Harnessing the flair of two iconic playwrights, Pacific Resident Theatre delights in offering a pair of meaty dark comedies beginning September 24. A retrospective of two early one acts, both first produced in 1960, the plays will run in tandem. Tony Award winners Edward Albee and Harold Pinter, who have left indelible marks in world theatre, give voice to the outlandish and amusing behavior of humans.

Revolt is afoot at Manor Farm, when downtrodden beasts of burden rise-up against the cruel Farmer Jones. But self-ruled animal utopia quickly gives way to the temptations of power and privilege in Peter Hall's fast-moving musical adaptation of George Orwell's savage satire.

Abby has been discovering new talent since the '90s, when she became the right hand to A&R ("Artists & Repertoire") legend Gus. Together, they signed big bands, loved, fought and lived hard. It was the best kind of work marriage-at least that's how Abby sees it. That is until Gen Z Kaitlin shows up, hell bent on showing these old rockers it's 2022, and there's a new generation hell-bent on changing the world. Evolve or die. Who goes down?

Banjo Eyes with Mascara will have its World Premiere engagement at the air-conditioned Whitefire Theater in Sherman Oaks. In this musical memoir directed by Kay Cole (originator of Maggie on Broadway in A Chorus Line), the multi talented Amanda Gari will be backed by the Andy Howe Trio in a multi-media production. The title is inspired by the nickname for her grandfather Eddie Cantor, whom she bore a resemblance to in childhood. The show features memorable stories about growing up around legends including her artist father, whose famous painting of Judy Garland hung in the lobby of the Palace Theater for decades. Energetic and emotional medleys inspired by the four times she portrayed Garland and her favorite musical "Gypsy" highlight the production.

Richard Kalvar crossed a line. He did something he never thought he would do; and then something happened. It must have, because things no longer make sense. Rich has lost his bearings. Can Detective Mike Salcedo help him piece together the weird, passionate, hilarious fragments of his shattered life and make sense of them again? Can Kalvar regain his bearings?

All the books Sabrina reads to her son, Tramarion, start off with a tragedy but then the young protagonists are made whole. Little does she know that Tramarion's life is heading in the opposite direction. When Tramarion is gunned down in a parking lot by a cop who thinks the trophy in the 14 year old's hand is a gun, Sabrina sinks into inconsolable grief. She balks at the expectation that she present her grief for the public as a rallying call. When Sabrina does not make a public appearance the talking heads question her motives. "The mothers always go to the rally. Isn't it, like, some kind of protocol?"

This brand new Norm Foster play tells the story of two house painters, Dick and Mello, who land a job painting a room in the basement of recently-widowed Zoe Craig's home. Zoe's husband died in the room when he 'accidentally' fell into a stand of fireplace implements and suffered a severe head trauma, and now Zoe is looking to turn the room into a rental cash cow. The house painters think this is just another job until Zoe's nosy neighbor stops by and plants doubt in the painter's minds as to what really happened to the Widow Craig's clumsy spouse. A Clean Brush marks the 6th Norm Foster play Theatre 40 has produced and it promises to keep you laughing from start to finish...or until the paint is fully dry.

Latino Theater Company partners with Native Voices at the Autry, the only Actors' Equity theater company in the country dedicated to developing and producing new plays by Native artists, to present a haunting and lyrical rumination on identity, family and colonialism over generations by Lily Rushing. When 18-year-old Carrie moves in with her grandmother, she is thrown into a world of memory and mystery that unearths her family's Genízaro identity - shining a light on a dark, bloody and little-known period in the history of the American Southwest.

Experience pro wrestling in a whole new light - or perhaps for the first time - in Kristoffer Diaz's Pulitzer Prize-nominated play. Chad Deity follows the life of wrestler Macedonio Guerra. As a lifelong fan, he has followed wrestling only to become a "jobber," one who is paid to lose to bigger-name stars in the ring. Macedonio meets Vigneshwar Paduar, and together they find a way to push it to the limit and say what needs to be said. But will it finally get Mace his big shot at Chad Deity himself? Unspoken racism, politics, and courage are all woven into this play that leaves it all on the mat.

Antaeus Theatre Company presents the Los Angeles premiere of Everybody, a funny, provocative and very modern riff on a 15th-century morality play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. This is the story of us all, as we journey through life's greatest mystery-the meaning of living. Representing the randomness of life and death, some of the cast are assigned roles by lottery during the show, creating a unique viewing experience each night.

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents acclaimed British director Richard Eyre's stunning new adaptation of Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. Eyre illuminates Ibsen's masterpiece, seen as a scandalous work when it was first performed in 1892, with fresh poetry and dark humor. As widow Helene Alving tries to start her life anew after the death of her philandering husband, she must confront the ghosts of the past and the weight of her own secrets. She is determined that her son will not follow in his father's footsteps, but when Oswald returns from France, she discovers that she may be too late.

Veralynn Jackson knows hair, her neighborhood, and that the invention of the Jheri Curl marks the end of the world. When she takes a job in Mr. Kim's Korean-owned Black beauty supply store and the posters start talking to her, Veralynn might finally come to know her true calling. South Side Chicago meets South Korea in this heartfelt play where a business partnership and a touch of magical realism bring these two unlikely friends closer to understanding themselves and each other.

Obie Award-winning playwright Samuel D. Hunter navigates complex terrain into gay conversion therapy. Walt has devoted his life to "curing" gay teenage boys but his previously unwavering moral compass no longer points one way. How does one find their true north?

HAMILTON is the story of America's Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington's right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the new nation's first Treasury Secretary. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway, HAMILTON is the story of America then, as told by America now.

I Never Sang For My Father by award-winning author Robert Anderson, directed by Doug Kaback, is an American classic that exposes the painful truths of the relationship between a gentle mother, a dutiful son, an alienated daughter, and their harsh, detached father. Family dynamics unravel as they are forced to face the past in this beautifully crafted drama. At heart a drama about survival, I Never Sang For My Father pits father against son in the struggle to live independently in the face of death and aging. Reflected in the relationship are conflicting influences of the two characters times.

In contemporary Manhattan, Eric and Toby are 30-somethings who seem to be very much in love and thriving. But on the cusp of their engagement, they meet an older man haunted by the past, and a younger man hungry for a future. Chance meetings lead to surprising choices as the lives of three generations interlink and collide-with explosive results.

Joy, love, heartache, strength, wisdom, catharsis, LIFE-everything we've been waiting to see in a Broadway show- is here in the exhilarating, fearless new musical based on Alanis Morissette's world-changing music. This electrifying production about a perfectly imperfect American family "vaults the audience to its collective feet" (The Guardian). "Redemptive, rousing and real, JAGGED LITTLE PILL stands alongside the original musicals that have sustained the best hopes of Broadway." (The New York Times)

The lakeside rental Veronica has managed to afford is a far cry from the idyllic getaway she and her children so desperately need and the disheveled property owner Hogan has problems of his own. Problems that Veronica is inevitably and irrevocably pulled into. An engrossing and revealing portrait of two strangers bound together by circumstance, Lost Lake is a vivid play about the struggle for connection in an imperfect world.

Lucia is trapped in an impossible situation. Her abusive brother hates the man she loves. Worse, he's forcing her to marry someone else in a last-ditch effort to shore up the family's failing finances. Her only way out seems to be murder... Donizetti's gorgeously moody score masterfully conveys Lucia's isolation and instability as she slips into a terrifying world of madness. Two extraordinary sopranos who launched their careers at LA Opera will take on the iconic title role: Amanda Woodbury, who's now a star at the Metropolitan Opera, and Liv Redpath, who'll sing Lucia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin this year.

Shakespeare's buoyant comedy, re-set in 1950s small-town America to a score of rockin' '50s tunes. When opportunistic schemer and womanizer John Falstaff blows into town on his Harley and tries to woo two wealthy women at once, the townspeople gleefully plot his comeuppance. Things might seem picture perfect in "Small Town U.S.A"... but just underneath the surface, the fight for women's rights has begun in full force.

Theatricum returns with its signature production, an annual event infusing Shakespeare's beautiful language with music and song to heighten the pleasure. The most magical outdoor setting in Los Angeles is once again transformed into an enchanted forest inhabited by lovers both fairy and human. Shakespeare conjures a world of wonder, magic and romance where comical misunderstandings and the pain of unrequited love are resolved, and all is reconciled through midsummer night revelries and the enduring power of nature.

NIGHT WATCH, perhaps best known as the 1973 feature film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey, is an ingeniously devised thriller which builds steadily in menace and suspense until the final, breath-stopping moment. Unable to sleep, Elaine Wheeler paces the living room of her Manhattan townhouse, troubled by unsettling memories and vague fears. The mystery begins when Elaine observes one corpse, and then another in the building opposite her home. But when police detectives are called in to investigate, they can find not a shred of evidence nor discover any bodies. And although Elaine insists that she saw what she saw, continuous suspicions arise as she begins to drive herself and everyone around her to their emotional limits; including her husband John, her best friend Blanche, and her maid, Helga. As they all become concerned with Elaine's sanity, a famed psychiatrist is summoned to evaluate her and the unsettling circumstances at play. Will plans be made for Elaine to be sent to a sanitarium in Switzerland? Or will a supposed killer strike again? Who knows... perhaps even Elaine's life is in deadly danger?

Nunsense is a hilarious spoof about the misadventures of five nuns trying to manage a fundraiser. Sadly, the rest of the sisterhood died from botulism after eating vichyssoise prepared by Sister Julia Child of God. Thus, the remaining nuns - ballet-loving Sister Leo, street-wise Sister Robert Anne, befuddled Sister Mary Amnesia, the Mother Superior Sister Regina, and mistress of the novices Sister Mary Hubert - stage a talent show in order to raise the money to bury their dearly departed. With catchy songs and irreverent comedy, Nunsense is sure to keep audiences rolling with laughter.

Stripped down to reveal the darker psychological truths at its core, Daniel Fish's production tells a story of a community circling its wagons against an outsider, and the frontier life that shaped America. Upending the sunny romance of a farmer and a cowpoke, this OKLAHOMA! allows the classic musical - and our country - to be seen in a whole new light.

RENT tells the story of a group of young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village in the thriving days of bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. Ultimately, they learn to celebrate life and love, and to live as if there is "No Day But Today."

From Pulitzer Prize-winner Martyna Majok (Cost of Living) comes a provocative, unforgettable story of two life-long friends, their tenuous grip on living in America, and persevering through whatever comes their way with wit and grit. Profoundly human and undeniably universal, it begs the question: how much do we owe to one another?

Weaving together the seemingly disparate tales of a punk-rock rebel, wealthy Californian socialites, and feminist reactionaries in search of aliens, Emmy Award winner Jane Wagner's beloved play, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, is a hilarious and timeless play about what makes us human. Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Live cast member Cecily Strong stars in this 90-minute, one-woman show originally written for Lily Tomlin that has audiences, "rooting for her from the get-go..." You may not need to travel across the cosmos to find meaning and hope in life here on Earth.

The Secret Comedy of Women celebrates the joys of the journey from girlhood to womanhood. An immersive theatrical experience that rejoices in the challenges of being a woman - from boys to bras and pantyhose to menopause - this two-woman show explores the universal female experience through a rollicking spectacle of sweetly sharp comedy, songs, dances, stories, and spontaneous moments of discovery that all women share.

What could possibly come of the strange collaboration between a tiny, six-legged creature whose ancestors walked with the dinosaurs, and an overworked, overwrought newspaper man in New York City? Adapted for the stage by Dan Gilvezan, the world premiere of The Secret World of Archy & Mehitabel brings the beloved New York Evening Sun columns by journalist Don Marquis to life.

Based on true events, Silent Sky is a stirring portrayal of the life of Henrietta Leavitt, an early 20th Century astronomer and scientific pioneer whose discoveries have profoundly affected the ways in which we understand the universe. She battles sexism, as men try to claim credit for her discoveries. Her devotion to her work faces a challenge when she falls in love.

Inspired by the real-life story of Robert Smalls, who escaped slavery to become an American hero, Trouble the Water navigates the rich tributaries of courage, betrayal and redemption. Freely adapted by Ellen Geer from the 2019 award-winning historical novel by Rebecca Dwight Bruff and directed by Gerald C. Rivers.

The Groundlings Sunday Company are upping the ante with their newest sketch comedy show "Viva Las Sunday." You'll be sure to lose your poker face when the Sunday Company takes the stage for a night of fun, fabulous comedy. Each night, the newest talent from the top level of the Groundlings School will prepare a new sketch show where laughter is a sure-fire bet. Celebrate the night like you're in Sin City, because what happens at the Groundlings, stays at the Groundlings.

Forty-one years after its premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre, Academy Award-winning writer Ernest Thompson (On Golden Pond) has deconstructed his script for The West Side Waltz. In the world premiere of Thompson's newly revised, music and heart-filled comedy set during the tumultuous '80s, Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer; her sister, Melora Marshall; and daughter Willow Geer take on the roles of an aging concert pianist, her violin-playing spinster neighbor, and a would-be actress on New York's Upper West Side.

A thrilling revival of Andrew Lippa's WILD PARTY promises to take audiences on a non-stop emotional journey to the fraught and (seemingly) fantastic 1920s. Sizzling jazz, emotional anthems and contemporary music combine to pull audiences into a world of careless, conflicted characters pushed to their limits. Love and longing, lawlessness and lust, and risk and revenge drive mysterious strangers, vaudevillian lovers, and friends who live on the edges of a seemingly glamorous and freewheeling age together for one debauched night. THE WILD PARTY shows how the roaring 20s of this century and the last still have a lot in common, asking audiences "how did we come to this?"

It's Alive! (And it's even more hilarious than ever!) From the creators of the record-breaking Broadway sensation, The Producers, we bring you legendary actress, Sally Struthers ("All In The Family," "Gilmore Girls") starring as "Frau Blücher" in the Southern California Premiere production of the newly revised, London version of this monstrously entertaining musical comedy. This electrifying musical stage adaptation of Mel Brooks' brilliantly funny film will leave you in stitches! Frederick Frankenstein, grandson of the infamous inventor Doctor Frankenstein, reluctantly inherits the family estate in Transylvania. With the help of a hunchbacked sidekick named Igor and lab assistant Inga, Frederick finds himself following in the mad-scientist tradition of his ancestor, creating a monster for this century. When the monster escapes, hilarity abounds. London reviewers called it "a love letter to American vaudeville" and "an evening of gloriously impure fun."