Harker Jones

NIGHTINGALE is by turns stark, humorous, shocking, and devastating, revealing truths and realities obliquely but with the power of blunt force.

At a brisk 80 minutes, the rock opera flies by in a flash of opulence and sin with an infectious joie de vivre

The Road Theatre’s 2024–2025 season opener, Marlow Wyatt’s ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD, is a smart and sensitive look at two kids in the projects of an unnamed tropical American city who strive for more.

The Antaeus Theatre Company pulls off another triumph with the enchanting and handsomely mounted Oscar Wilde classic.

The beloved story of dreamers and lovers in late ’80s New York is marred by poor sound and a band that drowns the players out.

Tom Jacobson’s script is a razor-sharp warning of how easy it is for history to repeat itself with long, dark shadows stretching across our country again.

A little more nuance to both the characters and the script would have given the show more weight. As it is, it’s quite broad, which, yes, is part of the point, but that point would be sharper if it were toned down a bit.

DIDO OF IDAHO is a dark comedy by Abby Rosebrock that tackles intense themes of grief, trauma, and obsession. Deftly directed by Abigail Deser, the show is powerful, pointed, and poignant with solid performances and clever staging. Another in a long-running series of knockouts from the Echo Theater Company.

MURDER AFTER HOURS is exquisitely well done and will keep you guessing up until the affecting and surprising end. It’s well worth spending an evening in the British countryside among the snipes and snubs of the upper class at the Lonny Chapman.

Filled with puns and pratfalls, mugging and mannerisms, the energy never flags in this delightful screwball comedy

While WENDY’S PETER PAN would be better served by trimming the fat, focusing on more sharpened performances, and allowing its performers room to breathe, children, despite its evening start time, will likely appreciate the show more than adults who will take notice of its distracting bumps and peculiarities.

Everyone is phenomenal, from the performers to the musicians to the set director. It’s manically goofy, laugh-out-loud funny, and sexy in its degradation.

The problem is not that it’s bad — it’s certainly serviceable — so much as it’s unmemorable. Something that should never be said about a character as dynamic as Mrs. Doubtfire.

Every immigrant experience is unique and Guimarães’ story is a deeply engaging rumination on the power of faith and the capacity of hope to see one through.

The problem with NORA is that in the longer, three-act running time of “A Doll’s House,” Nora’s world and its inhabitants would be fleshed out so that they had depth that is not evident in this adaptation.

Ritt raises questions about the ethical and moral quandaries of employing AI to replace humans in a distinctly human space — art — but they aren’t pointed enough to really spark conversation or suggest insights, settling instead for an amusing if slight glimpse into the near future.

FUNNY GIRL is a gold standard that has endured through the ages and the production that just hit downtown Los Angeles is a rollicking and heartfelt success.

Writer Becky Wahlstrom imbues A FROGGY BECOMES with an absurdism that is only complemented by the absurdism of the ’80s with the neons and the poofy hair and the synthesized music.

Braun’s script is never stagnant, the characters always in action, whether in a delightful literal dance party or a metaphorical pas de deux, always getting close to connecting before pulling away — or being pulled away by outside forces.

FATHERLAND is an unsettling reminder of how an average person can tip from sane to insane all in the name of good ol’ American patriotism, crossing ethical, moral, and legal lines with nary a hesitation.