SMOKEFALL, by Backyard Renaissance and playing through September 16th is a dark comedy that is looking to explore some weighty topics. The play, written by Noah Haidle, opens with a narrator character called Footnote (Brian Mackey) introducing the family, the events, and the area to the audience in a way that feels like Rod Serling…
Tag: Play
EVERY BRILLIANT THING at Cygnet Theatre
Like every good list, it starts at the number one and moves on from there. Ice cream EVERY BRILLIANT THING, playing at Cygnet Theatre through September 16th, has a premise that seems incongruous at first. This is an amazing, and emotional, immersive storytelling experience that explores such topics as depression and attempted suicide, but leaves…
VOYEURS DE VENUS at MOXIE Theatre
History is written, and perceived through the lenses of those that have the privilege to tell the story. VOYEURS DE VENUS, now playing at MOXIE Theatre through September 9th is a stunning and provocative show that makes the audience reflect on when exploitation has masqueraded as exploration, science and prejudice has gone hand in hand,…
THE FATHER brings a misty water colored memory
Usually the audience is in the best seats in the house, at least information wise during a play. We are privileged to see as everything unfolds, and watching as every angle develops while we wait for the other characters to catch up. In THE FATHER, playing at the North Coast Repertory Theatre through June 24th,…
NATIVE GARDENS
Neighbors have always been a touchy subject, which is why they make such an interesting entertainment dynamic. You can find them from sitcoms, to films, and currently on the stage of the Old Globe, playing through June 24th in NATIVE GARDENS. In a delightfully funny and energetic show, this 90-minute comedy finds the older established…
THE WIND AND THE BREEZE
When you think of a play that features rap, you may be expecting a clash of over the top personalities, some witty revisionist history, or at the very least some fireworks. Well, THE WIND AND THE BREEZE now playing at The Cygnet Theatre does offer some fireworks, but it mostly eschews the rest of the…
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS opens bathed in a warm and rosy light, with the mountains in relief in the distance. Not unlike the desert in which this play is set, this beauty comes tinged with danger and sorrow as the details show the materials of the sun and mountains are sharp edged and jagged pieces…
HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES proves love and marriage are always cause for comedy
For a comedy that is almost 50 years old, HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES finds that Alan Ayckbourn’s comedic play about class, marriage, and infidelity still has a lot that resonates now. Playing at the North Coast Repertory Theatre through May 13th, this is a period comedy finds the funny in comic confusion. The marriages…
MEN ON BOATS invites you to go on an adventure
Sometimes, in these modern times it’s easy to forget the danger there was exploring this vast country of ours. In San Diego we cross a desert multiple times a day from the comfort of vehicles, forgetting this used to be a vast and dangerous place. MEN IN BOATS playing at the New Village Arts through…
It’s not always good to be the king
Writing in five acts in blank verse, KING CHARLES III takes an ambitious stab at telling the future fortune of the powerful royal family. While the play takes its historical cues for how to tell this story from Shakespeare, it takes its entertainment cues straight from the British tabloids as it speculates on what the…
BLACK PEARL SINGS is a powerful play with music
BLACK PEARL SINGS at the San Diego Repertory Theatre, is a story of Pearl and Susannah, two women who are opposites in every way that find a path to their goals through history and music. This production is a beautiful play that is enhanced by the songs that are woven through it. Susannah Mullally, played…
THE MOORS at Diversionary find comedy in gothic literature roots
The Diversionary invites you to Explore THE MOORS in this Brontë inspired dark comedy playing through December 10th. Turning some of the well-known tropes of this genre on its head, THE MOORS shows women who are flourishing in the wilds of this harsh wilderness, and find that men and marriage are not the solution to…