Critics’ Choices
The Gospel at Colonus It’s fairly unusual for a 30-plus-year-old experimental theater piece to remain trenchant, affecting and exhilarating at once, but that’s the ecstatic, incisive case with Lee Breuer and Bob Telson’s celebrated 1983 mash-up of Greek tragedy and African American church service in its magnificent Ebony Repertory Theatre revival. Director Andi Chapman refreshes the concept in ways that speak to the present without proselytizing, thanks to a striking design scheme and a marvelous cast, whose spectacular vocals and refined histrionics ap- proach the divine. (D.C.N.) Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd., L.A. Ends today, 3 p.m. $30-$65. (323) 964-9766.
The Great Divide As the final production in its longtime Hollywood venue, Elephant Theatre Company presents Lyle Kessler’s darkly comic look at warped family dynamics in Fishtown, Pa. Despite fleeting new-play issues, it’s a wild and woolly ride. Kessler’s knack for scabrous dialogue and unexpected twists remains intact, and director David Fofi referees a deft cast that tears into the seriocomic fracas without blinking. (D.C.N.) Lillian Theatre, 1036 N. Lillian Way, Hollywood. Today, next Sun., 5 p.m.; Thu.Sat., 8 p.m.; ends Aug. 29. $25. (323) 960-4429.
The Homecoming Director Guillermo Cienfuegos and his superb cast nail the arcane subtexts in Harold Pinter’s creepily brilliant play about a womanless tribe whose atavistic longing — and loathing — for a female newcomer to their midst trumps all familial considerations. (F.K.F.) Pacific Resident Theatre, 703 Venice Blvd., Venice. Today, next Sun., 3 p.m.; Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m.; ends Aug. 30. $25-$34. (310) 822-8392.
A Permanent Image Rogue Machine Theatre’s deftly crafted production of this early play by Samuel D. Hunter, an Obie Award winner as well as a 2014 recipient of the MacArthur “Genius Grant,” boasts wonderful performances by Anne Gee Byrd, Tracie Lockwood, Ned Mochel and Mark L. Taylor. The play itself, in which an adult brother and sister return to their childhood home for their father’s funeral, is a fairly typical dysfunctional-family drama: too much liquor triggers face-offs and revelations. But the pleasure of watching the fine cast — particularly Byrd, who excels as a crotchety termagant — sends this technically exceptional production into another stratosphere. (M.G.) Rogue Machine, 5041 Pico Blvd., L.A. Today, next Sun., 7 p.m.; Mon., 8 p.m.; Sat., 5 p.m.; ends Aug. 17. $30-$35. (855) 585-5185.
Picnic William Inge’s 1953 Pulitzerwinning study of one eventful Labor Day in Eisenhower-era Kansas receives a solid, well-appointed revival at Antaeus Theatre Company. Director Cameron Watson locates subtle grace notes and spatial placements that quietly illuminate the characters’ motivations, aided by smart designers and an excellent cast. (D.C.N.) Antaeus Theatre Company, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Today, next Sun., 2 p.m.; Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m.; ends Aug. 16. $30, $34. (818) 506-1983.
Recorded in Hollywood Matt Donnelly, Jamelle Dolphin and Andy Cooper’s fervent, thoughtful musical study of record store Dolphin’s of Hollywood and its visionary founder is interesting, entertaining and frequently thrilling, perhaps the most promising new musical the 99-seat arena has produced since “The Behavior of Broadus,” if not “Louis and Keely: Live at the Sahara,” and seems poised to go the full “Jersey Boys” meets “Memphis” commercial distance. A rocking, relevant good time. (D.C.N.) Hudson Mainstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A. Today, next Sun., 3 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; ends July 26. $34.99. (323) 960-4443.
Shiv Riffing on a modern-day incarnation of the goddess Shiva, this subtly-crafted portrait of a Hindu immigrant girl’s coming-of-age in her new American homeland shapes seemingly unrelated narrative fragments into a poetic, often humorous and ultimately profound journey of self-discovery, metaphorically mapped to the wonders and terrors of space exploration. (P.B.) Boston Court, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. Today, next Sun., 2 p.m.; Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; ends Aug. 9. $34; discounts available. (626) 683-6883.