Opening the Curtain

Anthony Byrnes on a hipster magic show at the Kirk Douglas Theater that answers the age old question, what do you get when you mix grape Kool-Aid with the Dalai Lama.

At the heart of the play “Red”, two men stand before a massive canvas. It’s center stage in Mark Rothko’s cavernous studio. The blank expanse towers before the artist and his young assistant. As the young man pours thick red paint into two galvanized buckets, Rothko, played by Alfred Molina, drops the needle on TLU.

Whether we like it or not, Rodney King looms as a mythic and complicated figure in Los Angeles history. In the words of Roger Guenveur Smith, 'the first reality TV star.'

What’s the difference between farce and satire?

If you're looking for a traditional MacBeth look elsewhere. If you want a 50-minute darkly sexual, inappropriately funny, thrill ride, don't miss this one.

Anthony Byrnes on the theater version of "The Exorcist," currently up at the Geffen Playhouse.

Anthony Byrnes on a simple 'boy and his horse' story and the theatrical magic created by the National Theatre of Great Britain and the Handspring Puppet Company.

Anthony Byrnes poses the question, "Does LA really need a fringe festival in the first place?"

Playwright Vanessa Claire Stewart’s new play at Sacred Fools is deeply indebted to silent films in ways that make it both as rich and as frustrating as its source.

Anthony Byrnes remembers the economy, elegance and scope of playwright August Wilson, as he reviews SCR's revival of "Jitney," currently up at the Pasadena Playhouse.