BACK STAGE WEST

February 28, 2002   

        

THE WICKED STAGE

 

by Rob Kendt

                 

Another coup for Evidence Room, which, until the Taper opens its Culver City second stage, may be L.A.'s de facto alternative regional theatre: After the acclaimed run of John Steppling's Dog Mouth, closing this weekend, the folks there wil begin work on David Edgar's Pentecost, in its local premiere. An ambitious 17-hander with 11 languages spoken onstage, its themes--about how the post-Cold War vacuum has been filled all too quickly by reactionary forces on all sides--couldn't be more timely. In the lead is smart, nervy Leo Marks, so moving in last year's Three Days of Rain at the same space.

 

¥ Genius director David Schweizer pulls a one-two punch with David Hare's The Blue Room opening Mar. 8 at the Pasadena Playhouse and He Hunts, Philip Littell's new translation of Feydeau's Monsieur Chasse (with Megan Mullally in talks to star), opening Apr. 9 at the Geffen. Schweizer, who has a kinetic imagination and impeccably bold tastes, has worked in L.A. mostly at 99-seaters like Evidence Room, Actors' Gang, and the Tiffany. When two offers from major LORT houses at either end of L.A. came in at the same, he reportedly felt he couldn't turn them down. When it rains it pours.

 

¥ Another adaptation of a classic, Luis Alfaro's Electricidad--billed as a "Chicano take on Sophocles' Electra"--will receive a reading as a fundraiser for Playwrights' Arena, Jon Lawrence Rivera's scribe-championing company, at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, where last year Rivera staged a memorable local premiere of Alfaro's Bitter Homes and Gardens. That's Mar. 10 at 5 p.m.; you can call (213) 485-1631.

 

¥ Another double-booked artist: The versatile Ron Campbell is currently rehearsing two Shylocks at San Diego Rep: One for The Merchant of Venice and one for Mark Leiren-Young's solo play Shylock, which envisions a contentious post-play discussion after a production of Merchant that's been cancelled due to controversy about its portrayal of the bitter moneylender who demands a pound of flesh. Cumulatively, Campbell should deliver tons of soulful, hilarious work in this diptych, which will play in rep. Merchant opens Mar. 1, Shylock Mar. 19.

 

¥ Finally, the radio players of L.A. TheatreWorks switch to KPCC, the Pasadena-based public-radio mainstay, on Mar. 2 with a production of True West featuring Alfred Molina, Frances Guinan, and Charlotte Rae, after years of airing on Santa Monica-based KCRW. As an inveterate Eastsider myself, I couldn't be happier.