Ron Sossi News

What happens when kids have the world at their feet, and its weight on their shoulders? Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents the Los Angeles premiere of Punk Rock, a ferociously funny, complex and unnerving play by Tony Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) that peels back the layers of teen angst for a deeper look at what might make one of them snap. Lisa James directs for a March 25 opening at the Odyssey Theatre.

Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) is widely recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, and is best known for his play Waiting for Godot which launched his career in theater. He then went on to write numerous successful full-length plays including Endgame in 1957, Krapp's Last Tape in 1958 and Happy Days in 1960, as well as several short, one-act plays. While his plays may not be for everyone, Beckett's works capture the pathos and ironies of modern life, yet still maintain his faith in man's capacity for compassion and survival no matter how absurd his environment may have become.

The KOAN Unitkicks off the new year with Beckett5, a quintet of darkly humorous, seldom-seen short plays by Samuel Beckett opening January 21 at the Odyssey Theatre.

Sticks and stones didn't break her bones, but words and pointing crushed her. Olivier Award winners Pat Kinevane and Fishamble: The New Play Company return to Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, the company that introduced Los Angeles audiences to the Irish writer/performer's extraordinary Forgotten and Silent, with his third solo work about life lived on the fringes of society. Jim Culleton, artistic director of Dublin's Fishamble and director of both Forgotten and Silent, directs the West Coast premiere of Underneath for a limited run Oct. 14 - Oct. 30. The engagement will also include two performances of Silent, which garnered the 2016 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement following its run at London's Soho Theatre.

Sticks and stones didn't break her bones, but words and pointing crushed her. Olivier Award winners Pat Kinevane and Fishamble: The New Play Company return to Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, the company that introduced Los Angeles audiences to the Irish writer/performer's extraordinary Forgotten and Silent, with his third solo work about life lived on the fringes of society. Jim Culleton, artistic director of Dublin's Fishamble and director of both Forgotten and Silent, directs the West Coast premiere of Underneath for a limited run Oct. 14 - Oct. 30. The engagement will also include two performances of Silent, which garnered the 2016 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement following its run at London's Soho Theatre.

Sticks and stones didn't break her bones, but words and pointing crushed her. Olivier Award winners Pat Kinevane and Fishamble: The New Play Company return to Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, the company that introduced Los Angeles audiences to the Irish writer/performer's extraordinary Forgotten and Silent, with his third solo work about life lived on the fringes of society. Jim Culleton, artistic director of Dublin's Fishamble and director of both Forgotten and Silent, directs the West Coast premiere of Underneath for a limited run Oct. 14 - Oct. 30. The engagement will also include two performances of Silent, which garnered the 2016 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement following its run at London's Soho Theatre.

Kim Rubinstein, director of last season's award-winning revival of Anna Christie, returns to the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble at the helm of one of the great defining and taboo-breaking plays of the 1950s. A Taste of Honey is set to open on Sept. 24 starring Eric Hunicutt, Gerard Joseph, Kestrel Leah, Leland Montgomery and Sarah Underwood Saviano.

?Five-time Obie Award winner David Greenspan's unique brand of gentle wit and exquisite lyricism will be on display when Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents the West Coast premiere of his meta-theatrical comic romance, Go Back to Where You Are, beginning July 16.

THE HAIRY APE at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble through July 17 tells the story of Robert 'Yank' Smith, a brutish ship laborer who searches for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the wealthy elite who he believes only see him as a dirty and hairy ape rather than a real human being. As head coal stoker on an ocean liner, Yank (Haile D'Alan whose incredible and extremely physical performance lifts the entire production to the highest artistic quality) is in his element where he rules his dark, hot, hard-drinking smoky world while managing a group of six other coal stokers who seem to prove their resemblance to simians no matter what they do thanks to the brilliant and totally physical ape-like choreography of their every move by director Steven Berkoff. It's truly a wonder as to how the ensemble manages to keep their energy at such a high level throughout the entire show.

Five-time Obie Award winner David Greenspan's unique brand of gentle wit and exquisite lyricism will be on display when Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents the West Coast premiere of his meta-theatrical comic romance, Go Back to Where You Are, beginning July 9.

The suit has been described as a test of the legality of Equity's 99-Seat Plan, which allows for actors to volunteer their services.

Renowned British actor/writer/director Steven Berkoff directs a rare production of Eugene O'Neill's 1922 expressionist play THE HAIRY APE. The production opened on May 14 at West L.A.'s Odyssey Theatre, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

French playwright and director, Celine Nyanga, selected the perfect spot in old Hollywood, (Figaro Bistrot Boulangerie) with its French antiques, dimly lit, cast-iron chandeliers and a zinc bar for this special evening.  It was the ideal place for Nyanga to offer the lead role of her upcoming play Uterine Affairs or the Inconceivable Conception, to the delightful and proficient actress Mariana Montes.

Renowned British actor/writer/director Steven Berkoff will direct a rare production of Eugene O'Neill's 1922 expressionist play The Hairy Ape, opening May 14 at West L.A.'s Odyssey Theatre.

Playwright Janet Schlapkohl's MY SISTER has the good fortune of having two fine actresses, identical twins Elizabeth Hinkler and Emily Hinkler, in her two-character play. Easy to see why these two won the Hollywood Fringe Festival's Best Acting award in these same roles last year.

An expanded version of My Sister, a smash hit at last season's Hollywood Fringe Festival, will receive a full production at the Odyssey Theatre beginning January 16. Ron Sossi and Paul David Story co-direct identical twins Elizabeth Hinkler and Emily Hinkler in Janet Schlapkohl's poignant tale of two sisters in pre-war Germany.

The magic begins again when one of L.A.'s most beloved and longest running shows, SMOKE AND MIRRORS returns to the Odyssey Theatre tonight, Oct. 24 through Dec. 20.

The magic begins again when one of L.A.'s most beloved and longest running shows, SMOKE AND MIRRORS returns to the Odyssey Theatre on Oct. 24 through Dec. 20.

Gritty, passionate, funny and heartbreaking, Awake and Sing! by Clifford Odets continues to resonate 80 years after its 1935 premiere by the Group Theatre. Director Elina de Santos and lead actress Marilyn Fox return to the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble with a 20th anniversary revival of the smash Odyssey production that ran for nine months in 1994-95. Also returning from that production are Richard Fancy and Dennis Madden; the three will be joined onstage by David Agranov, Robert Lesser, Allan Miller, James Morosini, Melissa Paladino and Gary Patent. Awake and Sing! opens at the Odyssey Theatre on Sept. 26.