Morna Martell

BLACK! (West Hollywood)

In this intriguing one man show, British actor and playwright Michael Washington Brown impersonates four different men from around the world, each culturally identified as ‘black’ but who have very different ideas about what that means. Says Brown, “There are so many stereotypes that seem to mesh all black people and their stories together. But not all of us are African-American, and we don’t all share the same experience.” More than just character studies, Brown’s exploration examines race from a global perspective. At Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave, WeHo. (800) 838-3006 or blackonemanshow.brownpapertickets.com.

OPPENHEIMER & FINKS (Venice)

Both Tom Morton-Smith’s OPPENHEIMER and Joe Gilford’s FINKS will be playing in repertory as both examine socialism and communism movements in America in the 30s-50s. In OPPENHEIMER, directed by Artistic Director, John Perrin Flynn, we see the personal cost of making history as he struggles to cast off his radical past beliefs. While FINKS, directed by Michael Pressman, is a searing view of the blacklisting that resulted from these movements. Rogue Machine at Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave, Venice. (855) 585-5185 or www.roguemachinetheatre.com.

LOST IN TIME (Atwater)

When an older man wakes up one morning as his twenty-three-year-old self, he believes now is a chance to rectify the mess he’s made of his life. But when he attempts to alter his story by romancing the woman he knows will be his wife, it goes badly, and he finds himself in a desperate battle to save his future. Says director Keith Szarabajka, “Who hasn’t thought at one time or another, if only I could go back and do it all over again…knowing then what I know now!” Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. LA. (818) 839-1197 or https://dime.io/events/lost-in-time.

OLD CLOWN WANTED (West Los Angeles)

Inspired by a 1970 Federico Fellini film, three aging clowns compete for a job in an absurdly comic look at man’s fear of uselessness in society. Theater and circus arts are intertwined in this absurdist, and funny look at aging. Three washed-up circus clowns run into one another at an audition for a “small part for old clown.” As they wait for a casting director who never arrives, they begin to reminisce until competition for the job takes over. By Romanian-French playwright Matei Vişniec, translated by Jeremy Lawrence, directed by Romanian-born Florinel Fatulescu. At Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd, West LA. (310) 477-2055 or OdysseyTheatre.com.

BEAUTY QUEEN OF LENANE (Hollywood)

In a remote cottage in Ireland, beautiful Maureen has been caring for her manipulative, aging mother Mag for twenty years. When Maureen has a chance at happiness with a local beau, suffocated dreams and simmering resentments surface. From writer Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) comes this darkly comic tale. Developed at Actor’s Studio and directed by Mark Kemble. At Studio/Stage, 520 N. Western Ave, Hollywood. (323) 960-7774 or www.plays411.com/leenane

THE RESCUED (North Hollywood)

What happens to a human being after being abused, forgotten, and living in a cage for years? Do we find the same compassion for them, that we might find for rescue animals? Follow six souls who spend the day singing, sleeping, and comparing memories from their past with the reality of the present. Can they learn how to trust, how to love and be loved, and how to finally feel free? Written by Julie Marie Myatt, directed by Marya Mazor. At Road Theatre on Magnolia, NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. NoHo. (818) 761-8838 or www.RoadTheatre.org.