Posts by Martin Jones Westlin
Cygnet Theatre’s Fair ‘Spring Awakening’ Isn’t the Sum of Its Parts
In 2007, America discovered “Spring Awakening,” a virtually unknown script that chronicled teenage angst and the hormonal urges that help fuel it. The theater hailed the piece as it has few before it — and though it has the horses, Cygnet Theatre’s entry incorporates some directorial mechanics that hold the story at bay.
Read MoreGood Ion Double Bill Not As Scary As It Seems
“Edgar & Annabel” and “Far Away,” ion theatre company’s current double bill, has us locked into a future of worldwide oppression and conflict, which is precisely what won’t transpire in human history. But the production values transcend all that in this very well-crafted piece of theater.
Read MoreSD Rep’s ‘Detroit’: Actions Speak Louder Than Words
The American way of life is built on illusion, or so playwright Lisa D’Amour seems to say in “Detroit,” a 2010 Pulitzer Prize drama finalist. The San Diego Repertory Theatre entry seeks to illustrate that for us, but the excellent production values far outstrip the premature script.
Read MoreUCSD’s tragic, intense ‘A Lie of the Mind’ revisits ‘The Twilight Zone’
Playwright Sam Shepard apparently thinks the individualism and romance that characterized the national soul is a thing of the past. His lamentable characters have reams of stories that explain this sorry state–and with UCSD’s fine ‘A Lie of the Mind,’ they’re in rare form.
Read MoreMOXIE’s good ‘Crumbs’ examines race through a young black heroine’s eyes
Lynn Nottage’s “Crumbs from the Table of Joy” is one of the busier plays out there amid its loaded dialogue and multiple subthemes–but even as it occasionally threatens to, MOXIE Theatre’s smart production never quite falls into the overwrought stage. Meanwhile, its young heroine trots out a maturity that marks her far beyond her years.
Read MoreCircle’s earnest “2.0” has the community, and military life, in its sights
Maybe Circle Circle dot dot needs to get more specific in its references to the city it seeks to portray and reflect. Even so, its “San Diego, I Love You, 2.0” features two very good performances in this story about military life and a couple’s sacrifice within it. The scrappy company understands that theater is a terribly public act, and its site-specific approach isn’t lost on an art form that’s been embracing community-based performance forever.
Read More