Small Engine Repair at Theatre/Theater

Small Engine Repair

Theatre/Theater
5041 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles

This darkly comic drama charts three working class friends in Manchester, New Hampshire as they reunite for an evening of drinking, fighting and reminiscing. A stunning revelation quickly shifts the course of action, while testing the friendships and instigating a dangerous confrontation.

Presented by Rogue Machine

Thru - Jun 10, 2011

Price: $15-$25

Show Type: Dark Comedy

Box Office: 800-838-3006

www.roguemachinetheatre.com

Small Engine Repair Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Los Angeles Times - Highly Recommended

"...In a sequence of horrific, grotesque and comic twists, persuasively directed by Andrew Block, every passing remark becomes significant. The actors take their characters so far beyond type that they can even, refreshingly for dramatis personae, laugh at themselves. What first seems like a theatrical version of Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" or Nickelback's "Photograph" (middle-aged men acknowledging the pathos of their own nostalgia) turns into a stunning investigation of classism, sexism, the lonely joys and terrors of bringing up a child, and the limits and possibilities of friendship."

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- Margaret Gray

LA Weekly - Highly Recommended

"...Pollono's script is an exquisitely modulated gem, gripping the viewer with a storyline that is both shocking and sobering in its commentary on modern interactions in the technological age. Director Andrew Block extracts such realistic performances from his cast that we almost forget we are watching a play, as the appalling action unfolds mere inches away."

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- Pauline Adamek

Backstage - Highly Recommended

"...John Pollono's gritty dark comedy, set in a machine-repair shop in sleepy Manchester, N.H., cannily pulls the wool over the audience's eyes. What starts out seeming like David Mamet lite-a comedic bromance charting the testosterone-charged reunion of three 30-something pals-takes a startling turn. It would be unconscionable to spoil the surprises. Let's simply say there's much more than gears and pistons churning in this greasy repair shop. Director Andrew Block's pitch-perfect world-premiere staging packs a potent punch."

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- Les Spindle

Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended

"...It isn't easy to review the world-premiere one-act Small Engine Repair without giving it all away. Because what is really good about the piece, and what is questionable about it, all fall under the heading of spoilers."

- Sharon Perlmutter

Stage and Cinema - Recommended

"...Most of Small Engine Repair feels raw and unfinished, but it has an energy that eludes more polished productions of more studiedly articulate plays."

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- Harvey Perr

StageHappenings.com - Highly Recommended

"...Perhaps the most striking accomplishment occurs once we have left the theatre and issues such as internet abuse, past mistakes and the tenuousness of friendship haunts our psyche, forcing us to examine our own misuse of technology. At what price are we willing to destroy the very art of socializing that this electronic purgatory purports to support' Small Engine Repair may be short in length, but the themes are huge. Perhaps the engine that needs repairing is the most complicated of them all – the human heart."

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- Tony Frankel

This show has been Jeff Recommended*

*The designation of "Jeff Recommended" is given to a production when at least ONE ELEMENT of the show was deemed outstanding by the Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee.

Small Engine Repair at Theatre/Theater