“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.
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.
“Gloria” – A Heavily Armed Production
By Ernest Kearney — "Gloria," the Pulitzer Prize-finalist, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is best described as an E-Ticket ride to the infernal regions of hell. Oh yes, indeed, the trip the Echo Theater Company takes you on, starts out full of fun and snickers; but a
“Othello” — A Classical Representation with a Twist
By Ernest Kearney — Of all Shakespeare’s plays save "Hamlet," "Othello" offers the most challenges to any cry of players, while also demanding they travel a similar path.
Unpacking The Vision of Ray Bradbury at The Whitefire Theatre
by Ernest Kearney As he espoused passion for both the city and its theatre, it is fitting that the late writer Ray Bradbury should find himself resurrected on a Los Angeles stage. (The Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks)
“Blade of Jealousy” Delivers a Paper Cut
By Ernest Kearney — I can’t say I am very conversant with the 17th century Spanish Playwright Tirso de Molina. He was a fascinating contradiction of passions and pursuits.
Hershey Felder and Beethoven: To Witness Genius At Play
By Ernest Kearney — There is nothing as intoxicating as watching a Performance – capital “P.” It matters little if that performance involves any of the muses or is that of a bricklayer, aircraft pilot or bartender.