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“Blueprints To Freedom” – La Jolla Playhouse

PAT LAUNER - TIMES OF SAN DIEGO.COM 9/29/15 “BLUEPRINTS” TELLS FORGOTTEN CIVIL RIGHTS STORY AT LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE One part inspiration, one part indignation. “Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin” is about the lead-up to the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The brilliant ‘prophet for social change,’ he who taught Martin Luther King non-violence, served as Deputy Director and Chief organizer/architect of the March, the biggest protest ever seen in America to date. But more Read More →

“Parlour Song” – Backyard Renaissance Theatre

PAT LAUNER - TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 8/29/15 “PARLOUR SONG” AN OMINOUS AND AUSPICIOUS START FOR NEW THEATER The identical houses, just six feet apart, line up in neat little rows. Behind the tidy lawns and closed doors, menace lurks. Welcome to suburbia, English style, as imagined by playwright Jez Butterworth in “Parlour Song,” his 2008 drama (with comic relief). In this dark-hued portrait of middle age, some of the symbolism is a bit heavy handed: there’s the demolition Read More →

“The Birthday Party”

PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 8/21/15 ANOTHER REASON TO REVEL IN NEW FORTUNE: THEIR PRODUCTION OF “THE BIRTHDAY PARTY” The title sounds so festive. But since “The Birthday Party” was written by Harold Pinter, expect more menace than merriment. The late Nobel laureate penned this disturbing drama in 1958, and it was greeted (as still often happens) with head-scratching and hostility. We don’t really know exactly what’s going on here. And that’s Pinter’s point (Life is like that). Rumpled, broken Read More →

Review: “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”

PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 8/11/15 Sedaka Songs go Catskills: Premiere Productions’ “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” My grandmother is rolling in her grave. Premiere Productions is doing a show set in the Catskills, circa 1960, with a main character who’s a classic Borscht Belt comic. Both onstage and offstage, characters have blatantly Jewish names, and some are written in obvious New York/Jewish dialect. Yiddishisms punctuate the dialogue. The two leading ladies, one smart but klutzy, the other Read More →

“The Winter’s Tale”

PAT LAUNER TIMES OF SAN DIEGO 7/25/15 A Chilly Midsummer Story: “The Winter’s Tale” at Intrepid Theatre “Shakespeare Unplugged” It’s the latest initiative from Intrepid Theatre Company, a stripped-down Bard-work, without elaborate sets, props or costumes. The focus is just on the language. That intention is commendably realized in the company’s inaugural ‘Unplugged’ production, “The Winter’s Tale.” It isn’t an easy play, but Intrepid has never taken the easy route. Consider the show that’s running in repertory with this one: “The Quality Read More →

“The Music Man”