SANTA MONICA PLAYHOUSE MAIN STAGE

by Andrew Child - March 13, 2026

Glass feels to be in direct conversation with grand opera, layering incantations from the chorus over triangulations of notes played nearly ad nauseam on violas to evoke something of the mystery that shrouds ancient Egypt in western culture....

by Evan Henerson - March 13, 2026

With all its visual delights on full display, the non-Equity production directed by Catie Davis (from the original direction by Alex Timbers) is a carnival of the macabre....

by Shari Barrett - March 09, 2026

Thanks to de Santos’ insightful direction, the on-going dialogues never seem to drag and the action flows at a pace which keeps the audience interested in just what happens between these well-written characters....

by Evan Henerson - March 06, 2026

In the premiere of RED HARLEM at Company of Angels, director Bernadette Speakes’s production offers some frequently dynamic staging which is brought down by a mixed bag of acting performances and the heavy-handed messaging of Henderson’s script....

by Shari Barrett - March 01, 2026

Director Max Mayer keeps the action authentic and story realistically contrite after helping execute the play’s workshop, making this production an especially meaningful return to the material....

by Evan Henerson - February 27, 2026

Embodied by the exciting Ann Noble and surrounded by a solid cast, Richard and his dastardly deeds are every inch at home within the world of Guillermo Cienfuegos’s sweet and seedy production of RICHARD III for A Noise Within....

by Andrew Child - March 02, 2026

LuPone has woven an unexpected, eclectic musical collage that leads to two clear conclusions; she knows what sounds good in her voice and she knows how to sell a song....

by Tracey Paleo - February 25, 2026

NATURAL SELECTION is an excessive existential exploration of the ways women encounter their own subjectification.  Playwright Stacy Adelman, gets the point across – in the first 20 minutes. ...

by Shari Barrett - February 24, 2026

Hilarity ensues as alcohol is consumed, leading to brilliant cat and mouse games during which laughs abound....

by Evan Henerson - February 22, 2026

With so many delights and leaning heavily into both the political moment that is recounts and what America is experiencing in the here and now, HERE LIES LOVE rocks as aggressively as it rallies....