From left: Eiko Eisen-Martin (Dallas), Michael Rishawn (River) and Gail Bean (Jada) in "Table 17" at Geffen Playhouse (Photo by Jeff Lorch) Sometimes you just want good entertainment without any heavy messaging to weigh it down. Enter “Table 17,” actor and playwright Douglas Lyons’ rollicking romantic comedy set in a restaurant with tables on stage and no fourth wall. Thanks to dynamic acting, lighting and sound, “Table 17” keeps the audience laughing in sympathy and recognit

Will Coile’s “Trap Doors,” written and performed by Coile and directed by Amanda Bird, is a deeply personal one-man magical theatre experience that blurs the line between illusion and introspection. Performed at The Noisy Nest, the show follows Coile as both magician and storyteller, guiding the audience through a series of acts that explore identity, fear and the masks we wear to face the world. Beneath the sleight of hand lies a meditation on vulnerability and the courage i

Ensemble cast of "Parade" at The Electric Lodge (Photo by Dane Arthur Headshots) Directed by Saundra McClain, “Parade” is a haunting and powerful retelling of one of America’s most unsettling true stories. With music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and a book by Alfred Uhry, the production at The Electric Lodge brings the 1913 trial of Leo Frank (Adam Fried) to life with raw emotion and unflinching honesty. Set in Atlanta and Marietta, Georgia, the story follows Frank, a Jew

Alexandra Hellquist (Merrill) in Rogue Machine's "anthropology" (Photo by Jeff Lorch) No matter how often we are reminded, it’s hard to fathom how much of our lives are online. TV, movies and true crime podcasts are replete with digital sleuths combing the internet for clues. Every transaction, message, and location is recorded. Cameras see where someone has been and calendar-invites can reveal where someone will go. Even the least connected members of society leave a digital

From left: Amorie Barton, Nina Kasuya, Parnell Damone Marcano, Josh Loren, Charlie Towle, Paul Sohm and Deja Monique Cruz in "We Are The People," part of Towne Street Theatre's "In Response: RISE UP" (Photo courtesy Towne Street Theatre) Towne Street Theatre’s “In Response: RISE UP ” is a bold and necessary anthology production that brings together a collection of short plays, monologues and scenes centered around the act of resistance. Each piece explores what it means to s

From left: Hayley O’Brien, Oceane Rose Laurent, Sean Michael Williams, BP Mendoza, and Sarah Bruce in The Group Rep's "My Spirits Soar" (Photo by Caitlin Mae Smith) Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s short story “The Canterville Ghost,” with its book by Doug Haverty, “My Spirits Soar” is a haunting and heartfelt musical that follows Virginia Otis (Abigail Stewart), a young American girl who wins the opportunity to study abroad in England. When she arrives, she finds herself lodging in

From left: Achintya Pandey and Pia Shah in "नेहा & Neel" at Latino Theater Company (Photo by M Palma Photography) There are not many plays that center on the Indian American experience, and even fewer that do so with an easy humor that illuminates rather than preaches. The world premiere of “नेहा & Neel” (“Neha & Neel”) at Latino Theater Company avoids the pitfalls of portraying an underrepresented community on stage: flat characters that play to type, didactic monologues and

Manuel Oliver in “GUAC” at Woolly Mammoth Theatre (Photo by Cameron Whitman) “When you lose a son, what do you do?”   This urgent and gut-wrenching question rang in the ears of writer Manuel Oliver from the moment his son Joaquin (nicknamed “Guac”) was murdered in a 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. It’s also the opening line of Manuel’s solo performance dedicated to Joaquin, which, layer by layer, begins to provide the answer.   Fro

From left: Marlon Alexander Vargas (Fito) and Alex Hernandez (Bastian) in "littleboy/littleman" at Geffen Playhouse (Photo by Jeff Lorch) Infused with high energy of athletic acting supercharged by dynamic lighting and sound, the world premiere of “littleboy/littleman” at Geffen Playhouse tells of two brothers originally from Nicaragua making their way in Sweetwater, Fla. One is practical and driven while the other is a poet, dreamer and performer. Both try to uphold the lega

The company of “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” at the Mark Taper Forum (Photo by Javier Vasquez/Center Theatre Group) The power of a play...

From left: Alan McRae (Dennis) and Tom Jenkins (Bobby) in "Parallel Process" at Odyssey Theatre (Photo by Lua Rasga) “Parallel Process”...

There’s something about stepping into complete darkness that forces your body to react before your mind does. That’s exactly what happens...

From left: Randy Vasquez (Mayor Alvarado), Xavi Moreno (Juan Perez) and Ruth Livier (Nancy Juarez) in "The Little King of Norwalk" at...

Cast of "Luminous Streets" by The Roots and Wings Project (Photo by Jesse Bliss) “Luminous Streets” is a site-specific theatrical tour of...

Roxana Ortega in "Am I Roxie?" at Geffen Playhouse (Photo by Jeff Lorch) Written and performed by Roxana Ortega and directed by Bernardo...

Alexandra Lee (Taylor F.) in Rogue Machine's "Adolescent Salvation" at Matrix Theatre (Photo by Jeff Lorch) “Adolescent Salvation,”...

From left: Neo Barnes (Albert) and Jillian Lee Garner (Lucy) in "Goldfish" at Noisy Nest (Photo courtesy of The Nest) Written by John...

From left: Matt Walker (Oedipus) and Beth Kennedy (Jocasta) in "Oedipus the King, Mama!" at Getty Villa (Photo by Craig Schwartz...

This review was published in the Long Beach Post , a nonprofit news organization, on September 4, 2025. From left: Timylle Adams (Tina)...

From left: Gerald C. Rivers and Ensemble in “Strife” at Theatricum Botanicum (Photo by Ian Flanders) Shakespeare’s plays continue to be...