STRANGER THINGS: 66% – BITTERSWEET

Doug Sutherland and Katharine Noon in "Stranger Things" at the Atwater Village Theatre. Credit: Jose Diaz.

SWEET
Johnson endows Helga with a curious charm, and the show’s somber, claustrophobic tone is leavened by dry wit (Mother: “This is what God is doing to us.” Helga: “God doesn’t care about us. We’re not his type.”). And just when the story seems predictable, it twists into something genuinely chilling.
Charlotte Stoudt – LA Times

BITTERSWEET
Sure, the proper ambience is achieved by David O’s piano tremolos and Cricket S. Myers’ barren “windscape” punctuated by reverberating chords. Also fitting are Johnson’s biting tone, which is as cold as the weather, and Noon’s ghostly demeanor as she drifts about the place. But the bones of this piece — mirrored in Maureen Weiss’ slatted set — are all that director Ronnie Clark gleans from Camus. The soul? Well, that is another matter altogether.
Mayank Keshaviah – LA Weekly

BITTERSWEET
Ultimately, “Stranger Things” is intermittently fascinating without being peculiar enough to linger after the lights come up.
David C. Nichols – Backstage

SWEET
A good mystery is all about the timing, and Stranger Things still has a few plot twists to be ironed out. But many moments are positively chilling – and the immersive soundscape holds the audience captive for the duration of this spectacularly layered tale.
Sarah Taylor Ellis – Compositions on Theater

SWEET
As both theatergoer and theater writer, this reviewer is decidedly unenthusiastic about absurdist, avant-garde, or post-modern theatre. It’s not so much the concept or ideas behind these movements as it is the execution. Playwrights and theatre companies get so caught up in approaching the presentation of their story – vignettes, chanting, multi-media – that they often forget to tell the story itself. However, the Ghost Road Company’s Stranger Things (conceived and directed by Ronnie Clark) employs all of these techniques, and more, to tell their story; and they do it brilliantly.
Kat Michels – Stage and Cinema

SWEET
Under the direction of Ronnie Clark, Ghost Road Company’s experimental play Stranger Things brings a purgatorial graphic novel to life through a stark pencil-sketch landscape, multimedia effects, and strong performances.
Mialka Bonadonna Morano – LAist

BITTER
Eventually, the story, such as it is, begins to take shape but by that time this audience member’s patience has been severely tested.
Ingrid Wilmot – Will Call

STRANGER THINGS
Presented by Ghost Road Theatre Company
Atwater Village Theater
3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles
8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Sept. 25, 2011
Tickets: $25; (310) 281-8341
Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes