Ivy Substation (Culver City, CA)
The Actors' Gang puts the "X" in Xmas with Aah! Scrooge Must Die!, a rambunctious and raunchy retelling of Dickens' beloved classic tale. Leave the kids at home -- this version is rated NC-17. Aah! Scrooge Must Die! is raucous, fast and funny in The Actors' Gang signature style that incorporates aspects of commedia, physical comedy, song and dance.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
All dates for this event have expired.
The last event was Saturday December 20, 2008 / 8:00pm. (view all dates)
Check back to this section to see pictures from this event!
While I expected this telling of A Christmas Carol to be quite different, I must say I did not really enjoy it. However, the cast did a nice job in their roles, some were very good in fact. I did like the little theater (an admirable reuse of an historic building), and might try another event at this venue.
Very quaint theatre.. no bad seat in the house but definitely a no-frills venue - it had character. We, and seemingly the rest of the audience, were entertained throughout the (just over) 1hr production. With the write-ups referring to raunchy we weren't sure what to expect, but it was not offensive or embarassing...just strong language and fully clothed simulated sexual acts..it just added a comical warped twist to it all. The santa and elf in the lobby were rather wacky (or tacky) and made us hope that wasn't an indication of what was to come. Thankfully it wasn't - the acting was very good - loved the Scrooge and the sister as well. All in all a pleasurable weeknight out with the hubby that was a bit off the beaten path.
Great acting! Interesting take on the old Scrooge - very creative.
Actor's Gang continues to disappoint me. The actors are always excellent, and I appreciate the company's experimental and adventurous spirit, but in six plays I've seen, The only ones that approached greatness were the ones that the Gang didn't write. Tartuffe and Women of Lockerbie were both excellent. The others I've seen tend to lack a proper balance between theme and story and wind up feeling heavy handed and not very entertaining. They seem to revel in the profane and vulgar, and Scrooge was both, but if it doesn't serve a purpose, it's just adolescent acting out. I'm not easily offended, but I found the profanity and vulgarity merely something to endure, rather than offering some commentary or enlightenment.
The outstanding cast would have done a brilliant job with a more down-to-earth telling of the same story, but instead it feels like the director/company's insecurity and/or vanity gets the best of them, and they feel compelled to act outrageously and see if they can attract headlines by offending "unsophisticated" audiences. I was not outraged, merely annoyed and I was only offended by the waste of my time and money.
The best moments (FWIW) were the elements about racism, suggesting that even at our most destitute and desperate, racism still thrives--but these elements should have been kept in the previous production about that subject. At least that one was engaging and fascinating, if not much of a play. This was none of the above.
Definitely don't bring your kids! Raunchy, disturbing, vulgar, hilarious. Perfect for a unique night out :)
Really funny - cracking up from the very first few minutes. Although kinda hard to follow the plot at times. There are a few scenes that me and my friends still don't know what they meant. But otherwise pretty funny and unexpected :)
It was not my cup of tea: too much bathroom, anti-gay and anti-disabled humor.
Not sure why they had to use so much bad language.
The Ivy Substation was constructed in 1907 by the Los Angeles Pacific Railway and was operated as one of its largest electric substations. The historic Mission Revival style building has been completely renovated and transformed into a performing arts center.
"In the book, Scrooge is redeemed in the end and regrets his ways," says writer Angela Berliner. "But our version recognizes that a sociopath is still a sociopath. It's really his fear of death that causes Scrooge to change his ways, as opposed to a true reversal of spirit."
She adds, "Scott Harris, who plays Scrooge, is a madman. He sinks into the character so fully, but in reality he is the nicest guy. There's a monster like Scrooge somewhere in all of us - a dark side most of us aren't even aware of."
In addition to Harris, Aah! Scrooge Must Die! features Actors' Gang company members Pierre Adeli, Jeff Branion, Anne Rene Brashier, Seth Compton, Cindy D'Andrea, Elora Dannon, Emilia Herman, R.J. Jones, Steven M. Porter, Chris Schultz, Miriam Stark, Heather Thomas, Toni Torres, Sabra Williams and Justin Zsebe.
Angela Berliner has been a Gang member since 2001. Her play Little premiered with the company, and she is the force behind The Actors' Gang's critically acclaimed Summer-In-The-Park Shakespeare series for families for which she has written Pericles on the High Seas, Titus the Clownicus and last summer's King O'Leary.
Set and Lighting Design for Aah! Scrooge Must Die! are by François-Pierrre Couture; Sound Design is by John Zalewski; and Costumes are by Kate Poppen.
The Actors' Gang is one of Los Angeles' most enduring theatre ensembles. Founded in 1981 by a group of renegade theatre artists, the Gang's mission is to create bold, original works for the stage and daring reinterpretations of the classics. Our work is raw, immediate, socially minded, and crafted with the highest artistic standards. Over the course of our first 20 years we have produced 68 plays and won over 100 awards, winning acclaim for our interpretations of Shakespeare, Bruchner, Brecht, Moliere, Aeschylus, Ibsen and Chekhov, while developing in workshop new plays that address the world today through a prism of satire, popular culture and raucous stagecraft. Through co-productions, The Actors' Gang presented the West Coast Premiere of Eric Bogosian's "Suburbia" with the Namaste Theatre Company, Roger Guenver Smith's "A Huey P. Newton Story," Danny Hoch's "Jails, Hospitals, Hip Hop" with Center Theatre Group, and "Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella" with The Cornerstone Theatre Company. The Actors' Gang has toured with productions as the US representative at the Edinburgh Festival and to New York's Public Theatre with "Carnage, A Comedy"; with "The Imaginary Invalid" to the Rushmore Festival in New York, and in 2001 saw "Bat Boy, A Musical," developed at the Actors' Gang, won the Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics award for best new musical Off-Broadway in New York.
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. © 2009 Goldstar Events, Inc.