100 SAINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW: 100% – SWEET

"100 Saints You Should Know" at the Elephant Theatre Company. Photo courtesy of Sven Ellirand.

SWEET
Themes of spirituality and faith are intelligently explored in Kate Fodor’s gripping and affecting drama, in which the paths of five characters cross, sparking a serendipitous fusion of human connection and profound self-reflection. Director Lindsay Allbaugh adeptly helms the West Coast premiere of Fodor’s 2007 play. In this consummate production, sharp and sensitive performances and spare but evocative designs elicit a subtly haunting experience.
Les Spindle – Backstage

SWEET
Director Lindsay Allbaugh deftly mines the rich comedy provided by Fodor’s quirky characters, and elicits lovely performances from all her actors.
Neal Weaver – LA Weekly

SWEET
Matters of love, sex, faith, and family are explored with utmost originality in Kate Fodor’s engrossing, deeply moving 100 Saints You Should Know, now getting an impeccable West Coast Premiere at the Elephant Theatre Company under the inspired direction of Lindsay Allbaugh.
Steven Stanley – StageSceneLA

SWEET
Under Lindsay Allbaugh’s skilled direction, the excellent cast brings us close to their characters’ confusion and pain. Yet in Act 2, the play sags, circling itself, and we get ahead of the story — an awkwardness mirrored by Jeffery Eisenmann’s busy paneled set. Scenery be damned: Fodor wants to delineate spaces of the soul, whether empty, God-struck, or just in search.
Charlotte Stoudt – LA Times

SWEET
The current west coast premiere by the Elephant Theatre Company takes Fodor’s absorbing moral drama and fills it with subtle and moving performances that gradually combine toward a powerful catharsis.
Terry Morgan – LAist

SWEET
The sticking point with this otherwise fantastically enacted production is our unfulfillment at the end. Without doubt Fodor and Albaugh mean for our unease to mirror that of the characters, each of whom comes to Matthew beset with varying degrees of, whether they know it or not, spiritual longing. He’s the spiritual tuning fork for this symphony of riotous souls. His flock each require some manner of tuning. Because we identify so well with him (Farrell serves up a masterful performance) and the plights of his flock (ditto for the rest of the cast), we wonder what’s to become of them. But this production never finds its home key.
James Scarborough – What the Butler Saw

SWEET
Written by Kate Fodor and directed by Lindsay Allbaugh, the West Coast premiere of “100 Saints You Should Know” is an enjoyable play that doesn’t stand out in any indelible way.
Jonathan Bue – Campus Circle

100 SAINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Elephant Theatre Company
6322 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hlywd.
Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 7 p.m.; thru June 26
Tickets: (877) 369-9112