WIREHEAD: 50% Bitter

Photos: Cathryn Farnsworth

BITTER
Audience members more fond than I am of the sci-fi, futuristic fantasy genre may take to Wirehead more than I did. One thing at least is undeniable. Echo Theater Company is one of L.A.’s best, and most daring young theater ensembles.
Steven Stanley – StageSceneLA

SWEET
Creative design and black humor triumph again in the very entertaining new comedy Wirehead, now in performance by the Echo Theater Company at STAGE 52. The plot is familiar Phillip K. Dick material, and the story has its serious moments, but for the most part director Larry Biederman has gone beyond the script to lift this cyberpunk parable into a fun night of theater. His cast excels with the material, they maintain a serious tone throughout the absurd psychopathy and never let the knife-in-back turn to tongue-in-cheek. The result is a gory tale of technology and prejudices gone amok.
D. Jette – LA Theatre Review

BITTER
As the new play “Wirehead” has it, the introductory hoopla for the iPad, ShamWow and Snuggie was nothing compared to the furor over the Z-Device. This bright idea for better living, designed by the sinister, China-connected Syntel Corp., acts as Viagra for the mind: The lucky implantee is left with a “Jeopardy” champ’s intellect but a crack addict’s poise. There are some interesting ideas rattling around in Matthew Benjamin and Logan Brown’s script, as well as many poor ones. But it will take a firmer directorial hand than Larry Biederman’s for the Echo Theater Company to sort them all out.
Bob Verini – Variety

SWEET
Director Larry Biederman’s supercharged staging (abetted by set designer Efren Delgadillo, Jr.’s clever use of scrims, and the wit of Dan Weingarten’s lights and Drew Dalzell’s sound) races along like a manic blend of Davids Mamet and Cronenberg, whisking the black comedy into a bloody froth of Grand Guignol proportions.
Bill Raden – LA Weekly