Romeo and Juliet: Time Enough for Love at Open Fist

 

 

Alan Blumenfeld and Katherine James
Photo by John Dlugolecki

 It's pretty brave to futz with the Bard.  In Open Fist's World Premiere of production of Romeo and Juliet: Time Enough for Love by William Shakespeare; Conceived and directed by Christian Lebano,.. we encounter some far out changes.. The language is still abroad, but the setting  in modern times:  Box Set at a swanky South Florida retirement community:  Verona Village on a set designed by Mr. Lebano we set our scene  The Playbill features a pitch for the opportunity to become a VV resident.  They even have a Drama Club!

The opening sonnet by Abram (Allana Barton) struggles a bit after a brief scuffle and swordplay  performed by Montegue retainers Sampson (Richard Van Slyke) and Gregory (Daniel Lench)  foreshadowing the tussle between the  houses of the Montagues and the Capulets.  .. Two houses both alike in dignity?  We shall see. 

The text, such as it has been.. is present.  The business of who's who flies asunder.  Names are the same? But some few of the characters have changed.      It's Juliet's children that now insist on proper cnduct.

The premise of how Old Folks may fall in love teeters. Alan Blumenfeld as Romeo brings not so much the heat of passion but something imagined from another time. However, at times, he tears a passion to tatters!!  The Balcony Scene that many students  may recite from memory takes on new feelings as we fear for Romeo's encounter with the orchard walls. Lovely and a bit frail Juliet (Katherine James)  mirrors Blemenfeld stroke for stroke.  They meet again  later on the balcony with a questionable moment... 

Juliet flashes Romeo! 

Switching genders fromTybalt to MS! Tybalt (Barbara Schofield) is just wrong.  It changes  the motivation of Tybalt's macho bravado: the original conflict with  Mercrutio (Hutchins Foster).  

What Mr. Lebano has done with this unfortunate switch has created an improbable moment.  The swordplay is key to what happens for the next two hours.   Tybalt challenges Mercrutio.  Romeo tries to intervene.  Tybalt kills Mercrution and then Romeo's revenge! .  As attendants bring in a collapsable gurney to haul off the considerable luggage known as MS Tybalt..  The staging is simply awkward.

Shakespeare scholars might question the change ups of ages and genders..   Perhaps, to be moved off of our traditional ideas to allow reflective meditations on familiar text and to see how  love may ingnite us at any age is interestng. However, these changed perspectives have real difficulty expanding the basic themes.   I'd champion an all female R and J?  Or an all males??  As in the original?

Romeo and Juliet is certainly about love.. But, it turns on masculinity and honor and how ego and a family's stature in the community matters.   

Is our fate written in the stars? Or?  do we have free will to decide for ourselves our own  fate?  I chose to review this play!  Or..Am I fortune's fool!

Suffice it to say that this effort and Mr. Lebano's revison of what was originally a pretty good piece of theatre is An Extrememly Noble Effort.   Caps mine.

Supporting Exective Director Martha Demson and The Open Fist:    Encouraging theatre goers to see this show comes with the idea that it truly  deserves an audience.  It deserves discussion. The plight of Senior Citizens as active and loving human beingss is at its core.  Familiarize yourself with the basic plot.  Leave your critic hat at home.. 

Find the pony!!

Cast

The Montagues

Romeo.................................................................. Alan Blumenfeld

Montague.................................................................................. Sam Bennett

Mercutio.............................................................................. Hutchins Foster

Benvolio........................................................................... Stephen Rockwell

Sampson.......................................................................... Richard Van Slyke

Gregory.................................................................................... 

 

The Capulets

Juliet................................................................................... Katherine James

Capulet....................................................................................... Sam Cowan

Lady Capulet............................................................................ Natalia Jofre

Nurse....................................................................................... Emma Fassler

Ms. Tybalt........................................................................ Barbara Schofield

Ms. Abram.............................................................................. Allana Barton

Pedro/Featured Dancer................................................... Sebastian Senatore

Paris............................................................................................ Paul Ganus

Paris’ Aide/Featured Dancer............................................... Maliyah Tejada

=

Verona Village Staff

Ms. Prince, Director of Verona Village......................... Melanie Rockwell

Father Lawrence, Resident Chaplin........................................ James Fowler

Head of Security.......................................................................... Luke Bolle

Pastor Joan/Aide/Cater Waiter #2/Security #20.................. Gabriela Grant
Apothecary/Security #3/Aide................................................... Elijah Reyes

Aide/Cater Waiter #3............................................................... Abbs Stoiber

Crew:

Scenic design by Lebano and Destiny Kast, lighting design by Dan Weingarten, sound design by Christopher Moscatiello and costume design by Vicki Conrad. The choreographer is Melissa Schade, assisted by Elle Engelman, and fight choreography is by Charles Currier. Original music is composed by Sean Paxton. The assistant director is Richard Van Slyke and the production stage manager is John Dimitri. Lebano produces for Open Fist Theatre Company alongside associate producers Estelle Campbell and Bethany Koulias

Press Relations for Theatre 

Lucy Pollak 

 Romeo and Juliet Time Enough for Love by William Shakespeare adapted and directed by Christian Lebano

Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
• Free parking is available in the ATX (Atwater Crossing) lot one block south of the theater.

TICKETS:
Previews: $10
Performances: $26–$45

 Nov. 8–Dec. 19
Previews: Nov. 8, Nov. 11, Nov. 12
• Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday at 7:30 p.m.\
Performances: Nov. 13–Dec. 19
• Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.: Dec. 3, Dec. 10 and Dec. 17 only
• Fridays at 7:30 p.m.: Nov. 13, Nov. 20, Nov. 27, Dec. 11, Dec 18 (dark Dec. 4)
• Saturdays at 4 p.m. Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and Dec. 19 only
• Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14, Nov. 21 and Dec. 12 only
• Sundays at 2 p.m.: Nov. 15, Nov. 22, Nov. 29, Dec. 6, Dec. 13
• Mondays at 7:30 p.m.: Nov. 23, Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 only

 

 

   

WHAT MIGHT THIS BE RORSCHACH AT THE SKYLIGHT WORLD PREMIERE

What is a perfect play?  Do you have one?  I go back to Saroyan's The Time of Your Life.. The film with James Cagney and productions over the years.  To me..  it is all the stuff that keeps the audience informed and engaged.

Kelly Younger's World Premiere of   Rorschach was cast by Victoria Hoffman.  I had a moment to re-connect with her before the curtain and wanted to share her credit at the top of this critique because she and the director, Cameron Watson,  found their terrific cast and molded them into their characters in such a way that  the cast did their jobs with aplomb.     

Really.. 

When a theatre piece as complicated as this play is on many levels comes together with the combined skills of the text, the theme (lots of love) and substance, that's an accomplishment.   If any Art moves us.. draws us in ..or repels us?  Then the art is successful.  This play.. evidently a favorite for Mr. Watson for almost twenty years!! Has all the elements that .. when met.. create the bond between the audience and the story.  

The Story? 
Is it vital that you see this story?  Yes!   

 

Why see this show??   Well you may ask.  At tender moments in this production.. the silence may echo a sniffle.  Will I cop to a sniffle?  More than one time.. and the laughs are clever and to the credit of the big three: the Cast, the Director and the Playwright.. the Laughs are out loud . .

An Ink Blot??   What might this be?

Unlike the TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) that aids psychologists to probe the minds of clients.. Recognizable images in amorphous situtions,  Rorschach's Ink Blots provide a deeper dive, that, with trained skill can ferret out the subtle stuff that brought the client to counseling in the first place.

Based on heavy research, Kelly  Younger  builds a scenario on the appparent failure of Hermann Rorshach to be recognized for his often maligned theory.    Born in 1884..  Rorshach  (Mitch Ross)  came to science from art. A Swiss, Rorschach was convinced his 'way' could be ground breaking. He meets Emil (Paul Culos)  and.. The Magical Reality of the relationship of  each and all of the characters becomes central to the work of modern day PhD candidate Justin  (Elija McNally).  We meet Justin in a lecture hall. That's where we also meet Aimee (Carolina Rodriguez).  And, then. the magical coincidences.  They are manipulative and funny and warm and fill the check list of life and conflict and  the Hope of resolution and redemption. The story  unfolds in the most expert way that drama.. to me.. is supposed to unfold.

We meet the 'actor'  Olive (like the tree) Linzi Fenix and Dana (Tessa Hersh)  who bring another aspect of how Love finds a Way to the adventure.

Jared Sayeg's amazing tech and Tesshi Nakagawa's set are awe inspiring in spite of  some sight line issuess .. blame the  rake of the Skylight seating..   

'Twas ever thus.. and if, in time.. The Skylight adjusts their seating so that the seeing the whole play is more available to everyone.. that could be a wonderful improvement..  

Regardless, the tech transports us in wonderful ways.  Magic.

Six characters..  seven or eight if you count the sound and visuals..and the director's  invisible hand...  as the story unfolds a pace; we come to love and/or appreciate every single one.  

The  most dear and tender moments are genuine. The magical reality works. The device of Coming Together is superb. 

Cameraon Watson's first curtain speech..  as Artistic Director of the Skylight ..and.. I'm not big on curtain speeches.. was filled with the joy of what can be accomplished when like minds opt to make Important Art. 

I am not prone to gush about much of anything, But, Watson's magnetic and genuine Love of Theatre in his first curtain speech was so from the heart that if this was church, I'd convert.

Meanwhile.. 

What is Theatre supposed to do?  Inform? 

Excite? Involve?  Take us in and send us out full of feeling?  All of these.  And, it is so much fun to  be on board for this World Premiere that may be a revolutionary ride for  The Small Stage in the City of Los Angeles.  Bravo.  

CAST

•  Tessa Claire Hersh as Dana
•  Paul Culos as Emil
•  Linzi Fenix as Olive
•  Elijah McNally as Justin 
• Carolina Rodriguez as Aimee
• Mitch Ross as Hermann
  

.

CREW

Cameron Watson, Artistic Director; 

Nona Chiang, Executive Director; Christian Skinner and Cedes Sifuentes, Associate Producers). 

Director: Cameron Watson
Produced by Mason McCulley;

Scenic design by Tesshi Nakagawa

Lighting design by Jared Sayeg;

 Sound design by Jeff Gardner

Costume design by Kate Bergh;

Projection design by NicholasSantiago; 

Scenic painting by Angelene Storey;  Production stagemanager Letitia Chang.  

RORSCHACH

A World Premiere

By  Kelly Younger

Directed by Cameron Watson

Skylight Theatre 

(1816 1/2 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz, 

Los Angeles, CA 90027

• Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM
• Sunday at 2:00 PM 
  
• Through November 22, 2026
• Parking is difficult. Uber or other transportation advised
  

THE PETERSON SHOW at The Echo

 

The Peterson Show at The Echo in Atwater is a mixed bag of strong acting and a somewhat confusing script that turns on what has happened in the world of black sit com television over the years.  

In the talk back there was  a brief reference to the show 'Martin" and in the body of the play a scene where a spiked soft drink factored in.

Kudos to the set.

Truly professional with two large video monitors that factor in.   

Some of the dialogue was a little tough to understand, but the physical and emotional  dedication of the actors to the story, worked for me.

The unavoidable reference to Bill Cosby and the dominating voice of Mr. Peterson (never on stage)  brings the story home.. but..  but.. but...

We start in present day and after the act break wind up in the olden days.. and then..  we are .. to me .. all over the place.

Boosting the work of Chris Fields and the Echo Theatre Company is a goal. 

Dedicated cast and a terrific set with strong direction makes up a bit for the writing which left me a bit confused.

At The Atwater Village  Complex.//

The 

Most

Difficult

part of writing a reiew is the nuts and bolts of names and such.  As I was a guest at this performance.. I cut to the chase and post this link to the Echo for you to find out about the basics.. Support Local Theatre!

 

https://www.echotheatercompany.com/

 

If that does't highlight.. please copy and paste 

respectfully submitted

Michael Sheehan

onstagelosangeles

 

OPEN FIST PRESENTS MARISOL

At rise.. we are back in the 1990s.  Josè' Rivera's Obie Award winning play, Marisol, is steeped in absurd magical something.. Prescient and loaded with symbols that Rivera imagined?  Or, did he see the future?  The play won acclaim in 1993. 

Almost thirty years later, Marisol reappears  with questions that are now world wide.  Will the human race survive?  This is no longer a rhetorical question, is it? 

Taylor Scott and Jade Santana
Photo by John Dlugolecki

 

No clever  situations here. The laughs are ironic and warped with no simple conclusions.  What happens when your Guardian Angel (Taylor Scott) takes a powder!??  God's in failing health and there's some kind of Heavenly war?

"Logic's been executed by a firing squad!!"

And, as her world tumbles out of control, Marisol  (Jade Santana) desperately bargains with God..  "Dios Mio!"

  Director Amanda Weier waxes poetic about the script, comparing it to "a painting by Chagall..   Or? A  Banksy!" There may be an opportunity for Hieronymus Bosch lurking in the wings?

 Marisol presents an uneven challenge to both the cast and the audience.  The premise that a twenty six year old woman, Marisol Perez, has been murdered when here she is in what presents to be a literally moonless landscape where the poles of the Earth have flipped and life .. civilization is circling the drain?  It's not a lot of fun.

Was Rivera seeing the future? Is our world preparing for the end of life as we know it?  Thankfully, the playwright  finally shares a crack for some light to shine in. .But meanwhile, this production may be somewhat under represented in tone and presentation.   

Brad Bentz's stark design on the Open Fist's broad stage is dark; appropriaely foreboding.  The absurdity of the goings on  permeating the story line is more realistic than the bizarre foundation of the theme.  Should madness  beget madness?

Opening Night Audience was responsive and the optimism at the climax of the play is welcome.  

Please see this production and weigh in.  It is an honest effort over all..

Cast

Jade Santana   Marisol  

Taylor Scott  Guardian Angel. 

Grace Soens as June

Carmella Jenkins as Sandy

Barbara Lee Bragg as Woman with Furs

Jack Sharpe as Lenny

Hutchins Foster as Man with Scar Tissue

Matthew Goodrich as Man with Golf Club

Mara Michelle as Young Woman 

April-Star Collins also serves as the production's swing/understudy 

The creative team includes scenic designer Brad Bentz, lighting designer Matt Richter, 

sound designer Christopher Moscatiello, 

costume designer Mylette Nora, 

props designers Bruce Dickinson and Anna Kraus Choreographer Yusuf Nasir. Saskia Young serves as associate producer, and John Dimitri is the production stage manager.

Press Relations: Lucy Pollak

 

Marisol by Josè Rivera

Directed by Amanda Weier

Open Fist at The Atwater Village Theatre Complex

3269 Casitas

Los Angeles, CA90039

Performances run September 12 through October 24, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. 

(no performance Saturday, October 3). 

An additional performance will be held Monday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. . Tickets range from $26 to $40

Tickets and Information:
www.openfist.org
(323) 882-6912 

PERICLES ROCKS BOSTON COURT IN PASADENA

 

          Photo crecit Brian Hashimoto / Ensemble

Pericles!! 
You can’t tell the players without a program.. 

Please!  Go see this ‘translation’ of Shakespeare’s Pericles.. Read the program and follow the trail of a guy on the run with a little Tempest Tossed and a pinch of Magic and then.. Pay attention!
Here’s what happens:
The Boston Court  is under a thunder cloud. We hear the maelstrom as we wait for the curtain.  Then, the back door of the stage opens with a mixed bag of drenched refugees vying for the assembled cots to wait out the storm. Cell phones are not working. Things happen..  Then. to light the gym because the power's gone out, one intensee electric lantern  that for the first ten minutes of the show shone directly into eyes of  the audience was blinding.  Just a glitch  but hopefully the tech aspect of the show will find a way to fix it 

A disparate crew has come in and .. and..
Thank goodness for our narrator:  Gower! Joel Swetow is the mordant that solidifies this ambitious romp on stage at Pasadena’s Boston Court Theatre.
One thing for sure, Boston Court has taken pains to push the envelope of creativity for small theatre in Southern California.  Pericles is a stretch that crackles louder than the person behind me with a bag of chips!  Factor in an excellent ensemble cast and Margaret Shigeko Starbuck’s  deft direction to bring to life the twists and turns of happenstance  and coincidence thrusting Prince Pericles story upon us.
“Translator”, Ellen McLaughlin’s ‘reworking’ of Shakespeare’s Pericles may bring a quibble from purists.  I think of Marcel Duchamp who sparked trouble in the art world by .. among other things.. drawing a mustache on post card featuring the Mona Lisa…
We  hear Shakespeare with new ears and the beauty of this production is that we see it with new eyes.    It’s a trip.
      
As one of the Bard’s lesser known dramas (to me, anyway) what McLaughlin has done.. we are gven to understand.. is to make the ’sound’ of the language more agreeable to the modern ear and give the actors fewer tongue twisters. Indeed the ‘feeling’ of the original text ..ie. the movement of the plot is still here.  The challenges of the passage of time and numerous location changes are all pretty much  explained with Gower’s narration. 

I would suggest a more casual approach with the couplets. It’s an artistic  choice.   
 

An odd shift occurs with the introduction of  Pander (Adam J. Smith), Bolt (Rio Rasch) and the Bawd (Julanne Chidi Hill) who seem to converse in more ‘modern’    English. The Bard gifted the groundlings with the clowns and this crew is delightfuly broad.
But, I get ahead of myself..
Pericles (Radolph Thompson) has gotten himself in hot water foolishly trying to solve an insoluble riddle to win the hand of  the daughter of the not so nice King Antiochus.  Failing,  Pericles opts to set sail.. and here in lies the tale.
Michele Joo’s set assisted by You Chen Zhang presents  a high school gymnasium  laid out for refugees from the storm. At rise, it is over crowded by a diverse bunch of locals now evacuated because of the storm.  What makes this show a good one is the tight ensemble. Read a synopsis to stay on track. The lobby video shows Pericles journeys in animation and the program pretty much spells out the steps and ..spoiler alert.. the happy ending.  
What McLaughlin and director Margaret Shigeko Starbuck  have done in this West Coast Premiere, according to notes, is to find ways to pull the plot together.  It needs it.. and yes.. Gower is the guy.  Thank you!
 Research posits that Shakespere may have co-written the play with  George Wilkins.  Pericles was not included in the First Folio. “Tempest Tossed..” may be the only memorable line?
Simply put, Poor old Pericles has some real troubles: ship wrecks;  disappointments and sadness and crap thrust upon him.   Diverse casting works for this show that meets the challenge of  a laundry list of characters covered by ten fine actors.  It’s funny. It’s over the top. It’s got some terrific movement and  action! Jousts!
Sundry locations and beautufilly staged roiling seas eventually bring us back to Gower and his poetic summation.It is not the Queen's Shakspeare!  But, it IS  a romp worthy of a hip and happening audience. 

I would ask the show to consider a tambourine and please fix that lantern in our eyes! Then.  everyone?   

Buckle your seat belts for full houses.
Support new ideas and come to Boston Court early for free on-sight parking.

   
Percles by William Shakespeare translated by Ellen MacLaughlin
Boston Court Theatre
70 Mentor Avenue
Pasadena, California 91105

Opening Night: August 29, 2026.

Closing Date: September 27, 2026.

Special Event: LA Theatre Night is scheduled for Monday, September 14, 202
Tickets and information:

https://bostoncourtpasadena.org/events/pericles/

CAST:
Randolph Thompson as Pericles
Joel Swetow as Gower
Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson as Marina
Nicole Javier as Thaisa
Julanne Chidi Hill as Helicanus/Bawd
Desirée Mee Jung as Dionyza/Cerimon
Adam J. Smith as Cleon/Pander
Alexander Matos as Lysimachus & Others
Jamie Gallo as Thaliard/Leonine & Others
Rio Rasch as Bolt & Others 

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Margaret Shigeko Starbuck – Director

Ellen McLaughlin – Playwright

Michelle Joo – Set Designer

Nala Zinngrabe – Costume Designer

Pablo Santiago – Lighting Designer

John Ballinger – Sound Designer, Composer, & Music Director

Rye Mandel – Props Designer

Estela Garcia – Movement Director

Nicole Arbusto – Casting Director

Yaesol Jeong – Stage Manager

Grace Wilkerson – Assistant Director

You Chen Zhang – Associate Set Designer

Jennifer Gonzalez – Associate Lighting Designer

Jaclyn Gehringer – Assistant Stage Manager/Workshop SM

Jenny Cohn  Press Relations

ANN NOBLE IS AT IT AGAIN!! DEAD MAN AT THE ECHO

  

Christian Haines, Robin McDonald, Ann Noble
Photo by Carolina Rodriguez

 Ann Noble’s “DEAD MAN”  catches another breath after  a very successful run at the 2026 Hollywood Fringe. 

Opening night at the Echo in the Atwater Theatre Complex was lively with an enthusiastic and  responsive audience.  
Okay.. it's a weird show, to say the least but it works. The guy sitting next to me was shaning his head.. and smilijg as the cast, Christian Haines, Jeffrey Johnson, Robin McDonald and Ann Noble took their bows. 

This time Ann did not have to sprint off the stage to  go to work in the now closed Antaeus production of Antigone.
Do we need challenging  art.  all forms.. to guide us to new ideas and new horizons?  Of course..  It's when dedicated artists opt to take a chance and to move forward that we break through, that  we  come up with  new ideas  and ceate some challenges and have some fun..     There are clown noses to puzzle over.

In my previous review of Noble’s Absurd meets Noir project I mentioned that Ionesco and Beckett don’t have much to worry about ..  at least not for now. but this work is solid, self referential and a little silly .. all in a good way.   I'm not a fan of authors directing their own work, but Noble's choices :  timing and choreography are dedicated to her  story.. Whatever it was!!  It mostly made sense and was fun.
Two more performances at the Echo.  

Take a break from the ordinary and see this show.  F**KING STRANGERS  is current in the same space.. Also, highly recommended.

The Echo Theater Company and Theatre Ghosts present Dead Man
• Written and Directed by Ann Noble
• Starring Christian Haines, Jeffrey Johnson, Robin McDonald, Ann Noble
• Produced by The Echo Theater Company and Theatre Ghosts

WHEN:
Tuesdays Only  at 8 p.m.: July 21, July 28, Aug. 4

WHERE:
Echo Theater Company
Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039

PARKING:
FREE in the Atwater Crossing (AXT) lot one block south of the theater

TICKETS:
$20
(a $1.75 fee will be added if purchasing with a credit card.)

HOW:
EchoTheaterCompany.com
(747) 350-8066