Articles by Ester Benjamin Shifren

The past is prologue in Wendy Kout’s newest play Never Is Now. This writer poses consequential questions, such as—what happens when people from diverse backgrounds experience the firsthand accounts of ten survivors who were labeled “undesirable” and […]

What is the meaning of home? Is it a place or a sense of belonging? Is it a building or a feeling of community that can comfort and connect people anywhere? NEXT, Jewish Women’s Theatre’s […]

Longtime journalist Champ Clark interviewed Marlon Brando’s son Christian, in the years before his untimely death from Pneumonia at age 49. Clark has chronicled their complex friendship in a riveting one-act play, ‘Wild Son: The […]

Jewish Women’s Theatre’s (JWT) celebrates today’s multicultural Jews in its new salon show True Colors, that premiered May 4 at The Braid in Santa Monica. JWT artistic director Ronda Spinak says, “Jewish Women’s Theatre’s new True Colors gallery show and […]

The gripping American classic, “All My Sons,” is as timely as it is timeless. Staged in Los Angeles by Wasatch Theatrical Ventures, it coincides partly with the run on Broadway, but the ticket prices are much […]

Death is part of life, and in It’s a Life, Jewish Women’s Theatre (JWT) performs stories about the many facets of death and how memories, fears, and new understandings can transform grief or relief into thoughts and […]

Rising to the surface of Ian McRae’s colorful and witty characters, there comes the hint of weighty concern. Familiar, in the sense that this concern occurs in our own lives, as we recognize the questions […]

Every family harbors secrets that can be embarrassing, dangerous, humiliating, shocking, well-intentioned or even wonderful. The first show of Jewish Women’s Theatre’s 2019 Salon Season reveals plenty of them in Family Secrets that opened January 19 at the Braid in […]

 Katharine Farmer and the team have found artists with gorgeous voices who are also extraordinary actors intent on mining the rich human truths of their characters  Rubicon Theatre’s 20th Anniversary Season culminates with a two-piano […]

  She is perhaps best recognized for her role as Rosalee Calvert on NBC TV’s GRIMM for six seasons, but Bree Turner is now receiving positive critical recognition for her portrayal in the title role […]