LA Weekly - Somewhat Recommended
"...Fortunately, Lisa Richards, a cougar before the term even existed, soft-pedals her approach as a nosy neighbor, and her scene near the end with Bella is the first in the production that intrigues. The real shame, in fact, is that Martin's performance as the mentally clouded yet still feisty Bella is stranded in this production. Tennessee Williams always saved his best for his women, and Martin more than does him justice."
Backstage - Highly Recommended
"...The performances of Blumenfeld and Martin are riveting, illuminating the craziness and torment within this toxic family, without lapsing into melodramatic clichés. As a character who's somewhat closer to sane, though hardly a beacon of class, Billet provides a good counterpoint to the adversarial parents. Newcomb has hilarious moments as the sexually liberal Bible thumper."
LAist - Not Recommended
"...Simon Levy's staging is proficient, but the quality of the acting is uneven, which doesn't help when you're putting up a work as flawed as this one. It feels like there's a good play in here somewhere, specifically in Bella's story, but Williams was unable to extricate it sufficiently."
Edge - Recommended
"...Director Simon Levy deftly navigates the many layers of this final effort of the great playwright to exorcise those ghosts. The result is not one of his best plays, but it holds up as an ambitious project for a writer who was looking to remain relevant in changing times."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...The discovery of A House Not Meant To Stand makes this not merely an important theater event, but a revelation of just how potent Tennesee Williams's talent was in a period that has been categorized as one of decline. And Sandy Martin's great performance does for Bella McCorkle what one imagines Laurette Taylor did for Amanda Wingfield. What she is doing doesn't even look like acting. What higher compliment can one pay an actor?"
The Hollywood Reporter - Recommended
"...There is an absent slatternly daughter, a dead gay son, rapacious and randy neighbors, all splayed out in conscious self-parody dedicated to the higher purpose of exposing human folly (not least the author's own) and finding transcendent values of love and fortitude without ever sentimentalizing the moral rot."
Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended
"...By the end of this month, there will be a grand total of four major productions by or about Tennessee Williams gracing L.A. stages, including Camino Real at Theatre @ Boston Court, Eccentricities Of A Nightingale at A Noise Within, and the biographical Anna And Tennessee (starring Fountain & Tennessee Williams favorites Morlan Higgins and Karen Kondazian) at the Odyssey, though none is likely to match A House Not Meant To Stand in downright outrageousness. For those willing to throw away preconceived notions of what a Williams play ought to be, A House Not Meant To Stand is likely not only to entertain, but to spark many a discussion of just how his wild-and-crazy last produced play fits in with the rest of Tennessee's much loved, much lauded body of work."
StageHappenings.com - Highly Recommended
"...This is the western United States' debut of "House" that seemingly died along with Williams, but here it has been given back a grand life. It would be a shame, indeed, to miss this terrific production, produced by Stephen Sachs and Deborah Lawlor."
ReviewPlays.com - Highly Recommended
"...It has been written that the broken down old house represents the contemporary society (the play was first performed in 1982) and the characters are modeled after some of Williams' own family. Whatever the case, this play is a powerful denunciation of a type of life in the South and the Fountain Theatre's production is another example of the excellent work that has become a trademark of the company. Fans of Williams will love this play and those new to his work could not find a better place to get introduced to one of America's greatest writers."
Examiner - Recommended
"...But fortunately, under the inspiring direction of Simon Levy and brilliant performances by a stellar cast, House stands up surprisingly well."
Buzzine - Recommended
"...From me personally, I thank Simon Levy and the award-winning Fountain Theater for bringing me Williams' birthday centennial and the play which entertained, and then distressed, and on further thought became for me an epitaph for an art which drew from the playwright's own life, his sharing of his own struggles, and at the end, trying what he said in his notes was a new and different style, not with the same tight unity but still showing flashes of his early brilliance and leaving us with a most unusual scene for Tennessee Williams: a mother yearning for a simple dinner table with all her children around her."
Campus Circle - Highly Recommended
"...Martin is unbelievable as Bella and serves as the glue for the solid foundation of this masterpiece. Also fantastic is the set design. At first glance, it might appear to be your average 1982 Mississippi home, but on further glance multimedia images are creatively exhibited on a scrim. The set alone is almost worth the price of admission."
Socal - Recommended
"...Or are these two plays prophetic in their indictment of society's ills, the collapse of the family and its values? Indeed, much more could be said. What remains certain is that these last full-length plays of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller deserve to be better known and appreciated."
On Stage Los Angeles - Somewhat Recommended
"...Williams' ability to create strong characters is at work in this piece. My issue is mostly with the direction… or the actors seizing their own lead to shout the dialogue and keep the action at an almost fever pitch from the get go. Though no one would allow that Williams is ever very subtle, it seems that finding the peaks and valleys of this play would make it more enjoyable to watch. Director Levy's ability as a director is well known. If it was his intention that the energy of the cast to be dialed up for much of the play, perhaps finding a few subtle moments might be an idea."