From left: Mathias Brinda, Xol Gonzalez, and Khalif J. Gillett in “Level Up!” (Photo by Jenny Graham) From the moment you walk into the Latino Theater Company to see “Level Up!,” you feel like you’re in The Matrix . Credit for that goes to scenic designer François-Pierre Couture, lighting designer Xinyuan Li, sound designer Robert J. Revell and especially projections designer Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh. It’s not often that the creative team behind a play is mentioned first in a theatre review, but the...

From left: Ahkei Togun, Fana Minea Tesfagiorgis, Rama Orleans-Lindsay and Luis Kelly-Duarte in “Red Harlem” at Company of Angels (Photo by Rafael Cardenas) I t’s 1932, and in the midst of Hoover’s bid for reelection during the early years of the Great Depression, a member of Stalin’s Communist Party turns up in Harlem, New York, joins forces with the first Black candidate to run on a presidential ticket, and recruits a group of Black actors and performers to sail to the USSR to make a film...

Reanne Acasio and the company of “Here Lies Love” at the Mark Taper Forum (Photo by Jeff Lorch) There are a surprising number of parallels between Imelda Marcos and Alexander Hamilton: both grew up on small islands; both sailed to more cosmopolitan cities in search of better lives; both engaged in politics, appreciated sartorial finery, and were involved in violent episodes with political rivals; both strongly influenced the histories of their respective nations; and of course, both had...