Put a Little Drama in your Life
KPBS AIRDATE: June 21, 2002 In case it isn't enough to see bell-bottoms and tie-dye on the streets, the 60s and 70s are back onstage, too. At both the Fritz and Diversionary Theatres, the costumes alone are worth the price of admission. It's 1962 at the Fritz, where the backdrop of "Down South" is the Cuban Missile Crisis, which virtually no one in this wacked-out world is taking Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: June 14, 2002 Marshall McLuhan would probably be pleased. In the Sledgehammer production of Don DeLillo's "Valparaiso," the medium is definitely the message. And the message is media assault. In fact, in the first act, the blitzkrieg is so loud, oppressive and relentless, it becomes, to borrow from DeLillo's most acclaimed novel, "White Noise." True to DeLillo form, the play Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: June 7, 2002 The tugs of love, the constrictions of expectations. Can we ever live up to what someone else wants or needs from us? It doesn't matter if that person is parent or friend, lover or spouse; the pressures are enormous -- too much, at times, to hold a relationship or a family together. "An Infinite Ache," by David Read More →
Published in Gay and Lesbian Times June, 2002 FIFTH OF JULY It's that Seventies Show….Lanford Wilson's "Fifth of July." Heaven help us, it's 1977 again, with all the bell-bottoms, fringe, tie-dye and leisure suits that entails. At Diversionary Theatre, Corey Johnston's costumes are a hoot. But the colors are deeper than the plot. Nonetheless, there are star performances in this not-so-stellar play. Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: May 31, 2002 They definitely like 'em dark, if not deep. New Village Arts Theatre, North County's latest and most ambitious addition to the San Diego theater community, debuted with "Brilliant Traces" last year, recently did a workshop production of "Trapped" and have now mounted "A Hatful of Rain." There's a through-line here about confinement, constriction, no exit. Read More →
KPBS AIRDATE: May 24, 2002 French farce meets English extravaganza on the way to American excess. In other words, the La Jolla Playhouse production of "Tartuffe" looks more like an overblown 1980's British musical than a 1660's Molière social satire. In the first act, Robert Brill's spare, suggestive set remains attractively stationary, highlighted by Jess Goldstein's colorful costumes and Chris Parry's evocative Read More →
“San Diego is a hotbed of theater. Every year, I see 200-250 productions. This is fertile ground for new work. In addition to the prodigious local talent, theatermakers from around the country come here to premiere their latest creations. San Diego sends more shows to Broadway than nearly any other city in the U.S.”
-Pat Launer