Culture Clash, the brilliant Chicano theatre troupe consisting of Richard Montoya, Ricardo Salinas and Herbert Siguenza, has been around a long, long time and shows no sign of letting up. Their current sharp-edged social satire, Culture Clash (Still) in America, now in production at South Coast Rep, is unabashedly and satisfyingly rude as they demolish … Continue reading “Culture Clash (Still) in America” at South Coast Repertory
In A Misunderstanding, actor/playwright Matt Chait expands on his 2017 play, Disinherit the Wind.* A well-respected biology professor is once more in court attempting to regain his position at the University of California. Chait reprises his role as Doctor Bertram Cates, a name borrowed from the man who was put on trial for teaching evolution … Continue reading “A Misunderstanding” at the Complex (Ruby Theatre)
In Sisters Three, inspired by the literary Brontës, playwright Jami Brandli has crafted a tight, intimate play that defies categorization. She has borrowed the Brontë names and some elements of the famed family’s domestic situation in an utterly absorbing play that is comic, tragic, and ultimately, blackly farcical. It’s Christmas and the setting is a … Continue reading “Sisters Three” at The Inkwell Theater
Remembering Boyle Heights, created and devised by Josefina López, Corky Dominguez and The Remembering Boyle Heights Ensemble, is a theatrical presentation of both the history of Boyle Heights and its social activism, which is inspired by the resistance of the citizens of Boyle Heights to the increasing threat of gentrification. The style of the production … Continue reading “Remembering Boyle Heights” at CASA 0101
It has been a tradition in my household to start decorating for Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving. My wife likes to put ornaments on the tree to the sound of Christmas music. She also loves classic Christmas movies like Miracle on 34th Street and, especially, It’s a Wonderful Life, the Frank Capra classic that … Continue reading “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Theatre West
Confederates by Suzanne Bradbeer, which won a Silver Medallion in the Moss Hart & Kitty Carlisle Hart New Play Initiative, takes advantage of the current political climate to present an intimate drama set in a presidential campaign. Stephanie (Melissa R. Randel), a hard boiled reporter on the cusp of being encouraged to take an honorable … Continue reading “Confederates” at Grove Theater Center
With the houselights still up, in a theatre with seats configured on a slant, a pleasant, smiling, thirtyish man enters in replete with a MacBook and ear buds, hops into an armchair and types. House lights fade, stage lights come up, and this voluble, energetic man addresses the audience. He says he is the playwright. … Continue reading “Death and Cockroaches” at Chalk Repertory Theatre
