Theatre In LA Top Rated Plays List - The Highest Rated Shows In the LA area
The "Theatre In LA Top Rated Plays List" is a list of the top rated plays now running in the Los Angeles area based on what the current reviews are saying. To see all of the play reviews go to Review Round-Up.
Based on the writings of Bertolt Brecht. Conceived by George Tabori from various translations. Arranged and directed by Alistair Hunter. Musical director Gayle Bluemel. Presented by The Other Theatre Company. Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
LA Weekly-
Recommended
Broadway World-
Recommended
StageHappenings.com-
Recommended
ArtsBeatLA-
Recommended
LA Progressive-
Recommended
LifeInLA-
Recommended
Clare Boothe Luce’s 1936 play was the first American comedy about women by a woman. Set within a world of Manhattan women who are wealthy, social and privileged, along with the pink-collar women who serve and maintain them, the action and themes of this play are as relevant now as they were 77 years ago. The more things change…. Ms. Luce takes a jaundiced view of her gender, as the female friends of the uptown circle are often not content to be faithful to their own men and engage in spiteful gossip to sabotage the marriages and relationships of their purported friends.
Sweet Mary Haines believes that she has the perfect marriage. When someone in her circle lets slip that her husband has a mistress. Mary is devastated, and her wise mother gives her sage advice to preserve her marriage. Mary then proceeds to ignore her mother’s counsel, making every mistake she could possibly make. She seems set on a path to divorce, severing the ties between herself and the man she loves (and who still loves her, despite everything). Additionally, her adorable little daughter is just crushed by the turn of events. Can the Haines’ marriage possibly be saved? Will the other women in Mary’s circle find love and fulfillment? Will the nasty gossipmongers get their comeuppance? “The Women” has sex, gossip, marriage and romance. In short, it has everything that preoccupies the airwaves today. It was all upon the stage first. Men are frequently mentioned but never seen in this narrative.
Shakespeare's Timon of Athens Gets Modern Adaptation
Actors Forum Theatre (10655 Magnolia Blvd North Hollywood, CA 91601) Full Price:
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When Lord Timon, a generous pillar of society whose patronage has allowed others to benefit, is hit with financial disaster, his "friends" refuse to provide him with any aid in Timon of Athens. This contemporary telling of William Shakespeare's work still touches on the universal truths of corruption, the monetization of human relationships, debt and deceit, and the selfishness of mankind. Shakespeare's words still resonate some 400 years later in this searing drama, which is being staged for the first time in the Los Angeles area in 15 years.
The Tolucan Times-
Recommended
NoHoArtsDistrict-
Recommended
Culver City News-
Recommended
A Noise Within stages the West Coast premiere production of The Beaux' Stratagem, one of the last raucous Restoration Era comedies, adapted by two of the 20th century's most gifted American playwrights -- Thornton Wilder (Our Town) and Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor). George Farquhar's 1707 romp follows a pair of stylish young gentlemen who flee to the countryside from their London creditors, seeking wealthy and preferably attractive maidens to marry. But the road to romance and riches is filled with plenty of comic potholes. Described by Ludwig as "classic, formal, robust and hilarious," this latest version of The Beaux' Stratagem was actually first attempted by Thornton Wilder in 1939, who put it aside to work on the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Skin of Our Teeth. In 2004, Wilder's estate found Ken Ludwig, the popular playwright of Moon Over Buffalo and other comedies, to pick up the work, and almost 70 years later, the collaboration finally hits the stage in L.A., directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott.
Los Angeles Times-
Recommended
LA Weekly-
Somewhat Recommended
Back Stage-
Recommended
Stage and Cinema-
Recommended
The Hollywood Reporter-
Recommended
StageHappenings.com-
Recommended
Examiner-
Recommended
On Stage Los Angeles-
Recommended
Neon Tommy-
Recommended
Pasadena Weekly-
Recommended
Set in a cell in Lebanon in the 1980s, three men are taken hostage by a group of Islamic militants. Forced to cope with the daily challenges of fear and uncertainty, the men are thrust into a dangerous emotional climate that shifts between savage fighting, gentle understanding, uproarious laughter and deep grief; an emotional roller-coaster ride through the horrors of captivity, the balm of memory and the unbreakable strength of friendships forged by dire circumstance.
Los Angeles Times-
Somewhat Recommended
StageHappenings.com-
Recommended
ReviewPlays.com-
Recommended
The Tolucan Times-
Recommended
North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch-
Recommended
Culture Vulture-
Recommended
Thespian Thoughts-
Recommended
NoHoArtsDistrict-
Recommended
Culture Spot LA-
Recommended
This radically fresh retelling of the JM Barrie classic explores the original ideas and inspirations behind the iconic fantasy of Peter Pan. Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers is a dark new retelling of the story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up. This is ‘Peter Pan’ as you have never seen it before, but how it was always meant to be told. “This dark, disturbing, yet magical adaptation based on JM Barrie’s original ideas behind Peter Pan is one of the most thrilling scripts I have read in years,” said The Blank Artistic Director Henning. “Michael Lluberes’ adaptation and Michael Matthews’ visionary direction are a perfect match. I am excited for our audiences to experience Peter Pan as they have never experienced it before.”
Los Angeles Times-
Recommended
Variety-
Recommended
LA Weekly-
Recommended
Stage and Cinema-
Recommended
Stage Scene LA-
Recommended
StageHappenings.com-
Recommended
BlogCritics.org-
Recommended
Campus Circle-
Recommended
Grigware Blogspot-
Somewhat Recommended
Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad directs Joe Turner's Come and Gone from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson. Part of Wilson's 10-play cycle chronicling the experience of African-Americans in the 20th century, Joe Turner's Come and Gone was a Tony nominee for Best Play in 1988. Set in the dawning days of a century without slavery, this historical drama finds Herald Loomis -- haunted by seven years on a chain gang -- in Pittsburgh searching for his wife and a new life.
Los Angeles Times-
Recommended
Variety-
Recommended
LA Weekly-
Recommended
Back Stage-
Recommended
Stage and Cinema-
Somewhat Recommended
The Hollywood Reporter-
Recommended
LA Splash-
Recommended
StageHappenings.com-
Recommended
Examiner-
Recommended
LA Stage Times-
Somewhat Recommended
On Stage Los Angeles-
Recommended
OC Register-
Recommended
Total Theater-
Recommended
Two 40-something men, who have been friends for decades but only cursorily in touch via social media over the past four years, finally get together for coffee. But their long anticipated “face to face” meeting reaps surprising consequences now that truthful and dramatic changes in each of their lives are revealed. Can this long time relationship survive?
LA Weekly-
Recommended
Back Stage-
Somewhat Recommended
Eye Spy LA-
Recommended
ArtsBeatLA-
Recommended
LifeInLA-
Recommended
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, THE MIRACLE WORKER is the true-life story of young Helen Keller, blind and deaf, and her struggle to overcome adversity with the help of an extraordinary teacher who taught her to communicate with the world. A miraculous story of determination, hope and love.
LA Weekly-
Recommended
Broadway World-
Recommended
Stage Scene LA-
Somewhat Recommended
BlogCritics.org-
Recommended
ArtsBeatLA-
Recommended
LifeInLA-
Recommended
Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman star in ANNAPURNA, written by Sharr White and directed by Bart DeLorenzo. After twenty years apart, Emma tracks Ulysses to a trailer park in the middle of nowhere for a final reckoning. What unfolds is a visceral, profound and sometimes funny meditation on love and loss with the simplest of theatrical elements: two people in one room.
Los Angeles Times-
Recommended
Variety-
Recommended
LA Weekly-
Recommended
Edge-
Recommended
Stage and Cinema-
Recommended
The Hollywood Reporter-
Somewhat Recommended
StageHappenings.com-
Recommended
ArtsBeatLA-
Somewhat Recommended
Total Theater-
Recommended
Grigware Blogspot-
Recommended
A great story, made even better! Alex Lyras stars in the Los Angeles premiere of Mike Daisy’s The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs in an update revised by the author that is “ethically made” and packs an even more powerful punch. Daisey’s powerful monologue examines the controversy of globalization through the rise and fall and resurrection of Apple, illuminating how Apple’s former CEO and his obsessions shape our lives. It follows the trail all the way to China to investigate the factories where millions toil to make iPhones and iPads, and shines a light on the human price we pay for our high-tech toys. “Anyone with a cell phone and a moral center should see this show.” – The New York Times
LA Weekly-
Not Recommended
Santa Monica Mirror-
Recommended
Stage and Cinema-
Recommended
Eye Spy LA-
Recommended
Examiner-
Recommended
BlogCritics.org-
Recommended
Neon Tommy-
Recommended
Thespian Thoughts-
Recommended
Working Authur-
Recommended
LifeInLA-
Recommended
I’m Not Rappaport (1985) is set in New York’s Central Park, where Midge, an African American man and Nat, a Jewish man, both elderly, meet and slowly develop a friendship. Midge has been a custodian in his building for many, many years and may face the prospect of soon losing his job. Nat, an old-school leftist who manipulates people by changing identities and affiliations as casually as most people change their clothes, decides to do something about it, despite Midge’s reservations. They’re not alone in the park. There’s a lovely young artist, Laurie, whom the men befriend. There’s Gilley, a kid with a knife running a protection racket. And there’s a far more dangerous character, The Cowboy, the drug connection to whom Laurie is deeply in debt and who plans to do Laurie great bodily harm if she can’t pay her bill. When Nat and Midge attempt to intercede on Laurie’s behalf, they are placing themselves in deadly danger. Can Nat and Midge, so very different, ever really become close friends? Who is Nat, really? (Who he says he is keeps changing.) Will Midge be evicted? Will Laurie, Nat and Midge get themselves killed?
LA Weekly-
Somewhat Recommended
Broadway World-
Recommended
LA Splash-
Recommended
StageHappenings.com-
Recommended
Examiner-
Recommended
“The Rainmaker” focuses largely on the fate of Lizzie, who
lives on a family farm with her brothers and father in the Dust Bowl during
the Depression. She capably takes care of the men in her house, but there’s
an emptiness in her life. She has no one of her own, and she dreams of a
husband and children. A visit to her cousins, actually a failing attempt to
find a prospective mate, has left her more frustrated than ever. The
recurrent reminders that she is considered “plain” by her family and
herself do not relieve her fears of winding up as the “maiden aunt.”
The Curry farm, like all those around them, is impacted by a
withering and persistent drought. Suddenly, a charismatic stranger named
Starbuck appears, claiming that he can make the clouds come and the rains
fall. “The Rainmaker” is about love, desire and magic, and expresses
these themes so resonantly that the play has been translated into forty
languages since it premiered on Broadway in 1954.
Los Angeles Times-
Recommended
LA Weekly-
Somewhat Recommended
Back Stage-
Somewhat Recommended
LA Splash-
Recommended
Stage Scene LA-
Recommended
StageHappenings.com-
Recommended
Examiner-
Recommended
Huffington Post-
Recommended
HOT CAT is an original play created with the unique talents of Theatre Movement Bazaar, featuring performers from Theatre of NOTE’s ensemble, using a synthesis of dance and theatre, a mixture of comedy and philosophy to create an original and proactive theatrical experience.
Los Angeles Times-
Recommended
LA Weekly-
Recommended
Stage and Cinema-
Somewhat Recommended
ArtsBeatLA-
Recommended
Trainspotting – Disturbing. Gruesome. Funny. Mark Renton and his mates Sick Boy, Tommy and Begbie embark on a horrific journey to the heart of a world peopled by psychos, junkies and drunk Scottish fathers. Entertaining and shocking in equal measure, Harry Gibson's stage adaptation of Irvine Welsh's cult novel charts the harrowing, but at times hilarious, disintegration of their friendship as they hurtle towards self-destruction.
Back Stage-
Recommended
Edge-
Somewhat Recommended
Stage and Cinema-
Recommended
Eye Spy LA-
Recommended
LA Splash-
Not Recommended
CurtainUp-
Recommended
BlogCritics.org-
Recommended
Neon Tommy-
Recommended
Working Authur-
Recommended
LifeInLA-
Recommended
