- CRITICS PICK: RECOMMENDED! George Bernard Shaw's play was censored for decades and could only be presented publicly in 1925, after World War I had shifted British attitudes toward women. But it's the author's merciless attack on hypocrisy -- a fault both sexes are subject to -- that remains fresh today. The Production Company's staging, directed with admirable pace by August Viverito, emphasizes the play's satirical edge …it never fails to entertain. Like Viverito's ingenious fold-out set, Shaw keeps revealing an unexpected angle, and, plot-wise, "Mrs. Warren" is one of his tightest works. …The excellent Doyle and Strapp tear into the juicy dialogue with relish, and their scenes together crackle with spirit and urgency. And Jeremy Lelliott, as Vivie's astute but caddish suitor, tosses off witticisms with appealing insouciance. –Charlotte Stout: LA Times. - GO! That Shaw’s scorching four-act play, by proxy, attacks everything from the glass ceiling to Nike shoes means its relevance has only increased in over a century. ...Doyle is outstanding as an alpha female coquette overloaded with pride, vulnerability and jewels; and as Vivie’s two would-be husbands, Jeremy Lelliott, in a callously foppish take, and Skip Pipo, with his crass, tycoonish portrayal, are hilarious while they underscore Shaw’s insinuation that Jane Austen’s well-married girls are the true prostitutes. Amy Nicholson: LA Weekly
- CRITICS PICK! Call it inspiration or simple serendipity, but here, the right text, a sympathetic director (Michael Van Duzer) and performers with all the right chops come together to conjure stage magic. This pitch-perfect production of playwright Daniel MacIvor’s enchanting 2001 metadramatic sleight of hand is such magic. A bare stage, two actors — and what actors! — and more than half a dozen full-blooded characters are all that Maclvor requires for a jigsaw meditation on love, loss and the penitential nature of art. His narrative conceit is best described as a play within a play encircling a play. A playwright (Josh Gordon) creating scenes for a new work tries them out with an actor (Blake Anthony). Mordantly funny scenes about an Ivan Ilich–esque man’s awakening to the callowness of his family and the emptiness of his bourgeois existence are acted, interrupted and argued. While the roles are traded and then re-imagined by the two men, an unexpected connection emerges as the disintegrating relationship between the doomed performer-lovers finally completes the circle. Van Duzer realizes both MacIvor’s nuanced ironies and his biting comedy with no little help from his dynamic acting tag team. The square-jawed Gordon, whose angular features somehow heighten his expressive charisma (particularly when he does a drag turn as an unfaithful wife), boasts a commanding range. That virtuosity is matched by Anthony, who ups the ante with a natural charm and true comic flair. Chandler Studio, 12443 Chandler Blvd., Valley Village; Sat., July 5 & Fri.-Sat., July 11 & 12, 8 p.m.; Sun., July 6, 3 p.m. (800) 838-3006.—Bill Raden: LA WEEKLY
- GO! “Bright and witty ...the ensemble is captivating” “strong performances across the board.” - LAWeekly
- "WOW! Stellar and award-worthy!" - StageSceneLA
- A “Solid” “Lovely” “Bewitching” and “Fascinating” cast - BackstageWest
- GO! Writer-director Don Cummings adeptly captures the chaos enveloping a collapsing family, in his dark one-act comedy. Eldest son Dave (Henry Gummer) has returned to his family's home in the hope of straightening out the latest mess. Coinciding with the birth of her first grandchild, Mom (Barbara Gruen) goes off her meds and lands in a psychiatric ward. She's now back at home, but Dave's attempts to get her to rehab are thwarted by his younger brother, Joe (Blake Anthony), who's become Mom's enabler. Mom may — or may not — have pancreatitis, or possibly fibromyalgia; what she does have is an endless supply of prescription pain pills, which Joe hides, doling them out one by one when she begs. Dad (Dennis Delsing) copes by drinking himself into a stupor. Despite pleas from both sons, Mom refuses to go to the hospital to see her daughter, Susan (Madelynn Fattibene), and the baby, nor will she visit Susan and her granddaughter at home. Cummings has a gift for the pointed barb, and some of the dialogue is hilarious, despite the situation's gravity. His direction is as fast-paced as the dialogue, and Gruen delivers a tremendous performance as a deceptive, manipulative drug addict.By Sandra Ross, LA WEEKLY
- CRITIC’S PICK! A perfect play... McElheny gives a tour de force performance -Backstage West
- CRITIC’S CHOICE: RECOMMENDED! a regal performance from Karesa McElheny
- Los Angeles Times
- RAVE! Under Robert Mammana’s inspired direction... this is unforgettable,
must-see theater - LAStageScene
- WIT IS AGING GRACEFULLY! Well crafted and well acted... McElheny has us at "How are you feeling?"; the play's first line... and the ensemble surrounding her in Robert Mammana's production is equally up to snuff - Los Angeles Daily News
- CRITICS' PICK: RECOMMENDED! A luminous, all-male 'R&J'
After hours, four schoolboys escape their regimented existence by secretly enacting "Romeo and Juliet," awakening into new awareness as they go. That scenario might put people in mind of "Dead Poets Society," but Joe Calarco, who devised this contextualized version of Shakespeare's play, writes in the published acting edition that his inspirations were "The Crucible" and "Lord of the Flies." He means "Shakespeare's R&J" to evoke a world where repression and a mob mentality weigh down on two young people sharing their first forbidden kiss. Director Derek Charles Livingston, formerly with Celebration Theatre, is a vivid stage artist, and he works here with actors who grippingly convey their characters' transformation. The production probably won't create the stir that Calarco's New York staging did in 1997 and '98, but the fault is as much Calarco's as anyone else's. He pared Shakespeare's text with no major loss of impact, but some of his setup (such as military-style marching to indicate the lock-step thinking of a Catholic school) is too heavy-handed. As the boys' ringleader, David Pintado is impetuous at first. Yet as he experiences new emotions while portraying Romeo, his face slowly suffuses with wonder. He's responding in part to the quiet radiance in Wyatt Fenner, which burns ever brighter until there can be no question that his Juliet truly "is the sun."Livingstonmakes artful use of a strip of red cloth that is virtually the sole prop. It's pressed into use for costuming and enlisted in tugs of war to represent sword fights. By the time it flows, liquid-like, to simulate ingested poison and spilling blood, the mournful beauty of this presentation is fully in bloom. — Daryl H. Miller: LA Times
- CRITIC’S PICK! Author Frank Wedekind had some of his plays performed in censored versions, since they were considered pure pornography.In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s of pre-Nazi Germany, there were many taboo subjects, not the least of which was sexual freedom, problems of puberty, moments of ecstasy between the sexes, and misunderstanding and violence.Because he dealt with those subjects blatantly, he often faced rejection by the power elite but enjoyed notoriety for his frankness and candor.
In 1891 his first major play, Spring Awakening caused a scandal in Germany.Today his topic could be considered idle banter among some middle school students, but dealing with sexuality and puberty among some young German students, with references to masturbation, homosexuality, suicide, as well as hints of abortion was more than the average German theatre goer could handle then.
Now The Production Company is presenting the play on a stark bare stage with no more than a sliding door and a bench as props, leaving it up to the actors to handle the compelling and sadly tragic story of teenagers in the angst of growing up.Good choice.To their credit, the superb acting and tightly defined direction by August Viverito succeed wonderfully in bringing the story to life.The ensemble is superb depicting young people going through the pressure of growing up, getting passing marks in school, dealing with often unreasonable parental discipline, and trying to cope with raging hormones.
Since sex was a forbidden topic these kids were wildly ignorant of what caused their desires and anguish.When fourteen year old Wendla pleads with her mother to tell her how babies are made the answer is “You have to love your husband very much!”Her friend Martha tells how she’s abused and beaten by her parents, believing its because she’s done something wrong, and when Moritz sneaks in the Headmaster’s office to see if he passed his exams, he is flunked as punishment.
Most of the youth in the play experience devastating effects as as result of their repressive upbringing.Wendla and Melchior find themselves alone in a hayloft one day, and their feelings get carried away so they wind up doing what boys and girls do naturally.A few weeks later when she feels ill and throws up in the mornings, she has no clue as to why she feels that way.Her mother's condemnation and accusations only prove how out of touch parents are with the feelings of their children.Wedekind saw society’s attitude towards the youth of the time, and warned against its consequences, perhaps overstating his case in hopes someone would listen.A few did.
As presented by The Production Company, this is a superb presentation of a difficult subject.It’s a gripping tale of how parental ineptitude and lack of courage can influence their children, how friends can influence each other and how the choices made by young people are more often made out of fear and ignorance than reason or love.The ensemble includes Abbie Cobb, Allie Costa, Wyatt Fenner, J.C. Henning, Adam Kalesperis, Blake Lee, Thomas Mikusz and Matthew Scott Montgomery. By Jose Ruiz: REVIEWPLAYS.COM