What if you only told the truth and nothing but the truth? Would it actually make a difference or be purely self-serving and futile? Itamar Moses explores this idea at the heart of THE WHISTLEBLOWER. The play also has some fairly dramatic tonal shifts: It starts out as a lighthearted character study of protagonist Eli, an L.A. writer who pitches a T.V. show about a man who decides to confront the people in his life with hard truths— and then decides to try that out in his own life. 

I didn’t think I’d ever see a singing Antarctic explorer in a musical, but that’s exactly what ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME delivers. This quirky but conventionally structured two-hander introduces audiences to Kat, a struggling experimental musician with a newborn baby and a deadbeat, absent boyfriend who’s on tour with a Journey cover band, and the eponymous Ernest Shackleton. 

“Stop trying to be what everyone else wants you to be, man. Just be you.” Antonio Edwards Suarez recounts that his childhood best friend, Curtis, said to him growing up. This sentiment becomes in many ways the mantra for ANTONIO’S SONG: It’s a deeply human exploration of identity — and specifically Suarez’s identity — and all the elements that make us who we are. In ANTONIO’S SONG, Suarez and co-playwright Dael Orlandersmith share vignettes from Suarez’s upbringing that reflect the complexities of his identity. This is a touching, if not groundbreaking, solo show. Ultimately, theater reflects our humanity, and ANTONIO’S SONG reinforces that we turn to art to better understand ourselves. Structurally and thematically, this is well-trod territory.