“Playback” by Jessica Fisher at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival is about a woman who shares negative information about her ex-boyfriend during a podcast and the controversy that ensues. Set design is lovely, simple and gives the production exactly what it needs to tell this story, with four mics, two blue solo couches, one long orange couch sitting on top of a rug and a minibar on the left-hand side from the audience’s point of view. The design feels clean and intention

Impro Theatre’s second annual tribute to Rod Serling’s “Night Gallery” at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival focuses on three sci-fi/horror stories. Its “A Haunting Revue II” features stories about an adopted extraterrestrial in “Birds of a Feather,” a mysterious big brother in “The Lateness of the Hours” and workplace creepiness in “The Flight or Flight Response.” Though set design is minimal, each vignette has its own distinct visual identity. Lighting helps elevate the

From left: James Hayden Rodriguez (Ken) and Rob Nagle (Rothko) in "Red" at Laguna Playhouse (Photo by Jason Niedle) What do artists talk about when they talk about art? That is the subject of John Logan’s play “Red,” assuredly directed by J. Scott Lapp at the Laguna Playhouse through June 28. Specifically, middle-aged artist Mark Rothko (Rob Nagle) talks to his young assistant Ken (James Hayden Rodriguez) about art (mostly his own), philosophy, myth and the color red. The fir