theatre review: oy! is the way to remember (at TFPO)

Oy! is simple in concept but profound, mostly, in effect. Two elderly Jewish sisters, embodied on stage with a full measure of poignant humanity by Mary Eileen O’Donnell and Jeanette Horn, reminisce about World War II, the Holocaust, and their own lives on their return from a trip to Germany to share their experiences with a younger generation in need of a history lesson.

Revived by The Actors' Gang after last year’s successful run, the play by Hélène Cixious is notable for its naturalistic dialogue and its affectionate portrait of sisters who know each other so well that they demonstrate how familiarity breeds, not contempt, but the capacity for deep bonds. Such is the depth of their relationship, and the depth of the performances that we enjoy watching these two ladies weather the irritation of personal quirks and foibles to reveal solidarity of spirit.

Also notable, albeit problematic, is...

Read the rest of my review of Oy!, currently on stage at The Actor's Gang in Culver city, at The Front Page Online.

The Actor’s Gang Triumphs with ‘Tartuffe’ : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

"Despite what it might sound like, “Tartuffe” is not the name of a French custard-filled pastry and the Ivy Substation has not been remade as a Parisian café. Yet what we have here is nevertheless a wicked confection as one of France’s greatest playwrights, Molière, gets the Actor’s Gang treatment in a revival of their hugely successful 2005 production."

Read the rest: The Actor’s Gang Triumphs with ‘Tartuffe’ : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

Break the Whip Whips it Good : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

The Actor's Gang, one of L.A.’s most consistently magical troupes, can always be relied upon to deliver theatre that channels our era's nebulous zeitgeist. While it will take historians from twenty minutes into the future to look back and somehow encapsulate the bizarro spirit of this first decade in the new millenium, The Actor's Gang is firmly focused on using theatre to pull the curtains back on issues of social impact we can relate to today. With Break the Whip, the Gang also reaffirms another signature trait: irrepressible optimism.

Read the rest of...Break the Whip: Whips it Good : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

theatre review: sole mate/death and giggles

No episode of The Ladder this week, I'm afraid, on account of being overloaded. But here's a review of Sole Mate / Death and Giggles on stage at the Ivy Substation in Culver City. High recommendations.

‘Sole Mate and Death and Giggles.’ Some Death. Mostly Giggles. All Magic.

theatre review: the trial of the catonsville nine

Sorry for the unceremonious link tossing, but it's been a hectic week. Here's a review of a play currently on stage at the Ivy Substation:

The Trial of the Catonsville Nine

new theatre review: aah! scrooge must die!

I'm not one to go for raunch or offensiveness for the sake of being offensiveness, but I kinda dig this new play, Aah! Scrooge Must Die!, at the Ivy Substation. The Actor's Gang sure is a wacky bunch.

Ah, yes. The holidays. Christmas carols over the speakers of stuff-selling stores. Tinsel for the trees. Snow on Disney’s Main Street. The Ivy and the Holly. Ho, ho, ho, and glowing red noses – a certain reindeer’s luminous proboscis and too much rum in the egg nog. Colourful wrapping paper, ribbons and gift cards. Chocolate peppermint bark. Family visits. And maybe, just maybe a dash of that old bah, humbug? In the stress of the holidays, the relentless drive to play a part in unbridled consumerism, the forced smiles and strained good cheers – surely it’s not uncommon to feel a bit like a pre-phantasmic Scrooge amidst the onslaught.

Read the rest of Scrooge Must Die...Laughing.

new theatre review: bury the dead

A new theatre review over at The Front Page Online. Irwin Shaw's Bury the Dead, now on stage at the Ivy Substation in Culver City:

Dead Men, Lively Play