UNCLE VANYA
Sunday, February 22nd, 2026
Neil LaBute gives Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya a more contemporary-sounding tweak in the Tony nominated playwright’s third visit to Santa Monica’s City Garage Theatre, and the result is a Vanya that even Chekhov “non-fans” like this reviewer can enjoy.
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SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA
Saturday, February 14th, 2026Haunted house stories can be both thrilling and entertaining. There is, unfortunately, little fun to be had inside the Beacon Hill apartment occupied by blocked, depressed writer Sally in the present day and in the 1950s by her more celebrated (albeit equally depressed) 20th-century counterpart in Sylvia Sylvia Sylvia, Beth Hyland’s downer of a World Premiere at Westwood’s Geffen Playhouse.
WHAT OPA DID
Tuesday, January 27th, 2026Audiences in search of uplifting, escapist entertainment in the dismal times we’re living through will not find it in Christopher Franciosa’s Holocaust drama What Opa Did, a Theatre 40 World Premiere not done any favors by James Paradise’s misguided direction.
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AN INSPECTOR CALLS
Tuesday, November 25th, 2025
Leave it to director Cate Caplin to take a play I had previously found to be heavy-handed and preachy, J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, and transform it into something quite magical at Theatre 40.
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BORDER CRISIS
Tuesday, November 18th, 2025Considering how much of what’s coming out of Washington DC these days seems like théâtre de l’absurde, the time could hardly be riper for City Garage to debut Charles A. Duncombe’s absurdist comedy Border Crisis, though in the case of this contemporary adaptation of a 1967 Polish play, excellent intentions yield less than successful results.
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TABLE 17
Friday, November 14th, 2025
Audiences are invited to talk back to the exes who reunite at a trendy night spot to rehash the past and maybe, just possibly get back together in the MCC Theater production of Douglas Lyons’ raucously funny off-Broadway hit Table 17, imported to L.A. by the Geffen Playhouse precisely when stressed-out Angelinos need it most.
TORCH SONG
Monday, September 29th, 2025
Michael Mullen delivers a career-best performance as Arnold Beckoff in Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song, now making its long-awaited local debut at Santa Monica’s venerable Morgan-Wixson Theatre.
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JUST ANOTHER DAY
Monday, September 22nd, 2025Unlike the characters they play in Just Another Day, The Bad Seed Oscar nominee Patty McCormack and The Wonder Years star Dan Lauria are still sharp as tacks, but sadly I can’t add my voice to those who have raved about Lauria’s overly wordy Alzheimer’s-themed comedy, now wrapping up its run at the Odyssey.
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Since 2007, Steven Stanley's StageSceneLA.com has spotlighted the best in Southern California theater via reviews, interviews, and its annual StageSceneLA Scenies.
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