Evan Henerson

Over a convivial 85 minutes directed by Simon Godwin, the shape-shifting Broadway vet Page holds us captive as he demonstrates why he is perpetually in demand as a classical actor, as an interpreter of Shakespeare, and certainly as an enactor of villains.

Between Ingrid Michelson’s heart-swelling score, a safe and steady book by Bekah Brunstetter and the co-direction of Michael Greif and Schele Williams, this entertaining but hardly remarkable tale kicks off the 2026 season at the Hollywood Pantages on an appropriately tear-streaked note.

As the southland welcomes a return visit from The Acting Company, things remain as topsy-turvey as they must needs be in the woods of Athens. The company visit is a quick hit, but Risa Brainin’s production of Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM is the kind of crowd-pleasing, take-no-prisoners experience that audiences should devour.

If you don’t already know them, you’ll likely want to look up the names of Alice Paul, Carrie Chapman Catt, Ida B. Wells and Ruza Wenclawska…after you’re done applauding until your palms are raw, that is.

WORKING GIRL ultimately soars and plummets based on the root-ability quotient of its title character. Singer and author Joanna “JoJo” Levesque can’t really be classified as a discovery. She’s as good as her material, which is solid, tuneful and plenty enjoyable.

Employing a 12-person cast who are largely at ease with difficult music, Esposito and company deliver a rare opportunity to commune with this difficult play.

The fervor of a given audience – kind of its own character in this play - probably helps distract from the fact that, its sweet vibes aside, there’s not a lot of there in Lyons’ play. It’s a good time, but it’s light as a spritz of air freshener.

Co-produced by Independent Shakespeare Company and Coin & Ghost, THE AARON PLAY will engage theater-goers and Bard-hounds as well as those who embrace stories with ideas.

Co-written by Oliver and James Clements and directed by Michael Cotey, GUAC embraces its rough-around-the-edges persona without laboring to break new ground.  The 100-minute evening has a narrative sequence and certainly an agenda.

No form of artificial intelligence will be able to recreate the experience of sitting through Lauren Gunderson’s ANTHROPOLOGY, and specifically what Rogue Machine Theatre’s John Perrin Flynn has accomplished with it for the play’s North American premiere at the Matrix Theatre.

JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING, completing a mini tour of regional theaters at the Mark Taper Forum following an acclaimed New York run in the fall of 2023, is a tender and humorous snapshot of a community and also a plea for community.

If life were a Renaissance Faire, things would be…well, different, certainly. You might share your days and nights with sword-wielding, costumed individuals who share your love of a different time, maybe not even necessarily the Renaissance. Faires have been known to draw cos-players. So Wolf Boy, Boba Fett, come on in! Everybody is welcome.

That lovely melodious “ka-boom!” you may be hearing down the 210 freeway emanates from the collision of strong wills, good intentions and a progressive ideology of five very conflicted characters.

Staged with take-no-prisoners verve by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, Richard Bean’s romp of a play is a joyride through a 60s England in which would-be actors ham it up gleefully, blondes are dizzy, would-be lovers are temporarily thwarted, and positively everybody is ready to cut loose to the strains of a Beatles-inspired skiffle band.

& JULIET proves rather emphatically that nobody really needs an original idea or song when you can just as easily get folks rocking out to Britney Spears or Katy Perry.

The revival of Guirgis’s 2010 play, directed by Jolie Oliver, is equal parts humor, romance and tequila-soaked despair. Led by a muscular trio of performances by Lodric D Collins, Jordan Marinov and Alex Desert, this agile MOTHERFU**KER  is nothing short of compelling.

Jeff Gould’s THE MARRIAGE ZONE, a romantic dramady laced with dose of retro sci-fi, is not particularly deep or penetrating, but that doesn’t make this second LA staging at 905 Cole any less fun.

A tale of community and the frailty of Tinseltown dreams, YANKEE DAWG is given a full-throated production by actors Daniel J. Kim and Kelvin Han Yee under the direction of Jennifer Chang.

David Melville’s performance is a delicious mix-up of romance, hijinks and buffoonery, often overlapping. LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST plays through July 27 in Griffith Park. 

In the 100-minute, decades-spanning duration we spend with this woman who feels so very recognizable, Ziegler, director Maggie Burrows and actors Nadine Malouf, Ryan Vasquez and Michaela Watkins leave us affected, contemplative and more than a little bit heartbroken.