Behind the Gates at Marilyn Monroe Theatre at the Lee Strasberg Creative Center

Behind the Gates

Marilyn Monroe Theatre at the Lee Strasberg Creative Center
7936 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood

Hatikvah Productions and the Lee Strasberg Creative Center present Behind the Gates, a drama about a parent's worst nightmare. When 17 year-old Bethany goes missing on a school trip to Israel, her parents begin a feverish search through Jerusalem. They find themselves between ancient and modern worlds, where cultures and politics collide and the situation grows more volatile every day.

Thru - Jul 3, 2010

Price: $12.50-$25

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 323-960-5772

www.strasberg.com

Behind the Gates Reviews

Average Rating based on 8 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Los Angeles Times - Recommended

"...Played out on Stephanie Kerley Schwartz's set of stone columns and sheer curtains, David Gautreaux's staging has a minimalist elegance occasionally at odds with the style of the play, which mixes the tropes of a Lifetime movie with journalistic clarity. What ultimately resonates in this Hatikva Productions drama is the fierce hunger of an adoptee searching for her true home."

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- Charlotte Stoudt

LA Weekly - Somewhat Recommended

"...Directed by David Gautraux, the play deals with the spell that ancient Jerusalem casts on some people; most fascinating is the glimpse it offers into a cultish anti-feminist society -- measuring its values against the strengths and weaknesses of our own. Unfortunately, these thematic virtues are undermined by a soap operatic element that plays out around Susan's marital problems and her personal insecurities. Walsh offers a sensitive portrayal, but other performances are weaker and less nuanced. Ultimately, the narrative never recoups its initial power; despite Walsh's efforts."

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- Deborah Klugman

Backstage - Somewhat Recommended

"...Playwright Wendy Graf's latest effort pieces together two distinct segments, beginning with an intriguing monologue and concluding with a standard movie-of-the-week scenario that lacks surprise and emotional impact, despite several solid performances. At times David Gautreaux's uneven direction enhances the two-hour drama's weaker spots, but it also damages stronger ones-particularly in the opening scene."

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- Jeff Favre

LA Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended

"...The acting is good, but not great. Unfortunately, the most intriguing character (and engaging actress) all but disappears for most of the show. James Eckhouse and Keliher Walsh do fine jobs as her parents but cannot maintain the magnificent aura created during the opening scene. Tom Beyer is totally miscast as the American attache, and Steven Robert Wollenberg as the Israeli P.I is in desperate need of a dialect coach. Robin Roth and Oren Rehany were much more convincing, albeit in smaller roles."

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- Joel Elkins

LA Splash - Not Recommended

"...All the actors in the play are extremely talented and Graf's background as a playwright is impressive; make no mistake about that. But Graf's play needs considerable revision. And if she does go back to the drawing board with this story, the many unexplored, objective facets of haredim can finally be revealed from 'behind the gates.'"

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- Peter A. Balaskas

Stage Scene LA - Recommended

"...Benefitting from some excellent performances including a particularly stellar turn by Annika Marks as Bethany, Behind The Gates starts off with a bang, then develops into an edge-of-your seat (albeit) melodramatic mystery thriller, later veers off onto a bizarre tangent which almost sinks the second act, and ultimately returns to the powerful simplicity of its central mother-daughter relationship. The result is an imperfect but still powerful drama with much to say about religious fanaticism."

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- Steven Stanley

StageHappenings.com - Recommended

"...The dynamic cast and direction by David Gautreaux feelingly portrays the fervent passions and frustrations from conflicting customs and difficult communication. Wollenberg and Tom Beyer as the Embassy contact give solid performances as liaisons for the Leiberman's. Walsh is completely sympathetic as a determined mother and Eckhouse is a powerhouse of simmering emotion. Marks is riveting in the nearly half hour opening monologue that arcs from an explosive tirade peppered with expletives to a hopeful convert enraptured by doctrine. Oren Rehany, Robyn Roth and Nicolas Mongiardo-Cooper each round off the cast with excellent dialects along with a genuine understanding of their roles."

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- MR Hunter

Examiner - Highly Recommended

"...If you care about the performing arts-or humanity, for that matter-make a plan to visit the Marilyn Monroe Theatre at the Lee Strasberg Creative Center in West Hollywood, where you have until July 3 to catch the world premiere of Wendy Graf's "Behind the Gates." It deserves to be staged at the Mark Taper Forum, but Downtown LA's loss is WeHo's gain."

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- Jordan Young