The Bald Soprano and The Lesson Reviews
Stage Raw- Somewhat Recommended
"...While it surely wasn't the Santa Monica Playhouse's intention to produce this show at a moment in America when Nazi sentiments are surprisingly strong, the presence of Nazi imagery in a comedic context puts a heavy damper on the whole evening. Ionesco, who grew up in Paris and Romania during World War II, was both staunchly anti-Nazi and anti-socialist, so he surely didn't write that flippantly - but any sort of Nazi imagery is a hard pill to swallow in an America where Nazis are currently rioting and killing other Americans. Rather than serving as a poignant reminder of the dangers of radical ideologies, the moment - one of the last moments of the night - feels clunky and jarring."