Procreation at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

Procreation

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd Los Angeles

When Hope hosts a birthday party for her alcoholic mother, Ruby, the stage is set for a family reunion from hell where the liquor (and shocking revelations) are served up by the half-gallon. David Schweizer helms this semi-autobiographical play written by Justin Tanner (his 20th).

Thru - Sep 4, 2010

Price: $25-$30

Show Type: Comedy/Drama

Box Office: 310-477-2055

www.odysseytheatre.com

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Procreation Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Los Angeles Times - Not Recommended

"...My theater companion said afterward that he kept waiting for the large cast to break out into a musical number. I was just hoping that the humor would kick into a higher gear. But whatever the expectation, "Procreation" fails to deliver. "

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- Charles McNulty

Variety - Not Recommended

"..."Procreation" is stillborn. Justin Tanner's 20th play is reputedly his most autobiographical, though it would be presumptuous to ascribe the work's frantic misanthropy and pervasive self-pity to a lack of authorial distance. Whatever the explanation, the farce at the Odyssey remains inert and painfully unfunny, a rare misstep for our wickedest local savager of contemporary mores."

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- Bob Verini

LA Weekly - Recommended

"...There are drug deals, off-stage blow jobs and an entire sub-plot of gay intrigue. Tanner's satire of behaviors roasts not so much a culture of greed as a culture of need -- derived from the cruelty of snarky jokes and emotional neglect. One character says, perhaps ironically, "Let's try to be more mindful of what we say from now on," as though that would fix anything. Call it Molière ultralite. Sitcoms like this depend on the unspoken reactions to the torrent of one-liners. Director David Schweizer has the cartoons just right, but he drives the play on the fuel of its quips rather than the comedic agony that lies beneath them. Which may be why the farce begins to wilt after an hour or so, despite the effervescence of ongoing amusement. The uncredited costumes are very witty."

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- Steven Leigh Morris

Backstage - Somewhat Recommended

"..There's much creation but not a lot of pro going on here. In this, the latest of his many plays to bring zing to Los Angeles stages, playwright Justin Tanner offers lessons in script structure and comedic pacing. Likewise, director David Schweizer guides his plenteous cast through Tanner's wry world, enhancing the precision of timing and the bounty of color, visual and aural. The actors, all the way down to those with a smattering of lines, are dab hands at stagecraft. The script's themes are timeworn but worth repeating: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, love your children well, and so on. The style is outrageousness, which usually gets the audience's attention. Why, then, does this production not live up to its pedigree'"

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LA Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended

"...Procreation takes a long, hard look at a dysfunctional family and the issues with, you guessed it, procreation. Directed by David Schweizer from a play written by Justin Tanner, Procreation is a troubled, crowded piece of theater."

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- Marcus Kaye

Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended

"...Schweizer does a beautiful job of keeping so many things happening in what is the tiniest of the Odyssey Theatre's three spaces and on getting the feel of a big and rambling house in these cramped quarters, and he has wisely broken down the fourth wall so that we are almost uncomfortably close to the actors. But what should really make us uncomfortable is kept far removed from the audience. Tanner, who frequently directs his own plays (quite well), might have pushed us, if he had directed, a little more into the muck while hitting every comic note and then moving on with speed. But what is needed most of all is not velocity but slowing down. And it might help if the play itself would do what one had hoped it would do – reach into its darker corners. That takes slowing down, too. And knowing where the real truth lies."

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- Harvey Perr

Procreation at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

Procreation

Procreation Reviews

Los Angeles Times - Not Recommended

Variety - Not Recommended

LA Weekly - Recommended

Backstage - Somewhat Recommended

LA Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended

Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended

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