“Nine Winning One-Acts,” written by Laura Shamas, David Robinette, Rich Orloff, Josh Nason, John Franceschini, Kent R. Brown, Lawson Caldwell and Uma Incrocci
“Nine Winning One-Acts” runs through May 20, Saturdays at 2 PM; Sundays at 7 PM Upstairs at the Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre.
The Group Rep presents its second annual One Acts event. From 150 national submissions, the good people of The Group Rep chose nine to produce and it’s very hard for me to choose a favorite, they are all so hilarious, poignant, clever, heart-rending and brilliantly performed.
From suicide to runaway bride, ghost stories to gay sons and accidental blind dates to wonderful weirdos and long-lost parents.
There’s really such a glorious variety here. Often theatres will put up selections of shorts that are good, but too similar. I get home and can’t really differentiate from one play to the next. But The Group Rep has very cleverly picked these wonderful pieces to compliment each other yes, but more importantly, to give us a brilliant cross-section of subjects, voices, tones and themes that really is sublime.
When a play opens with two people standing on a table with nooses around their necks and irony in their hearts you know it’s going to be a good night!
Every single actor is brilliant of course, I would expect nothing less from The Group Rep, but I have to say the material really is exceptionally good.
It’s a wonderful idea, to bring new work from new playwrights from all over the country to Los Angeles. I can only hope that some of these talents make it to LA to see their work on stage. I know there was one playwright in the audience when I was there, it must have been such a thrill!
I’m a big fan of short plays, like the perfect short story, brilliant 45, or cut to the bone haiku, a short play can give the playwright the license to encapsulate, the excuse to shrug off exposition and the freedom to tell the heart of the story and allow the actors to focus on the essentials and strip away any ambiguity. The audience can really see the forest and the trees if given the opportunity that really good short plays allow…and these shorts and this theatre group does this all particularly well…bravo!
It’s not a long run, just over a month, so don’t dawdle. I highly recommend “Nine Winning Shorts” by The Group Rep.
Running from April 14 through May 20, Saturdays at 2PM; Sundays at 7PM
Upstairs at The Group Rep in the Lonny Chapman Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, 91601
Cast:
Robert Axelrod, Katelyn Ann Clark, Stephanie Colet, Julie Davis, Andrew Diego, Deborah Dominguez, Diane Frank, Deanna Gandey,
Doug Haverty, Kevin Hoffman, Ken Ivy, Brad Kahn, John Ledley,
Kaylena Mann, Robert McCollum, Lisa McGee-Mann, Sherry Michaels,
Nick Paonessa, Lloyd Pedersen, Savannah Schoenecker, Paul Sobrepena, Vesna Tolomanoska and Nathaniel Vogel.
Directors: Jules Aaron, Larry Margo, Linda Alznauer, Katelyn Ann Clark, Brent Beerman, Larry Eisenberg, Patricia Lee Willson, Susan Lee, and Helen O’Brien.