2022 Top L.A. Theatre Productions
Despite an omnipresent Omnichron, to say nothing of Actors Equity rules making producing theatre prohibitively expensive, live stage, though there is decidedly less of it, still flourishes. One hopes that the number of productions and theatres themselves will increase in 2023, yielding a Top Ten again, rather than this shorter but no less deserving list.
If I Forget, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood
Steven Levenson, author of the book for Dear Steven Hansen, has whip smart dialogue from all his characters, as three siblings (Leo Marks, Valerie Perri and Samantha Klein) visit their childhood home, to sort out the failing health of their father and their monetary interests in his estate. But even more edgy and theatrically engrossing is Marks’s antagonized liberal Jewish studies professor, as he raises disturbing questions about the state of Israel and the family’s amorphous identity as American Jews. Directed by Jason Alexander, If I Forget also lambasts familial self-interest that transcends national borders, shocking the audience with secret revelations in a steady, organic way. Marks and Klein expertly lead a uniformly accomplished cast.
West at the Hollywood Fringe, Theatre Row
The West Coast premiere of Welsh playwright Owen Thomas’s touching two-hander, West, refers to the intended direction of a 19th century Wales couple, for the promises and unknowns of America. Thomas has a lilting, undeniable lyricism in his work and his fellow actors from his homeland, Gareth John Bale and Gwenllian Higginson handle not only the poetry of the dialogue but the constant, innovative motion on a nearly bare stage, directed by Bale. Thomas’s outrageous angst in his previous Fringe work, Richard Parker, winner of Best International Play, was most impressive and West proves not only his capability as playwright but also his versatility in subjects and mood. This is a work that is counterbalanced between the attachment to home and overcoming the fear of a totally different recreation of one’s life.
The Lehman Trilogy at the Ahmanson Theatre
Sam Mendes, winner of Oscar, Tony and Golden Globe for his film and theatre directing, captivates the audience for the National Theatre and Neal Street production of The Lehman Trilogy. Written by Stefano Massini and translated by Ben Power, it covers decades of history beginning with three Bavarian brothers, who begin as cotton brokers in the 19th century Deep South, build a financial services company that blossoms, goes bankrupt due to greed and triggers the worst monetary crisis in history. The marvelous Simon Russell Beale, aided by Adam Godley and Howard Overshown, portray iterations of the Lehman family, including women and children, with dextrous fluidity. Mendes plays it straight in the 1800s but by the time of the 2008 meltdown, his theatrical ideas are as startlingly impactful as the near worldwide banking collapse.
A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay about the Death of Walt Disney at the Odyssey Theatre
Lucas Hnath turns the candy-colored public perception of the benevolence of Walt Disney on its cryogenically preserved head it this sharply amusing, at times structurally astounding play. Director Peter Richards handles the meta play clearly and well, utilizing music, graphics and props seamlessly. Walt’s brother Roy, daughter Diane and son-in-law Ronald Miller deal with the titular titan, proving in the process that being in his business orbit was not quite “the happiest place on Earth.” It’s a 75-minute whirlwind of the “idea of Disney,” as the immensely clever Hnath has said, rather than a strictly biographical work. And yet, we glean new insights about a man who nurtured his own myth as grandfatherly creative.
