Two productions grapple with the Grim Reaper

Reviews of The Old Globe’s ‘Be a Good Little Widow’ and Ion Theatre’s ‘Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo’ top our coverage of local plays

By David L. Coddon

Its silly title belies what a cracking good play Bekah Brunstetter’s Be A Good Little Widow really is.

Wednesday, May 15,2013
Theater

‘The Sound of Music’ is an enduring family affair

San Diego Musical Theatre’s seriously sweet classic tops our coverage of local plays

By David L. Coddon

Any way you cut it, The Sound of Music is as sugary sweet as one of those cupcake joints, just not as trendy.

Wednesday, May 8,2013
Theater

The Old Globe does damage in the desert

A review of ‘Other Desert Cities’ leads our coverage of local plays

By David L. Coddon

Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities, on stage at The Old Globe, is a clenched-teeth family drama swathed in political overtones.

Wednesday, May 1,2013
Theater

Oscar and Felix are still at odds

North Coast Rep’s ‘The Odd Couple’ tops our coverage of local plays

By David L. Coddon

The Odd Couple has been around so long you could almost call it a period piece: the swingin’ ’60s music, the smoke-filled poker games, the divorce-American-style oneliners.

Wednesday, April 24,2013
Theater

Moxie Theatre reveals what’s behind bedroom doors in Barstow

‘References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot’ tops our coverage of local plays

By David L. Coddon

Moxie Theatre’s production, directed by Dana Harrel, basks in all of Puerto Rican playwright Rivera’s sensual poetry and magical realism, some of it more distracting than conducive to the storytelling.

Wednesday, April 17,2013
Theater

‘Federal Jazz Project’ hits a high note

San Diego Rep show leads our rundown of local plays

By David L. Coddon

The appeal of San Diego Repertory Theatre's The Federal Jazz Project, a sometimes-thrilling collaboration between Culture Clash co-founder Richard Montoya and the sublime trumpeter Gilbert Castellano

Wednesday, April 10,2013
Theater

A wealth of despair in ‘Grey Gardens’

Ion Theatre Company musical tops our rundown of local plays

By David L. Coddon

The trappings and doings at the mansion ooze opulence and preciousness in Act 1, in spite of the limitations of the tiny stage, before turning to something out of a pathetic reality show about the fallen rich in Act 2. An unlikely story for a musical? Not here, where the denouement is as harrowing as a tragic opera.

Wednesday, April 3,2013
Theater

The Old Globe shows ‘A Doll’s House’ can still resonate

An adaptation of the Ibsen classic tops our coverage of local plays

By David L. Coddon

Whether Henrik Ibsen intended A Doll’s House to be a proto-feminist work remains a topic for literary debate. But there’s no question that the tense and revelatory story is ultimately one of Nora Helmer’s self-awakening.

Wednesday, March 27,2013
Theater

A little nightmare music in Cygnet Theatre’s ‘Assassins”

Somewhat subversive Sondheim musical tops our rundown of local plays

By David L. Coddon

Abraham Lincoln wasn’t the only one to have a gun pointed at him in a theater. Should you find yourself in the audience at Cygnet Theatre’s Assassins, you’ll have six or seven guns pointed at you—only nobody pulls the trigger.

Wednesday, March 20,2013
Theater

The Old Globe issues a guide to love, murder and laughter

Edwardian comedy tops our coverage of local plays

By David L. Coddon

The new musical comedy by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak will go as far as Jefferson Mays can carry it, and that could be all the way to New York.