INTRODUCTION. You can situate the book as a cross between Homer’s Odyssey and Thomas Pynchon. You can also think of it is as Charles Bukowski retelling the story of Theseus' escape from the Labyrinth. (“…her final record spinning closer to the center, like an invisible thread that gently draws him down to her, down to Karmann” (Italics, this writer). An extraordinary backstory, Theseus and the Minotaur. Read it here in Bullfinch’s Mythology. For our purposes,... Read more →
Written and directed by Del Shores for The Coast Playhouse, “Yellow” describes challenges that threaten a family. It does so with humor and understanding. Sometimes picayune, sometimes monumental, the production reminds us that, no matter what, a family is a family is a family. This world premiere production resembles a color wheel. With great artistry, Shore blended the production’s hues (golden, ethereal, acrid, nauseous) and tones (happy, ethereal, sad, bitter). With deft draftsmanship he drew... Read more →
References to artistic integrity, to it’s not so much the sales, reviews, and careerism as the devotion to process and craft, are usually spoken in sotto voce, with nostalgic idealism, in groups of two or three in car parks outside of openings. The message doesn’t get wide play because, though it's relevant, it’s not, um, topical, because it’s not quantifiable; because you don’t learn it in art school but mostly because to admit as much... Read more →
Lee Adams’ compelling murder mystery “Nighthawks” begins with a summary of how mangled the life of burned out, one-hit author and newly-minted diner owner Julie Page has become. The love of her life, Felix, a musician who saved her life, emotionally and physically, has left her for Dr. Marjorie Stewart, her psychiatrist. She doesn’t see much of him but, for complex reasons, continues to see her, professionally. Her agent Richard reminds her, insistently, that she’s... Read more →
For all its twists and turns – and not just those that criss-cross the slopes of the Swiss Alps - “Detour,” Richard Meese’s captivating spy thriller/psychological drama, romance/chick lit could very well be re-spelled as “Routed” for what it does to our expectations of genre. On one hand, it’s a spy story/psychological thriller: Margaret Brady, a partner in a Costa Mesa CPA firm, gets kidnapped, almost gets murdered, gets rescued by a handsome and charismatic... Read more →