Monsters of the American Cinema Reviews
Los Angeles Times- Recommended
"..."Monsters of the American Cinema" unfolds in part through tandem monologues. Remy and Pup take turns filling the audience in on their backstory. The nature of their relationship is perhaps the sweetest element of the play. Remy is learning on the fly how to be a caretaker while Pup is figuring out through trial and error how to let someone look after him. They both have been burned by betrayal and loss, so trust is hard to come by. But they keep loving anyway."
Stage and Cinema- Recommended
"...In playwright Christian St. Croix‘s two-hander, Monsters of the American Cinema, we meet Remy Washington (Kevin Daniels), the Black gay big-hearted owner of Good Time Drive-In in Santee, CA, who is the caregiver for his late husband’s straight, white 16-year-old son, Pup, a.k.a. Peter Miller (Logan Leonardo Arditty). United by their love of classic American monster movies, Remy screens private double features, which the two watch from the comfort of their shoddy patio."
LA Splash- Highly Recommended
"...This marvelous writer tells a familiar story in a remarkable new way that has us falling in love with his characters and hoping they will find a better world for themselves and all of us.” With that said, it is no wonder the Rogue Machine proudly presents MONSTERS OF THE AMERICAN CINEMA, recipient of the 2021 Carlo Annoni International Drama Award,"
Stage Scene LA- Highly Recommended
"...What starts out a sitcom-style two-hander about a precocious teen being reared by his late father’s gay black husband ends up something far darker and deeper and more powerful in Christian St. Croix’s Monsters Of The American Cinema, the latest in a string of world-class Rogue Machine winners."
On Stage Los Angeles- Recommended
"...RMT Director John Perrin Flynn is an innovative artist and his staging of this piece is testament to this. Because the stage and house at The Matrix are both very, very wide scenic designer Stephanie Kerley Schwartz has placed the outdoor deck far off stage left and Pup's bedroom extreme right, which, because of, I imagine, the playwright's intention to spend a lot of time on direct to the audience exposition with lengthy individual monologues from both Remy and Pup."
Stage Raw- Recommended
"...In Monsters of the American Cinema, playwright Christian St. Croix spins a potentially affecting story about the relationship between a gay Black man grieving his dead husband and the straight White teenager who is the deceased man’s child. The production features a moving performance by Kevin Daniels as the widower and a polished staging by director John Perrin Flynn, with a special nod to Christopher Moscatiello, whose sound design and original music add subtle but certain dramatic dimension."
Ticket Holders LA- Not Recommended
"...That said, the current offering from Rogue Machine, the Los Angeles debut of Christian St. Croix's Monsters of the American Cinema directed by Flynn, is a major disappointment and, for me, even bordered on being offensive."
Larchmont Buzz- Recommended
"...Playwright Christian St. Croix has created a deeply felt portrait of a family torn apart and putting itself back together again. Incorporating the metaphor of monsters into a story with love and acceptance as its main messages, Monsters of the American Cinema is a compelling and satisfying theater experience."