idiosyncratic characters, and in the middle of it all, a deformed lad named Billy who is constantly referred to as “Cripple” Billy just in case his disability isn’t obvious enough to him. The nicknaming, even from what passes as family for Billy, is the sort of casual, reflexive cruelty that highlights a pervasive lack of empathy towards that which, in any context, constitutes “the other.” But there is outright hostility and contempt towards Billy’s condition as well, most obviously from Claire Dunne’s masterfully violent and spiteful Slippy Helen, although her venom is just as easily dispensed towards everyone around her."

Read the rest: ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’: Laughter Hides a Hollow Heart : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

“The Cripple of Inishmaan,” by Martin McDonagh. A Druid and Atlantic Theater Production. Directed by Garry Hynes. Starring Dearbhla Molloy, Ingrid Craigie, Dermot Crowley, Tadhg Murphy, Laurence Kinlan, Clare Dunne, Liam Carney, Paul Vincent O’Connor and Nancy E. Carroll. On stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre through Sunday, May 1. For tickets and information, visit www.centertheatregroup.org

‘The Wake’: Turbulence and Self-Reflection in a Stellar Kirk Douglas Production : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

The Wake is on stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre until Sunday, April 18. See www.centertheatregroup.org to purchase tickets. It's long - it clocks in at 2 hours and 45 minutes - but never dull.

‘The Wake’: Turbulence and Self-Reflection in a Stellar Kirk Douglas Production : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

theatre reviews: frost/nixon and how theater failed america

I've heard that Stacy Keach suffered a mild stroke but is recovering. Good thing, too. For him and for audiences here in LA who'll get the chance too appreciate his performance, and that of Alan Cox, in the staged production of Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan. (Morgan also wrote the screenplay for the movie.) Here's hoping the recovery continues to go smoothly.

To TFPO...

Frost/Nixon: A Funny, Poignant, Jabbing Flight of Fancy

And if you get the chance, tonight or tomorrow, I highly recommend catching this side-splitting, captivating monologue by Mike Daisey at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Also at TFPO...

Don't Miss Mike Daisey in How Theater Failed America

new theatre review: this beautiful city

Sometimes, things just happen at the right time. I was trying to figure out how to write my review of This Beautiful City currently on stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre when I came across a letter to the editor at TFPO. It was one of those expressions of religious condescension towards atheists, the ol 'atheists-have-nothing-on-which-to-build-meaning in-life schtick. Since This Beautiful City is all about Evangelical Christianity in the larger context of American society, that letter to the editor gave me just what I needed to get at the heart of the play.

...I lumped faith and ignorance together. Without all the necessary philosophical and theological qualifications that would normally accompany that kind of statement, this particular lumping could come across as insulting. That’s how atheists feel when people like Danny Bental presumes to tell them they can’t really find meaning in their lives without God, beauty, or anything worthwhile... ...The disconnect I illustrated above arises from a simple letter to the editor, yet it hints at a greater disconnect like the one that exists between Evangelical Christianity and not only atheism, but other religions as well. This Beautiful City, based on actual interviews conducted by theatrical production group The Civilians, looks at the Evangelical movement through an exploration of Colorado Springs prior to the 2006 mid-term elections...It is arguably the best production put on by the Kirk Douglas in recent memory.

Read the rest in Take an Impassioned Stroll...in This Beautiful City