Shari Barrett

HONORING A FAMILY STUCK IN A HOLOCAUST NIGHTMARE Four actors, four moving walls, a wooden table and chairs, and historical projections combine into an extraordinary theatrical experience in the hands of director Darin Anthony, set and production designer Justin Huen, and projection designer Ben Rock who enhance the emotional impact of Paper Walls by Elliot…

DRAGONS, DOOMSDAY, AND DAZZLE The Road Theatre Company launches its 34th season with N.T. Vandecar’s Otherkin, a bold, visually stunning new work staged by Christina Carlisi in her directorial premiere. Even when its mythology gets dense, the production keeps you hooked, partly because it looks fantastic, but mostly because it’s anchored by the beating heart…

WHAT DOGS REALLY THINK ABOUT UNCONDITIONAL LOVE Those of us who have ever lived with a beloved canine companion (I hesitate to use the word “owned” since I question who really owns whom) certainly know the amount of time spent happily together sharing human concerns and feelings with no hope of a canine verbal response….

ACTING WHILE ASIAN: A SURVIVAL GUIDE IN ONE ACT Kung Fu, Sidekick, Wise Man, Dead: The Hollywood Starter Pack. Philip Kan Gotanda’s Yankee Dawg You Die pulls no punches in its portrait of two Asian-American actors navigating Hollywood’s tangled machinery—one a hardened veteran, the other freshly idealistic. Set in the late 1980s but pulsing with…

WHEN THE ONLY TENSION IS IN THE CORSET: GASLIGHT IS ALL DIM AND NO SPARK AT PRT Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play, Gas Light (now known as Gaslight) is a melodrama which follows a young woman whose husband slowly manipulates her into believing she is descending into insanity. This one-time taut psychological thriller is set in Victorian…

HORRORS IN THE ROUND Little Shop of Horrors, based on the 1960 science-fiction film by Roger Corman, opened off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre in Manhattan’s East Village on July 27, 1982. The production, directed by lyricist Howard Ashman, was so popular that David Geffen and team swooped in to buy the rights. The music, composed by…

MEET MARKET Have you ever gone to a speed dating event where singles meet, spend a few minutes talking to one person, and then move on to the next person, each for a pre-arranged chat session time? For those who have, and especially for those who never tried it, Last Call Theatre is presenting Love…

WHAT FUN GETTING LOST IN AUSTEN Fresh from its smash hit engagement at Theatre 40, Jane Austen in 89 Minutes has moved into the artistically appropriate Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills for a limited 10-performance run. Performed by a cast of seven madcap ladies and gents who bring all six of Jane Austen’s beloved novels…