Ron Bottitta News

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble kicks off its 'Circa '69' season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the Odyssey's 1969 inception with Joe Orton's darkly comic masterpiece LOOT, which asks us to wipe the fluff from our eyes and see society the way he sees it. And as a gay man during a time when British society forced artists into the closet, his farce comically examines a sort of rigged system that benefits bullies and oppressors and controls anyone stupid enough to go along with the lies. As directed by Bart DeLorenzo, this tale of corrosive wit, dizzying intrigue and classic farce suggests that the only acceptable alternative is to become a criminal, with Orton supplying laughs at everyone's expense along the way.

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble kicks off its "Circa '69" season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the Odyssey's 1969 inception with Joe Orton's darkly comic masterpiece Loot. Bart DeLorenzodirects this tour de force of corrosive wit, dizzying intrigue and classic farce for aJune 8 opening, with performances continuing through Aug. 10.

According to Wikipedia, the Rashomon effect occurs when an event is given contradictory interpretations by the individuals involved. The effect is named after Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film Rashomon, in which a murder is described in four contradictory ways by four witnesses. Such is the case in Irish playwright Brian Friel's uniquely structured FAITH HEALER which illustrates the healing power of faith over inner demons via four separate monologues performed by 3 characters travelling together through small towns in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. Their goal is to present small community meetings as best they can, in which they hope to occasionally prove that pure faith can heal even the darkest of maladies.

Is Fantastic Francis Hardy a miracle worker - or a showman in search of a dollar? Odyssey Theatre Ensemble continues its 50th anniversary season with Faith Healer, Brian Friel's mysterious, humorous and unforgettable work about an itinerant Irish healer. Odyssey artistic director Ron Sossi directs for a March 23 opening, with performances continuing through May 12.

Even though, we are just coming to the end of January, I can already nominate a prominent candidate for Most Horrid Theatrical Character of 2019 - Paige Connor, the matriarch in Taylor Mac's HIR. Paige condescends to her husband Arnold (long since stricken by a stroke) and orders him around like a slave (or an untrained chimpanzee). Paige has eliminated doing any everyday household chores (like cooking, dusting, or laundry) in retaliation to the orderliness Arnold used to demand. She 'nurtures' or 'empowers' her transgender teenager Max by encouraging Max to follow mom's ways of thinking - an unrealistic utopian view of the future, with the avoidance of any financial responsibilities, while all the while belittling and torturing Arnold. But it's during the final minutes of the second act that Paige tops all of her previous horridness.

 "We are the new. Beyond gender. Beyond possessions. Beyond the past." Odyssey Theatre Ensemble opens its 50th anniversary season with the Los Angeles premiere of Hir, a darkly funny, shockingly absurd and endlessly surprising vision of a world in transition by MacArthur genius Taylor Mac. Bart DeLorenzo directs for a Jan. 19 opening at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A., with performances continuing through March 17.

Those who lived through the World War II years will certainly recognize the name of ambitious and charismatic J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Berkeley-trained scientist who found himself called upon to spearhead the largest scientific undertaking in all of human history: the Manhattan Project and the creation of the Atomic bomb which the United States government believed would bring about a swift end to World War II. And although it did that, what was the cost on those involved with the project or subjected to its first tests without proper protection from the released radiation, as well as those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the bombs were exploded over those cities. Was it even wise to develop the ability to split atoms given how the world has changed since then or the threat of total annihilation which hangs over us daily?

'L.A. Theatre Works Celebrates the Pursuit of Justice' - LATW kicks off its 2017-18 season with a special one-night only event on Today, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m.

'L.A. Theatre Works Celebrates the Pursuit of Justice' - LATW kicks off its 2017-18 season with a special one-night only event on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m.

The 1941 ARSENIC AND OLD LACE gets a dusting off from the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble providing a wonderfully expressive vehicle for the acting talents of Sheelagh Cullen and Jacque Lynn Colton as Abby and Martha Brewster, the seemingly harmless and most delightful murderers of their single unattached male boarders. Cullen and Colton totally charm while dithering on ever so casually describing their deadly deeds as calmly as sharing a recipe of elderberry pie.

Two murderous old ladies, a Theodore Roosevelt impersonator, a Boris Karloff look-alike and a theater critic in love. Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents a revival of Joseph Kesserling's infectiously funny black comedy Arsenic and Old Lace. Directed by Elina de Santos, opening night is August 26 at the Odyssey Theatre.

Two murderous old ladies, a Theodore Roosevelt impersonator, a Boris Karloff look-alike and a theater critic in love. Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents a revival of Joseph Kesserling's infectiously funny black comedy Arsenic and Old Lace. Directed by Elina de Santos, opening night is August 19 at the Odyssey Theatre.

Rules of Seconds is easily the best new play that has premiered in Los Angeles this year.

Honor! Madness! Blood! Obie Award-winner Jo Bonney directs the world premiere of an edgy, intense and darkly comic new play by John Pollono (Small Engine Repair, Lost Girls) in a Latino Theater Company production presented in association with The Temblors, a unique new collective of seven Los Angeles-based playwrights. Rules of Seconds opens March 23 at The Los Angeles Theater Center, with low-priced previews beginning March 16. 

Honor! Madness! Blood! Obie Award-winner Jo Bonney directs the world premiere of an edgy, intense and darkly comic new play by John Pollono (Small Engine Repair, Lost Girls) in a co-production of the Latino Theater Company and The Temblors, a unique new collective of seven Los Angeles-based playwrights. Rules of Seconds opens March 23 at The Los Angeles Theater Center, with low-priced previews beginning March 16.

In our modern online age where effective marketing can boost sales in designated markets, what is the difference between racial marketing and targeted marketing? Is an effective marketer really a racist in disguise or just a clever strategist who knows how to make the most money for his company's product? Such are the issues addressed in the Los Angeles premiere of HONKY written by Greg Kalleres and directed by Gregg Daniel for Rogue Machine in their new home at the Met Theatre. Taking a satiric look at the symbiotic relationship between bigotry and commercialism, HONKY is a socially-relevant comedy about different people, white and black, navigating the murky waters of race, rhetoric and athletic footwear.

Culver City residents and married couple Jack Stehlin and Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin are getting ready to open Shakespeare's OTHELLO, a co-production between the Odyssey Theatre and The New American Theatre, on Friday, October 24 at the Odyssey Theatre. Jeannine, Managing Director of The New American Theatre, is producing OTHELLO together with Ron Sossi, Artistic Director of the Odyssey Theatre, with Jack starring as the villainous Iago. With his strong physical presence and background as part Mexican and part Native American, A Martinez is playing Othello, the Moor. The production is directed by John Perrin Flynn, Artistic Director of Rogue Machine Theatre.

'Tis the soldiers' life. To have their balmy slumbers waked by strife.' Three of L.A.'s most venerable artistic directors come together when Odyssey Theatre Ensemble (Ron Sossi, artistic director) and The New American Theatre (Jack Stehlin, artistic director) present a bold new production of Shakespeare's Othello, directed by Rogue Machine artistic director John Perrin Flynn. The modern dress production, starring Stehlin as Iago opposite A Martinez in the title role, opens for press this weekend at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A.