KCRW's Theatre Talk

A 'Labour of Love'

podmaster@kcrw.org (James C. Taylor) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:44:00 EST

Shakespeare's comedy Love's Labour's Lost is not one of his sturdiest creations. While the major plays like Hamlet, Twelfth Night or A Midsummer Night's Dream can rise above lackluster stagings or uninspired acting, Love's Labour's Lost is a delicate soufflé ? only when presented with absolute grace and skill, can it avoid collapsing under the weight of its own deliciousness...

A 'Farce' to Be Reckoned With

podmaster@kcrw.org (James C. Taylor) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:44:00 EST

Last summer, Theatre Talk spoke of "the most dazzling production of a new play to come along in years." That play was The Walworth Farce, by Irish dramatist Enda Walsh. And after runs in Edinburgh, London, and New York, the original production has arrived here in Los Angeles where it opened last night as part of UCLA Live's International Theater Festival...

Irish Ghosts and Leprechauns

podmaster@kcrw.org (James C. Taylor) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:44:00 EST

In this week after Halloween, it's fitting that we talk about ghost stories. Conor McPherson, the prolific Irish dramatist, is a master of modern ghost stories ? his plays have featured apparitions, bloodsuckers, even Mephistopheles himself. And yet, there's no blood or gore in McPherson's plays ? he's more interested in the guilt these spirits represent, not who they can kill....

Nojangles

podmaster@kcrw.org (James C. Taylor) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:44:00 EST

The late 1950's and 1960's were indeed Sammy Davis Jr.'s moment. During that time he was one of, if not, the highest paid entertainer in America. His career is the subject of a new musical titled Sammy...

A Reigning Parade

podmaster@kcrw.org (James C. Taylor) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:44:00 EST

Those are the opening bars of the musical Parade and that little bit of music tell you a great deal about the show as a whole. There's the military drum beat that evokes the Civil War, the bells and oboe melody that sound like Broadway and the atonal piano clusters which tells you the dissonant Parade is not your standard feel-good, leave-whistling-the-songs musical...

Donuts and Dilaudid

podmaster@kcrw.org (James C. Taylor) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:44:00 EST

What do you do after your sprawling, three-hour play about America in decline wins the Pulitzer Prize for drama? That's a problem most aspiring playwrights ? to say nothing of established writers ? would love to have; but it's nevertheless been a problem for Tracy Letts. Letts is the writer of popular, short shockers, like Killer Joe and Bug, who then decided to write something long and serious. That play turned out to be August: Osage County, which won the Tony, the Pulitzer, and is now touring the country in a production starring Oscar-winner Estelle Parsons...

Tragedies: Medea and Modine

podmaster@kcrw.org (James C. Taylor) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:44:00 EST

Two great tragedies are currently running in Westwood. One dates back 2,500 years; the other feels twice as old (and dated) even though it was written earlier this year. ..

Bush-Era Angst

podmaster@kcrw.org (James C. Taylor) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:44:00 EST

Of the many things George W. Bush said that came back to haunt him, one quip perhaps best describes what would become known as the Bush II Era: "A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it," he said about working with Congress, "just so long as I'm the dictator..."

A Raucous 'Peace' and Intoxicating 'Encounter'

podmaster@kcrw.org (James C. Taylor) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:44:00 EST

A simple, joyous belief in theater as entertainment radiates from two productions currently playing here on the west coast. The first is the annual production of a Greek classic at the Getty Villa's outdoor amphitheater...

Disney vs. Dreamworks: Round 2, Live on Stage

podmaster@kcrw.org (James C. Taylor) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:44:00 EST

Summer is now over and the new theater season is about to begin. Here in Los Angeles, the season sort of un-officially opens tonight with the opening performance of the Getty's annual production of a Greek play under the stars in Malibu...