Theatre Talk
Theatre Talk
In-depth, provocative reviews and commentary on theatre in Southern California and beyond from James C. Taylor. He is an in-demand film/TV editor with a passion for theatre and opera who flies all over the world to see what's happening on stage.
Photo credit: Marc Goldstein
RECENT SHOWS
A 'Labour of Love'
Shakespeare's comedy Love's Labour's Lost is not one of his sturdiest creations. While the major plays like Hamlet, Twelfth Night or A Midsummer Night's Dream can rise above lackluster stagings or uninspired acting, Love's Labour's Lost is a delicate soufflé — only when presented with absolute grace and skill, can it avoid collapsing under the weight of its own deliciousness...
A 'Farce' to Be Reckoned With
Last summer, Theatre Talk spoke of "the most dazzling production of a new play to come along in years." That play was The Walworth Farce, by Irish dramatist Enda Walsh. And after runs in Edinburgh, London, and New York, the original production has arrived here in Los Angeles where it opened last night as part of UCLA Live's International Theater Festival...
Irish Ghosts and Leprechauns
In this week after Halloween, it's fitting that we talk about ghost stories. Conor McPherson, the prolific Irish dramatist, is a master of modern ghost stories — his plays have featured apparitions, bloodsuckers, even Mephistopheles himself. And yet, there's no blood or gore in McPherson's plays — he's more interested in the guilt these spirits represent, not who they can kill....
Nojangles
The late 1950's and 1960's were indeed Sammy Davis Jr.'s moment. During that time he was one of, if not, the highest paid entertainer in America. His career is the subject of a new musical titled Sammy...
A Reigning Parade
Those are the opening bars of the musical Parade and that little bit of music tell you a great deal about the show as a whole. There's the military drum beat that evokes the Civil War, the bells and oboe melody that sound like Broadway and the atonal piano clusters which tells you the dissonant Parade is not your standard feel-good, leave-whistling-the-songs musical...
Donuts and Dilaudid
What do you do after your sprawling, three-hour play about America in decline wins the Pulitzer Prize for drama? That's a problem most aspiring playwrights — to say nothing of established writers — would love to have; but it's nevertheless been a problem for Tracy Letts. Letts is the writer of popular, short shockers, like Killer Joe and Bug, who then decided to write something long and serious. That play turned out to be August: Osage County, which won the Tony, the Pulitzer, and is now touring the country in a production starring Oscar-winner Estelle Parsons...
Tragedies: Medea and Modine
Two great tragedies are currently running in Westwood. One dates back 2,500 years; the other feels twice as old (and dated) even though it was written earlier this year. ..
Bush-Era Angst
Of the many things George W. Bush said that came back to haunt him, one quip perhaps best describes what would become known as the Bush II Era: "A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it," he said about working with Congress, "just so long as I'm the dictator..."
A Raucous 'Peace' and Intoxicating 'Encounter'
A simple, joyous belief in theater as entertainment radiates from two productions currently playing here on the west coast. The first is the annual production of a Greek classic at the Getty Villa's outdoor amphitheater...
Lost Allusions
In years past, when dramatists wanted to make an allusion or use history to suggest a metaphor, chances are they would look to the bible — or some ancient Greek, Roman or even Norse mythology...
Disney vs. Dreamworks: Round 2, Live on Stage
Summer is now over and the new theater season is about to begin. Here in Los Angeles, the season sort of un-officially opens tonight with the opening performance of the Getty's annual production of a Greek play under the stars in Malibu...
Spam-Alot Funnier
That's the song, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," from the musical Spamalot. Of course, die-hard Monty Python fans will tell you that song originally came from the 1979 movie Life of Brian — but then very little that's in Spamalot is original. The full title of this show, which won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical, is Monty Python's Spamalot: A New Musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail...
Preserving Strange
This week, Los Angeles theatergoers can finally experience Passing Strange in the city where much of its story takes place — albeit not live on stage. Spike Lee filmed the last performance of Passing Strange on Broadway, capturing much of the raw energy and emotion that was on stage at the Belasco Theatre during its four month run...
Coming Home
This past weekend, the Number One movie in America was a film titled District 9, about aliens from outer space who suffer under a sort of intergalactic apartheid policy outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. One can only wonder if Athol Fugard, the most well known South African playwright of the real apartheid era (who now lives here in Southern California) saw District 9 — and if so, what he thought of it...
Hats and Hamlet
In the last twelve months many shows have been cancelled due to the "unexpected financial climate." This week was supposed to have been a review of Elizabeth Meriwether's Heddatron at the Kirk Douglas Theater. Alas, it was indefinitely postponed. (Leaving Angelinos to forever ponder the intersection of Ibsen and robots.) What's more, some theaters and companies have cancelled seasons or even closed their doors completely, so it seems fitting to make mention of two local troupes that are expanding in these uncertain times...
Program Details
Host
James C. Taylor
James C. Taylor reviews theatre, large and small.
Schedule
Live
Tapes & Transcripts
Click the Full Details link to view the complete transcript. Tapes are not available.
THEATRE TALK CALENDAR
The Walworth Farce
Enda Walsh's haunting look at the intersection of the human need to both perform and construct family narratives was the best new play I saw last year. Five performances only featuring the original Irish cast. Not to be missed.
November 11 –15: Freud Playhouse, UCLA
No Man's Land
Harold Pinter's autumnal 1975 play is arguably the last of his major, signature works. John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson originated the roles played in this revival by Alan Mandell and Laurence Pressman.
Through December 13: Odyssey Theatre, West Los Angeles
Phyllis Nagy returns to the U.S. (she left New York to become a British subject and a successful playwright back in 1992) to direct the American premiere of her 1998 play, which the theater describes as “A visionary love story set in a remote, rain-swept village in the South of France.” We're curious.
Through November 15: Rogue Machine in Theatre/Theater (near La Brea)
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