by Colin Thomas | May 24, 2019 | Review
Matilda the Musical survives Daryl Cloran’s direction, even though he makes a good stab at bludgeoning it to death. The material itself is fantastic. Based on Roald Dahl’s 1988 novel, Matilda tells the story of a bright, sensitive little girl — whose parents despise...
by Colin Thomas | May 24, 2019 | Review
Formally innovative, Other Inland Empires also looks like it’s also going to be theatrically and thematically rewarding — at first. Writer and director Julie Hammond presents three characters: she has written herself into the piece as a narrator; her grandmother, who...
by Colin Thomas | May 23, 2019 | Review
Lady Parts is a feminist revue that includes sketch comedy, personal testimony, and a whole lot of political fuck-you-ness. It’s hilarious, it’s necessary, and it’s so welcome. Lady Parts wields transgression like a stick that it’s using to smash the piñata of...
by Colin Thomas | May 18, 2019 | Review
I’m so grateful. Pacific Theatre’s production of The Cake is coming at the right time — at the necessary time. With Alabama’s virtual ban on abortion just the latest in states’ restrictions of female autonomy, the Trump administration’s assault on LGBTQ rights, and...
by Colin Thomas | May 15, 2019 | Review
Ellery Lamm, who wrote The Fitting Room, shows promise as a playwright, but that promise hasn’t ripened yet. In this script, she presents a parallel set of crises. In the first, Henry, who’s 13, has dared his friend Noah to stand on the ice in the middle of a hockey...
