Paul Hoan Zeidler

In ANGST, Spencer Weitzel rocks his anybody character, hounded by self-doubts and anxiety--ably portrayed onstage by Theo Fay--all over the theater and deep into our heads. At one time or another, we've all heard a defeatist interior voice tell us, "that won't work, that's stupid, no one will like it," and stop us cold before we try. I've never seen a play where the voice personified harasses a character so completely and viciously. Great work from Weitzel, Fay and director Casey Buxton-Dean.... full review

Carli Wright's acoustic pop songs are the highlight of this interesting genre cross: a musical ghost story. Wright plays Meredith, a ghost freshly arrived in the afterlife who must haunt her ancestral home. She needs to find a living person (Travis Cox in the show I saw) to fall in love with her and break her curse to return her to life. Meredith draws potential paramours in the only way she knows how, with her music. Sean Faye is all about the bottom line playing a real estate developer who ... full review

A cast of musical theater vets with wicked comedy chops rock this 90's jukebox revue into the rafters. The 90's were a fun decade, weren't they? Been a while since we've had one of those. Props to the Unknown Artists for this very cool reminder.... full review

Christian Levatino and the Gangbusters Theatre Co. continue their exploration of major political events in the 20th Century with this disquieting play about the FBI agents monitoring Martin Luther King, Jr. on the day before and the day of his assassination. The production does a great deal with a few historically specific props to create a set and an atmosphere both dark and tense. Each of the four Special Agents justify their presence only a few dozen feet from King's hotel room in ways munda... full review

This adaptation of Harold Pinter's THE DUMB WAITER stirs up a brisk cocktail of tension, disturbing noises, mystery, alienation, absurdity and comedy, garnished with a chilly wedge of menace. Phil Abrams and Jim Grollman ace their roles as two contract thugs simmering with frustration in a claustrophobic apartment that seems to fight them every moment. Pinter's classic is a challenging play to mount, but, in DWNYC, Abrams and Grollman have created a stage work greater than the sum of its angry,... full review

Mason Ma's and Amy Dong's comedy spins it's wheels through two scenes set in the past before finding traction in a final scene set in a near future where AI has taken control of every part of daily life, including use of the commode. John Jiang's genial LAFD firefighter and father stands out along with Jinyao Zhao's Ashley, who gets what's coming to her when Artificial Intelligence attempts to dominate her life in the same way she tried to supervise those around her in previous scenes.... full review

WHO WROTE THIS? A young Bill Shakespeare hammered in some of his stylish, rhythmic lines, but whoever else penned this cavalcade of mayhem and double-crosses is not known. Regardless of authorship, the Porters of Hellsgate have spun this Elizabethan true crime potboiler into a masterly production. The accomplished cast includes Brittany Pirozzoli's coquettish criminal, Matt Jayson's and Brendan Mulligan's gullible husband and lover, Dana DeRuyck's and Julia Manis's none-too-bright but always t... full review

A congenial sketch comedy group headed to an important, out-of-state competition has pulled in a new member to replace one recently departed. Did they unknowingly bring a serpent into their own small garden? Or is it each member's personal problems that really begins to crack their comradely façade? JOKE HOLD's talented ensemble deftly portrays the group's growing uneasiness and, simultaneously, their inability to put their finger on the problem of what seems to be tripping them up. Is newest... full review

A smooth, joyful production that would be welcomed by audiences everywhere.... full review

The Young Shakespeare, what was he like? EDWARD III will gift you with plenty to think about in a crackling sharp production by the Porters of Hellsgate.... full review