Archive for November, 2008
Thankful For This
Download These are the stories that inspire me. I filmed this on November 4th, 2008. Yeah, I know, technically she broke the law, but man, it moved me like nothing else. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Relentlessly yours, Colin
“Fata Morgana”: 71% Sweet – UPDATED
SWEET Although Vajda’s three-act comedy occasionally falls prey to patches of inert dialogue, director Marilyn Fox’s psychologically assured production, blessed by Audrey Eisner’s gorgeous period costumes, possesses a delicate, melancholy emotional truth. Paul Birchall – LA Weekly SWEET A poignant coming-of-age saga lurks within the risqué froth of “Fata Morgana.” Hungarian writer Ernest Vajda’s 1924 [...]
“The Holy Mother of Hadley, New York” – 50% – Bitter
BITTER Wiechmann’s profoundly humorless writing often feels like an attempt to cross Under Milk Wood with the 1990s religious movie The Rapture, albeit with incredibly inert plotting and flat dialogue. Much of the play’s mysticism will seem impenetrable and outlandish to a casually nonreligious viewer; but that’s not as much of a problem as is [...]
“Shock Therapy” – 50% – Bitter
SWEET There’s a party going on at the home of a prominent psychiatrist who is too busy talking on the phone to his celebrating clients to go to the party. Attending is a hyper psychiatrist who only believes in drug therapy and who happens to be sleeping with the phone doc’s wife. Blend in a [...]
Theatre Rhino Not Gonna Do it
Check out San Franciso-based Theatre Rhinoceros’ highly theatrical (and imaginative) response to the whole Prop 8 fallout here. Leave it to a self-professed “queer” theatre company in San Franciso to offer the best response to this evolving shitstorm. Thanks to Chloe Veltman at the Lies Like Truth blog for the link. UPDATE: In other news, [...]
Is There Such a Thing as Conservative Theatre?
Found this nugget on the Wall Street Journal site. Thanks to Matt Wells at the needtheatre blog for the link. Raises an interesting question: Where are all the Conservative plays? Which raises an even MORE interesting query: Is theatre and conservativism anti-thetical? In the article, Terry Teachout (great name!) puts it this way: …I can’t [...]
“Cute with Chris”: 50% Bitter
SWEET Leavins’ droll act has a kind of muted beauty and profundity lurking beneath his otherwise snappy and amiable presentation. Steven Leigh Morris – Los Angeles Weekly BITTER Representative clips from Leavins’ online series, including signature graphics that can charitably be called neo-primitive, make this a curious case of a stage show that apparently exists [...]
Is America No Longer A Racist Society?
What the what??? That’s right. I asked the question. Is America no longer a racist society? Now just hold on, people. Breathe. Exhale. And read on. Do racists still exist in America? Of course. Are there groups and institutions and geographical pockets of the country that still foment and nurture racism? Certainly. Do racial stereotypes [...]
Surviving the Critics
Steven Leigh Morris – da man – over at LA Weekly offers a lovely intimate portrayal of a critic-playwright suffering the slings and arrows of – wait for it – OTHER CRITICS. Check out the blog here at the LA Weekly Stage Raw blog. It’s a fascinating perspective, one that the rest of us lowly [...]
“Lions”: 100% Sweet – UPDATED
SWEET The strong ensemble, though, piles through these uneven aspects to deliver an all-around touching portrait of Middle America, a reminder that “real Americans” need not be so reductively characterized as simply Joe the Plumber. Luis Reyes – Los Angeles Weekly SWEET Playwright Vince Melocchi’s somber ensemble drama about a group of underachieving pals hanging [...]
“Song of Extinction” – 83% – Sweet
SWEET The interplay of the three in Lewis’ smart and honest script is one small push from collective transcendence, as we’re asked to tie the threads together ourselves. Amy Nicholson – Los Angeles Weekly SWEET Turning in the production’s finest performance, Darrell Kunitomi is remarkable as Phan. His understated subtlety is thoughtful and caring at [...]
“The Sequence” – 60% – Sweet
BITTER Although The Sequence tries its best to sell with flashes of light and projections galore, it ultimately falls prey to its own inability to communicate. Ariana Mufson – Curtain Up SWEET Could the search for the human genomic makeup make for riveting theatre? You bet it can. Robert Machray – Blog Critics BITTER Paul [...]
Why Politics and Theatre Matter
As most in the theatre community, especially the California theatre community, may know by now, Scott Eckern the Artistic Director of the California Music Theatre Company has resigned under pressure from advocates of No on Prop 8. The Backstage Blog (aka Lauren Horwitch and company) has more information about the specific details and players involved [...]
Critiquing Your Friends
Just recently got called to task by some friends – at least they USED to be friends – who didn’t like the fact that I’d called out their play in a public forum. Got me thinking – and I’d love for the “real” critics out there (cuz I ain’t one and I know it) to [...]
“Tragedy, a Tragedy” – 25% – Bitter
SWEET Gifted with gravitas and eloquence, the four graveyard-shift journalists in Pulitzer finalist Will Eno’s sharp satire on round-the-clock spin are honing panic that the sun has set and may never rise again. Amy Nicholson – Los Angeles Weekly BITTER Will Eno’s apocalyptic send-up of a local newscast is in essence a clever Saturday Night [...]
“Spring Awakening” – 100% – Sweet
SWEET It’s a beautifully produced, directed, acted, and choreographed piece of high-spirited and exciting rock and roll. Unfortunately, Wedekind gets lost in the process. Robert Machray – Stage Mage SWEET Representing one of the more stylish examples of the new wave of musicals ushered in by “Rent,” “Spring Awakening” understands that all students at this [...]
Empty Newspaper Boxes
I keep trying to restrain myself from “going rogue” here at Bitter Lemons. In the wake of what happened last night, it’s been difficult. But I think this falls under the category of “theatricality” so I figure I’m in the neighborhood of what this site is all about. So. Know how I can tell the [...]
V-Day
Tomorrow’s the big day, folks. Choose wisely. But, please, do choose. It’ll make you feel really really good. I promise. Choose like an artist. Vote like you’ve never voted before. And come Wednesday morning…it’s gonna be a brand new day. I promise. Relentlessly yours, Colin P.S. If all goes well I might have a little [...]