“Bad Jews” Reviewed by Dan Berkowitz
The Bad Jews of “Bad Jews” may be bad Jews, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad company.
Let me revise that. If you found yourself trapped in a room with any of these people in real life – including the one person who can’t be a bad Jew because she isn’t a Jew at all – you would most likely find yourself, depending on your temperament, either racing out the door, screaming and tearing your hair, or desperately looking for a weapon.
However, since these are not real people, but rather characters who prove the maxim that sinners are generally more entertaining than saints, it’s okay: these bad Jews (and one bad Christian) are fun to be with for ninety or so minutes.
Without a doubt reality television has infiltrated households all across the world. Whether it’s your guilty pleasure or hidden addiction, it’s become a universal indulgence.
Continue reading …That having been said, you should go see “The View UpStairs.” Flawed though the play may be, the UpStairs Lounge fire is a forgotten part of LGBTQ history, and it’s important to remember that it wasn’t that long ago that 32 people could be violently killed and all it brought from the government and most of society was silence or jokes; actually, given the status of the country today, it’s not too difficult to imagine it happening again.
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Dan Lee’s first play, “Bottomless,” received the R. E. Ross Trust award for an unproduced play in 2014. It was subsequently developed by Playwriting Australia, Red Stitch Actors Theatre, and the Melbourne Theatre Company, and is scheduled for production next year at 45downstairs in Melbourne. He is also writing two new works for Red Stitch as part of their INK writers program. He’s just flown in from Australia for the premiere of his play “Grey Nomad,” which will be at the Skylight Theatre through October 8. While he’s wildly jet-lagged, I’m going to throw a few questions at him…
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A Q&A with playwright Dorothy Fortenberry, whose new play “Species Native to California” plays through June 11 at IAMA Theatre Company
Continue reading …“Pure Confidence” is a dynamic and challenging work by Carlyle Brown, being given a splendid production by the Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble. Like Lower Depth’s previous productions, “Pure Confidence” shows us another facet of the African-American life experience. It does so with confidence, talent, and compassion, and is thoroughly engaging. Go.
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A gritty but inspiring tale of pain, forgiveness and healing, the film does not shy away from the worst stories that have become all too familiar in the news today: weaponless victims shot and killed by police, wrongful conviction and even racially-based limits on career advancement within law enforcement itself.
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A conversation with actor and playwright Matt Chait, whose “Disinherit the Wind” opens March 3 at The Complex in Hollywood.
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Karen Rizzo is the author of “Mutual Philanthropy,” a new play in which a couple is invited to dinner by rich neighbors and complications ensue…
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So here I am, sitting in New York City, in an apartment without wifi or TV.
Well, of course, I’m clearly not sitting in that apartment at the moment, since I’m posting this on the web, thanks to borrowing Rose Desena’s wifi while she checks on the renovation of her new apartment. You may remember Rose as the previous critic for the LA Post. She’s now living in New York, and based on the panicked phone call she just made on her return, the renovation is a disaster.
As an aside, living for a week in an apartment with no wifi or TV has made me feel as if I’ve been on an obscure island in the 1940s. Except it’s Manhattan. Oh well, at least it’s been cold and rainy…
Back in Los Angeles, Todd Salovey has adapted and directed The Blessing of a Broken Heart, a play which won him the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award…
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