Director Laura Henry is presenting John Guare’s The House of Blue Leaves and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible back to back at the Matrix Theater.

To start us off, Henry is beginning this weekend with The House of Blue Leaves, play set in Queens, N.Y. 1965 on the day Pope Paul VI arrives to speak to the UN about the war in Vietnam, is a dark comedic farce, which follows a fractured American family, a driven mistress, three nuns, a Hollywood starlet, a famous film director and a young assassin through a series of desperate attempts to grab and hold the American Dream which is their due. Just as funny, fast and socially and politically relevant today as it was 40 years ago.

As soon as that ends, The Crucible begins. Written by Arthur Miller in 1953, this play was used to describe the the events that took place in the Salem witch trails in 1692 and how those events were relevant to the 1940’s and 50’s. This play shows the parallelism between McCarthyism and the Red Scare, to demonstrate how Americans were afraid of Communism in the same way that they had once feared witches.

Both plays are tied together through the fear, politics, and confusion of the Iraq war currently taking place. What I believe these plays are trying to show is how we as a nation have not changed as much as we think we may have and how both of these plays are still very prevalent to the issues we are dealing with today. I have yet to see either of this plays, but will there opening night(s) and report back to you with reviews, as well as an interview from the Director Laura Henry.

Both Plays will be at the Matrix Theatre at 7657 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046

The House of Blue Leaves runs November 9-11, 15-18, 23-25, and the 29-30. Check out www.plays411.com/blueleaves for more information.

The Crucible runs December 6-9, 13-16, and the 20-23 . Check out www.plays411.com/crucible for more information.

You can also purchase tickets for $25 (or $40 for both) at (323) 960-7712

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