AWAKE IN A WORLD THAT ENCOURAGES SLEEP: 100% – SWEET

Tacey Adams, Joseph Culp, and Raymond J. Barry in “Awake in a World that Encourages Sleep” at the Electric Lodge. Credit: Lee Wexler.

SWEET
Although sometimes outlandish in how it delivers its message, this cracked polemic’s originality and full-throttle attack are unmistakable.
David C. Nichols – Backstage

SWEET
But on the stage, “Awake,” starring Barry with Joseph Culp (Don Draper’s surly father in those stylish “Mad Men” flashbacks) and the lovely Tacey Adams, is a masterpiece of comic ensemble acting, a true triumph of style over substance.
Margaret Gray – LA Times

SWEET
This talented cast’s collective physical, vocal, and emotional lives are so wonderfully developed and riveting, that you won’t want to blink lest you miss a theatrically fascinating moment.
Beverly Cohn – LASplash

SWEET
But this is a mere quibble, as the drama is excellently acted throughout and presents a cogent, if Kafka-esque, critique of corporate rule. All three actors are clad in business attire, and the bare stage is painted white, including a tree that is flanked by ivory benches. As a playwright and performer Barry proudly wears his roots as a Living Theater actor in 1963’s The Brig and as a veteran of Joseph Papp’s Public Theater and the Open Theater upon his sleeve.
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive

AWAKE IN A WORLD THAT ENCOURAGES SLEEP
The Electric Lodge
1416 Electric Ave., Venice
8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; Ends Feb. 26, 2012
Tickets: $25;
Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes