Two scarred Londoners take center stage in the current-as-today’s-headlines London’s Scars. Richard Martin Hirsch has constructed a gripping drama that is both personal and political. Written with two of his muses (Meredith Bishop and Imelda Corcoran) in mind for the leading roles, London’s Scars not only provides the actresses with terrific, complex roles to sink their teeth into, but audiences with plenty to think and talk about. Supporting performances couldn’t be better. None of this could have been possible without a director the caliber of Darin Anthony, aided and abetted by some of the best designers in town. Showcasing Hirsch’s ability to create riveting, substantive drama and with a director and cast that simply could not be better, London’s Scars makes for fascinating, thought-provoking contemporary theater well worth seeing. ...StageScene LA
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“The preshow announcement in the style of the London Underground's famous "mind the gap" admonition takes us to Thurloe Square, the site of a recent bus bombing in the world premiere of Richard Martin Hirsch's latest work. The bombing is discussed by psychologists Bronwyn (Imelda Corcoran) and Margaret (Ann Noble); the former is an art therapist and becomes saddled with Mary (Meredith Bishop), a young woman who witnessed the tragedy and is consequently a person of interest to MI5 field agent Dowd (Rob Nagle). In their sessions, Mary is initially reticent, responding only with book quotations. As Bronwyn uses art to delve into Mary's psyche, however, Mary opens up, revealing her occupation as a call girl and her association with Habib (Ammar Ramzi), the Pakistani man thought to be responsible for the bombing. Hirsch's ear for the British idiom, especially London slang, is undeniable, and his characters are fascinating -- especially the tortured souls of Mary and Habib.”
“Director Darin Anthony employs creative staging of the numerous flashbacks and movements in space and time, aided by Christie Wright's nimble lighting, Stephen Gifford's flexible set, and Bill Froggatt's soundscape of London calling. The solid cast is punctuated by standouts Nagle, notable for his chameleonic shifts in playing two other minor characters as well, and Bishop, whose tortured intensity is palpable.” ...LA WEEKLY (Mayank Keshaviah)
The Quality of Light
"Quality of Light" concerns bereaved divorcée Claire (the affecting D.J. Harner) and raffish Jack (Patrick Rafferty, a find), 10 years her junior, who meet at a hotel overlooking the Cote d'Azur. The scenario echoes Rumer Godden, David Lean, Tennessee Williams and "Enchanted April," yet by framing his narrative with similes of fine art, Hirsch avoids genre clichés and maintains intrigue.The accomplished script draws beautiful work from director Jo Black-Jacob, who keeps bright and dark in balance, aided by some adept designers. …Los Angeles Times
Richard Martin Hirsch's exquisitely written play was the winner of last year's Long Beach Playhouse New Works Festival. As such, this intimate portrait of two badly wounded people is receiving a much deserved world premiere under the insightful direction of Jo Black-Jacob. A brilliant tapestry of life interwoven with art, Hirsch's drama is set in the hills above Côte d'Azur, where the light has attracted artists for centuries.
…Backstage West
Snappily directed by Jo Black-Jacob, Hirsch’s play is witty and refreshingly literate.
…LA Weekly
Hirsch maintains a remarkable balance between his spellbinding story, the compelling artist’s viewpoint, and the inherent humor which resides in the meeting of two people whose desires are not quite in sync.
…Long Beach Signal Tribune
Noir Light
A silly romp; an all-female cast send-up of detective stories that blazes by so fast that the bad jokes are quickly replaced with good ones. This tale...has laughs galore, and Hirsch knows how to construct goofy narration for Jackie Maruschak as Tuesday Monday.
...Backstage West
Atonement
PICKGO Ably directed by Howard Teichman, Richard Martin Hirsch’s absorbing drama explores the tangled psyche of a middle-aged Jewish writer at a personal and epistemological crossroads. Michael Oberlander delivers an intensely fervid performance as Elijah Stone (nee Steinberg, a significant detail), an award-winning author and satirist who sabotages his marriage to his beautiful gentile, journalist wife, Laurel (Imelda Corcoran), by straying into the arms of a younger Jewish housefrau, Shaina (Meredith Bishop). While the triangle serves as a framework for the drama, the play (which shifts from past to present) goes well beyond portraying the liaison to delve into matters of faith, ethnic identity and what an artist sometimes thinkshe needs to do to feed creative inspiration.
...L A Weekly
"An intellectual effusion"..."effulgent"..."Hirsch's first-act plot twist works neatly."
When a writer writes about a writer, the going can get a bit tricky. No matter how far removed the writer character is from the writer, the proceedings can seem depressingly self-referential.
It's not that Richard Martin Hirsch's new play, "Atonement," now at Theatre 40, doesn't cast a wider net. Certainly, National Book Award-winning author Elijah Stone (Michael Oberlander) has other major issues to cope with other than his obsessive preoccupation with his career. There's his troubled marriage to Laurel (Imelda Corcoran) and his all-consuming affair with Shaina (Meredith Bishop). Then there's that mysterious older woman, Faye (Susan Morgenstern), who engages Elijah in philosophical discussions of an uncomfortably challenging ilk. Chiefly, there's Elijah's complete rejection of his Jewish heritage, a knee-jerk contempt for all things spiritual that will take an unexpected toll.
The action takes place in Elijah's mind and flashes back over the course of 12 years. The piece is extremely talky, sometimes mesmerizingly so, a rich intellectual effusion that addresses far-flung issues of sin and faith and loss and salvation.
Roy Arias Theatre Center, 300 W. 43rd St. (5th floor) Equity showcase (closed May 4, 2008)
Review by Byrne Harrison
The final evening of Emerging Artists' Spring EATFest features five very diverse short plays.Without a doubt the strongest production of the evening, and along with Love, Me (Margaret) in Series B, one of the strongest two plays in the festival, is the touching and nontraditionally romantic Fast Light and Brilliant.Set on a balcony outside a hotel where a conference is taking place, the play features Carrie Tillis as a woman just coming out of a divorce and Roberto Terrell Milner as the man she flirted with, then suddenly pulled away from.Playwright Richard Martin Hirsch has written a charming play about things people want from relationships and the realities of what they get.Deftly directed by Ian Streicher who allows the play to slowly unfold, it's the highlight of the evening and features marvelous acting by Tillis and Milner.
