Animals Out of Paper at David Henry Hwang Theater

Animals Out of Paper

David Henry Hwang Theater
120 Judge John Aiso St. Los Angeles

The quirky and complicated creatures featured in Animals Out of Paper aren't pieces of origami, but the characters written by playwright (and Pulitzer Prize finalist) Rajiv Joseph. Meet Ilana, a famous origami artist reduced by a series of tragedies to living in her studio, surrounded by paper cranes. Her seclusion is broken by Andy, an energetic high school teacher, and his student Suresh, an origami prodigy with some major attitude problems. Through the interactions of these three, Animals Out of Paper traces the complex ways in which people hurt, heal and love those around them. This funny, inventive and heart-wrenching drama stars C.S. Lee (Dexter), Tess Lina (Revenge) and Kapil Talwalkar.

Thru - Oct 5, 2014

Wednesdays: 8:00pm

Thursdays: 8:00pm

Fridays: 8:00pm

Saturdays: 8:00pm

Sundays: 2:00pm

Price: $28-$38

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 213-625-7000

www.eastwestplayers.org

David Henry Hwang Theater Seating Chart

Animals Out of Paper Reviews

Average Rating based on 8 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Los Angeles Times - Recommended

"...It's a play full of symbolism, but not dauntingly so, and its accessibility is universal. As Ilana tells Saresh, a piece of paper is never the same again after it has been folded, that it has memory. "It's all twisted into something so far from what it used to be." The same cannot be said for this beautifully judged L.A. premiere."

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- David C. Nichols

Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended

"...The short, tinkling piano music that occurs in moments of revelation are even more manipulative than the metaphors, telling us what to feel and when. The director obviously sees the need to indicate rather than let the story play out. This is not to say the evening lacks charm and engagement, but I wish East West Players' version had been as artfully crafted as the amazing displays of origami hanging on the theater walls. Like paper turned into origami, this oddly designed production (with a Nagasaki bridge looming inside Ilana's studio) has been lovingly folded, but the finished product only looks good from certain angles."

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- Tony Frankel

Stage Scene LA - Recommended

"...Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph weaves these three ordinary lives into something quite extraordinary in his 2008 dramedy Animals Out Of Paper, now being given a pitch-perfect Los Angeles Premiere as the opening salvo in East West Players' two-year-long celebration of its 50th season of offering Angelinos of every ethnicity the finest in Asian-American theater."

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- Steven Stanley

ArtsBeatLA - Somewhat Recommended

"...Jennifer Chang directs nicely - the nuances are all there, but the pacing feels a bit sluggish. Tess Lina does a decent job as Ilana but her role is drawn too narrowly and it's too two-dimensional to offer her the opportunity to really stretch as an actor. The same goes for CS Lee, although he does bring a clown-y charm to his character - again, one that is not fully rounded."

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- Pauline Adamek

ArtsInLA - Somewhat Recommended

"...Rajiv Joseph has built Animals Out of Paper with metaphors about human longing for connection. The result is a gentle but unpersuasive play."

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- Dany Margolies

Total Theater - Recommended

"...Joseph captures the highs and lows of this unique three-way love affair, its laughter and tears, its joys and sorrows. He's greatly aided by the sure-handed direction of Jennifer Chang and by the skilled acting of C.S. Lee, Tess Lina and Kapil Talkwalker (a student at USC!)."

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- Willard Manus

LA Downtown News - Recommended

"...Rajiv Joseph beautifully incorporates this analogy in Animals Out of Paper, the quiet, elegant and moving production that opens the 50th anniversary season of East West Players. Directed with subtle elegance by Jennifer Chang, the three-character, humor-infused drama that debuted last week runs through Oct. 5 at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo."

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- Jeff Favre

Night Tinted Glasses - Recommended

"...Origami is a Japanese art form based upon the folding of paper into new shapes. As the central character notes, paper begins flat but when folded it gains a scar and becomes something new. More folding and more scars can in time create a shape, something beautiful or mediocre, but certainly new–so that even if unfolded the paper cannot help but remain forever changed. As vivid a metaphor for life as one can imagine, yes? And playwright Rajiv Joseph's Animals Out of Paper takes that metaphor and examines it in countless ways, played out in the lives three people."

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- David MacDowell Blue