The Sexual Life of Savages at Beverly Hills Playhouse

The Sexual Life of Savages

Beverly Hills Playhouse
254 S. Robertson Blvd Beverly Hills

A couple's troubling discussion of their respective numbers of past sexual partners kicks off a thoughtful, absorbing dissection of modern love in Ian MacAllister-McDonald's new anti-romantic comedy The Sexual Life of Savages. When Hal realizes his girlfriend Jean has had sex with more people than he has, his reaction sparks hurt feelings and sends them each to find guidance, or lack thereof, from their friends. Hal's buddy Clark happily trolls the Internet with his wife, looking for threesomes, and thinks Hal is old-fashioned. Meanwhile, Jean's lesbian coworker sides with her, believing there's no reason to keep your "numbers" down anyway because there's nothing wrong with a little sex. Discomfortingly hilarious and scathingly personal, The Sexual Life of Savages asks hard questions about today's shifting definitions of tolerance, empathy and morality.

Thru - Aug 3, 2014

Fridays: 8:00pm

Saturdays: 8:00pm

Sundays: 7:00pm

Price: $30 - $34; Seniors (60+) pay $15 for 7pm Sunday performances

Show Type: Comedy

Box Office: 310-855-1556

www.bhplayhouse.com

The Sexual Life of Savages Reviews

Average Rating based on 10 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Los Angeles Times - Recommended

"...Still, "Savages" is a ribald, intelligent and promising new work. Adventurous playgoers and/or fans of premium cable fare will likely embrace it."

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- David C. Nichols

Broadway World - Recommended

"...Very witty script, without one false note, by Ian MacAllister-McDonald; even strong-handed direction by Elina de Santos; and executed by a very abled cast of five make for a wonderful 90-minutes of very strong entertaining theatre."

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- Gil Kaan

The Hollywood Reporter - Somewhat Recommended

"...Director Elina de Santos spins those words into rhythmically alert scenes that create an impression that urgent matters are being addressed. The play casts a peculiar spell that only loses its grip as it gradually becomes clear that its core dramatic ideas are so much less compelling than they have appeared. This ambitious, talented play, despite being in good hands, flounders on its central failure of concept and vision."

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- Myron Meisel

LA Splash - Recommended

"...This production isn't for children or those who blush easily and are offended by explicit sexual content, but is for anyone who enjoys raunchy punch lines and can take what's offered! Fabulously directed and staged, and superbly cast with riveting performances by all."

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- Ester Benjamin Shifren

Examiner - Recommended

"...Grossman takes the Skylight mission to heart and the role it plays in contributing to society. "The home-run for me is to have audiences walk out of here talking." This play surely reaches that goal."

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- Bonnie Priever

ArtsInLA - Somewhat Recommended

"...But problematically, form overwhelms substance in the script, disrupting the audience's concentration on the moments MacAllister-McDonald has otherwise carefully crafted. No sooner do we suspend disbelief then the playwright introduces a conceit. Sometimes it's cross-conversations, in which two pairs of actors carry on their dialogue simultaneously. Sometimes it's through the direct-address monologue each characters delivers. The information imparted may be interesting and relevant, but the contrived method of delivery takes its audience out of the story and back into the theater seats."

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- Dany Margolies

Grigware Blogspot - Recommended

"...If I do not particularly like the characters of a play, in certain instances if I am repelled by them, I dismiss the play, but in this case, I am making an exception. I do not really like any of these five, but I cannot dismiss their connection to the rampant lack of morality/humanity that casts a harrowing shadow over contemporary small-town America. There is a subtle cry for help by MacAllister-McDonald, very subtle, that we should not ignore."

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- Don Grigware

LifeInLA - Somewhat Recommended

"...All in all, this is a play that wants to tell us to "relax, it's just sex," but seems to have forgotten to tell most of its own characters-which may be the point. It seems that what this play has to say about sex and relationships is contradictory, but perhaps that is the very nature of life and love. Whatever the case, in the end, the play has a great deal more to say about relationships than it does about sex, while still managing to keep men and women on opposing sides of the discourse. And while the themes of the show shift occasionally, there is enough humor and strong performances to keep it all together."

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- Patrick Hurley

The Los Angeles Post - Recommended

"..."The Sexual Life of Savages" is entertaining and pleasurable."

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- Rose Desena

Joe Straw #9 - Recommended

"...The Sexual Life of Savages by Ian MacAllister-McDonald is a thought-provoking night of theatre, of words, and of life's carnal complexities. It is an articulated examination of the act not executed, but examined in its purest linguistic form and in its discomforting verbal intimacy. At heart, The Sexual Life of Savages is a passion play, eminently elegant, but brutal in form, which makes for an exquisite night of theatre and a lot of fun."

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- Joe Straw

The Sexual Life of Savages at Beverly Hills Playhouse