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Playwrights on Fire

Quick: What city is home to the world's best, most diverse community of playwrights? The answer is becoming increasingly clear: Los Angeles.

Playwrights on Fire

Roles of a Different Bent

From ancient Greek tragedies to the Japanese Noh and Kabuki styles that developed in the 14th and 17th centuries to the English Renaissance traditions we know best from Shakespeare (see: Twelfth Night, a man playing a woman playing a man), gender-swapping has been integral to the history of theatre. Way back when, the reason why was simple: women w...

Roles of a Different Bent

LGBTQ History Worth Celebrating

Los Angeles has a long and storied history of LGBTQ rights activism. The city was the site of some of the earliest mass demonstrations against police persecution and the birthplace of the nation’s first widely distributed gay and lesbian publications, including The Advocate. As activism paved the way for acceptance in the second half of the 20th...

LGBTQ History Worth Celebrating

Can Music Make Democracy?

At first glance, the words jazz and politics do not necessarily sound like harmonious ideas.

Can Music Make Democracy?

Setting the Stage for Historical Exploration

Critical Mass Performance Group has produced a range of critically acclaimed historical and experimental epics for Los Angeles audiences for over 30 years.

Setting the Stage for Historical Exploration

What’s an Aswang, Anyway?

Boni B. Alvarez brings the mythical aswang of the Philippines to life in Bloodletting (onstage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre March 29 – April 8, 2018 as part of Block Party). Alvarez has described the aswang as a Filipino witch, but there are many different variations....

What’s an Aswang, Anyway?