Terry Morgan

Theresa Rebeck’s The Water’s Edge, in a terrific West Coast premiere by the Road Theatre Company, may take things further in its look at family dynamics than most of us would ever go, but the complicated emotions underlying the characters will be familiar to us all.

The thing about Our Town is that pretty much every theater-going adult has seen or read it multiple times, and likely has been in a production of it somewhere along the line.

Filthy Talk For Troubled Times was Neil LaBute's first produced play, and while it has moments that point to the playwright he has since become, overall it's crude in an uninteresting way. City Garage, however, has managed to make a weak play demonstrably worse.

The current production of Desire Under The Elms at A Noise Within, a time bomb of repressed passion and naked avarice under Dámaso Rodriguez's sure direction, reminds us why it's a classic.

Theatre managers love to put solo shows on their stages because they're very cost effective. When they don't work, however, the blame generally only has one target. Charlayne Woodard's new piece at the Douglas, The Night Watcher, is pleasant and generally amusing, but as an evening of theatre it feels thin.

Hermetically Sealed, benefits from nuanced performances and detailed direction, and the writing is generally smart and acerbic. However, the main premise isn't believable, and, as the play goes on, it only becomes more unbelievable and overwrought.

The life and achievements of Marie Curie are certainly worthy subject matter for a play: her position as a pioneer in an otherwise male-dominated scientific establishment and her discovery of radium are full of theatrical possibility. Unfortunately Alan Alda's take on the story, Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie, only casts a dim glow where the illumination should be brilliant.

Here’s something I learned this week: during World War II, Ireland remained neutral. Of course, saying you’re neutral and actually being neutral are two different things, and that psychological dichotomy underlies most of the tension in Frank McGuinness’ Dolly West’s Kitchen.

A Noise Within succeeding in its goal of building its own theatre in Pasadena is such an impressive achievement. Unfortunately, their first show in the new space, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, is a bit disappointing. It's not bad, and a couple of the performances are deft, but it rarely shows us what A Noise Within is truly capable of when the company is on its game.

The current production is a speculative piece about how things might have been if Britain had been occupied by Germany during WWII, and under Casey Stangl's expert direction it offers the outstanding ensemble many chances to shine in this compelling show.