“Jocasta” … More a Pity than a Tragedy
By Ernest Kearney — In "Jocasta A Motherf**king Tragedy," Brian Weir and the Ghost Road Theatre Company have taken Sophocles’ classic tale of Oedipus and window-dressed it for the “#metoo” movement.
Sex, Greed and Deception Times Two in “DoubleDouble”
By Ernest Kearney — “DoubleDouble,” playwright Guy Zimmerman reveals in the program notes, “came out of a case I wanted to make for Macbeth being history’s first Angeleno.” Zimmerman attempts to clarify that assertion by hinging the Scottish play to the 1944 classic crime film
“Desert Rats” is not a Wasteland for Audiences
By Ernest Kearney — "Desert Rats" by Nate Rufus Edelman is hardly the first play ever written about a kidnapping. It stands in the shadow of "Orphans" by Lyle Kessler, though Edelman’s work is far better written.
Best of Los Angeles Theatre for 2018
By Ernest Kearney — Many found 2018 a rather soft year for theater, and it possibly was. Or perhaps it only seemed so since the past few years Los Angeles has enjoyed an embarrassment of riches in the sterling productions that have graced her stages.
A Special Devoid of Specialness
By Ernest Kearney — Before we move into the review of Playwright Andrew Osborne’s "Special" directed by Kerr Seth Lordygan at Theatre of Note, you should know of the inspiration behind this production: the legendary, or infamous, "The Star Wars Holiday Special. "
Love Actually Live – Actually Great Fun
By Ernest Kearney — This was my first “mashup” of theatre and film with soundtrack framed within a concert rendering. "Love Actually Live" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts starts off with points for me ahead of the game.
“Fool for Love”— A Rattlesnake Riff of the Heart
By Ernest Kearney — "Fool for Love" by Sam Shepard, which just closed the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood, is not a tidy play. In fact, as far as theatrical experiences go, it shares many of the same traits as Elizabethan bear-baiting; brutal and violent—with
“White Nights, Black Paradise” Makes for Poor Theatre, Rueful Review
By Ernest Kearney — The story of Jim Jones has material enough for any ten dramatists. In the production "White Nights, Black Paradise," which closed this past Sunday at the Hudson Theatre, Playwright Sikivu Hutchinson starts with the arrival of two African American sisters.
A Mile in My Shoes – A Journey Worth Traveling…
By Ernest Kearney — Writer/Performer Kathryn Taylor Smith has accomplished something remarkable with her one woman show "A Mile In My Shoes" currently on stage thru Dec 9, at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Los Angeles…
“Pretty Dead Girl” – Love by Another Name
By Ernest Kearney — "Pretty Dead Girl – A Musical Necromance." There’s a title that holds promise, wouldn’t you say? Written by Shawn Ku with music & lyrics by AnnMarie Milazzo (with some additional lyrics by Ku) this 2004 short film tells of