Scene from "The 39 Steps" at Whittier Community Theatre (Photo courtesy of the theatre) The historic Whittier Community Theater, now in its 102nd season, is staging a wonderful rendition of Patrick Barlow’s “The 39 Steps.” Barlow adapted his 2005 play from John Buchan’s 1915 novel and the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film based on it — but uses only four actors to play dozens of roles in a fast-paced, comedic style. Susan Hunter Eiden directs the tight ensemble on a stage set simply

From left: Petey McGee and Ugo Chukwu in "Primary Trust" at the Mark Taper Forum (Photo by Jeff Lorch) Eboni Booth’s 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Primary Trust” has good intentions. Its 38-year-old protagonist has suffered lifelong anxiety compounded by childhood trauma, making him immediately sympathetic and a poster child for today’s heightened focus on mental health. Yet the play itself suffers from a sense of incompleteness and disproportion, often relying on telling

Ensemble cast of "Hummingbirds Are Not Machines" at LA City College Theatre Academy Shewan Edward’s “Hummingbirds Are Not Machines” — presented as an “elevated” staged reading at LA City College Theatre Academy’s Cameo Theatre and directed by Edward — is a contemporary play about a group of young adults confined in a medical facility as they try to understand the loss of someone close to them. The production deals heavily with grief and identity, showing how people process pa