Los Angeles Times - Highly Recommended
"..."West Adams" launches the Skylight Theatre's season of three plays from SkyLAb, an innovative residency program that fosters new plays written by company members. It's a brilliant debut that bodes well for the rest of the season."
Broadway World - Recommended
"...The 85-minute show moves at a fair clip under Michael A. Shepperd's (ROTTERDAM) direction, though he might consider reining his performers in once in a while. While WEST ADAMS starts off a little uneven, Lowder and Shepperd help it find balance, and in the end is quietly and disconcertingly powerful."
LA Splash - Recommended
"...WEST ADAMS rapidly morphs into an aggressive study on black vs. white, Americans vs. "others," and - ultimately - right vs. wrong. Director Shepperd does a superb job of shifting gears as a fun-filled celebration turns into a life-and-death struggle with no holds barred. The talented cast eagerly enters into the battle with ferocious antagonism that rapidly devolves into an assaultive onslaught on the enemy. Attacking timely issues like race, class, gentrification, and immigration, WEST ADAMS is certainly a thought-provoking study of people caught in the cross-hairs."
Stage Scene LA - Not Recommended
"...West Adams may have been awarded more than a few rave reviews, but on a purely objective note, I've rarely heard such brief, muted applause at the end of a production where one might expect to hear cheers. Perhaps audience members' lack of enthusiasm had to do with not wanting to reward West Adams' repugnant characters with too much love. For this reviewer, at least, the reason was far more simple."
Hollywood Progressive - Highly Recommended
"...If the playwright can end her warning with a quote from neo-Nazis, please permit your humble scribe to close with a quotation from Black Panther Fred Hampton: "You don't fight racism with racism. We're gonna fight racism with SOLIDARITY!" Don't miss West Adams, must- see theatre at its finest and most relevant."
Stage Raw - Somewhat Recommended
"...But while the play is on target, the performances (so far, that is, I saw this on opening night) are less so. Striving for a crisp tone and a fleet pace, Shepperd and crew haven't yet shaped these characters with enough nuance or dimension. Both Farris as the unlikable, self-centered Mike, and Baggs as the more sensitive foil Edward, serve the play's themes but haven't a life of their own. Soo, a performer who excels in projecting entitlement (as she did in Echo Theater Company's production of Gloria by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' in 2018) brings a little more texture to the guileful Julie, but I still wanted more. Only Allison, whose Sarah parades her pregnancy while telepathing the instincts of a toothsome shark, really owns her role."
Theatre Notes - Recommended
"...In degrees, the racial bias grows, and it grows ever uglier. The laughs turn bitterly ironic, or are of the "I-can't-believe-they-are-actually-saying-and-doing-these-things" ilk. The audience in the auditorium groans, or responds vocally. On stage, the two couples start to feud between themselves. The audience has to laugh at the absurdity of what is shown them. The action is painful to see and hear. My heart clenches at the memory of it as I write this. Some of the nastiest racial tropes emerge. Sadly, this is a play of our times. As painful as it is to watch, this extraordinary play must be seen. The laughter generated by this black comedy, what laughter there is, is a painful release from the ultimate grimness onstage."