A Delicate Balance

LA Times:
“Critic’s Choice: In her emotionally astute staging, director Robin Larsen sets her dream cast loose upon Albee’s fascinating, frustrating material, which ranges from the boozily meandering to the brilliant…

The Hollywood Reporter:
“…Director Robin Larsen has helmed so many superlative local productions over the years (Blackbird, Four Places, Tryst, Pursued by Happiness, etc.) that it is no revelation that such enormous care has massaged this difficult text into a consistency that makes its thorniness accessible.”

Talkin’ Broadway:
“The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble production is superb, with an amazing cast that demonstrates how extraordinary this work really is…Director Robin Larsen, who among her many talents is being a master at tricky familial dramas, from productions of Four Places and The Fall to Earth, leads her cast to layered, brilliant work. When Larsen helms a show, it’s in good hands…This, simply, is a must-see revival of a theatrical masterpiece.”

Stage Raw:
“Then there’s the maestro — Robin Larsen — who directs this brilliant play superbly… Extracting astoundingly fine performances from the entire cast of six…”

Blackbird

LA Times: 
“Critic’s Choice: Directed with remarkable concentration by Robin Larsen… These aren’t post-Pinteresque figures any longer but tumultuously unresolved human beings — an interpretation that works extremely well in a space so intimate the actors have nowhere to hide.”

LA Weekly:
Among the reasons Blackbird can straddle that thin thread between self-parody and love story is the quality of the performances, under Robin Larsen’s straight-on staging.

Backstage:
“Robin Larsen directs with a fine eye for detail and the careful unraveling of emotional ambiguities.”
Stage and Cinema: http://www.stageandcinema.com/2011/06/12/blackbird/
“A compelling and disturbingly stark production… Robin Larsen, who has directed with a combination of clinical detachment and deep compassion, brings to every facet of the work a searing humanity and a quietly powerful urgency.

Uncle Vanya

LA Times:
“This “Vanya,” sensitively directed by Robin Larsen, suggests, we haven’t changed as much in the intervening century as he hoped.

Larsen chose a new adaptation by the Pulitzer- and Obie-winning playwright Annie Baker. Baker’s dialogue is naturalistic, full of breaks and stammers, and her colloquial word choices are punchy…

The tone hovers in a mysterious territory between tragedy and comedy, where laughter is always mixed with tears; Larsen often hits the perfect frequency.” 

LA Weekly:
THIS 116-YEAR OLD RUSSIAN PLAY PULSES WITH 21ST-CENTURY URGENCY

…many of the play’s key moments, serious though they are, tremble on the brink of hilarity… Larsen never allows these scenes to lose their poignancy.”

Broadway World
“The West Coast premiere of Annie Baker’s translation receives a brilliant mounting…

KCRW Opening The Curtain:
“Through Baker’s translation and director Robin Larsen’s insightful direction — the caricatures of the drunk country doctor and hapless Vanya give way to something more visceral. A doctor who drinks vodka becomes less comic device and more a painful, relatable truth.”

Gia on the Move:
“It is hands-down the most highly refreshing and anthropologically sensical update of a classical piece that has surfaced in Los Angeles… It retains the reverence for Chekhov’s literary and ethnic culture, and suredly decodes the text for younger audiences for maybe even the first time, in a way they will be able to “get”. Every bit of this production hails an uncomplicated grace upon the story from direction, to actors, to set design and the added musical elements that make this production absolutely special.”

Fanboy Comics
“In a masterful production that flawlessly unites Baker’s vital rendition of the work with an impeccable and passionate cast, Antaeus’ Uncle Vanya imparts audiences with an opportunity to examine their lives…
…one of the most impactful and phenomenal evenings of theatre that I have ever witnessed… it will undoubtedly resonate with today’s audiences… a necessity to see.”

Mrs. Warren’s Profession

LA Times:
“Critic’s Choice: With admirable precision, clarity and comic timing director Robin Larsen and her entire cast honor Shaw’s meticulous balancing of opposing ideas and philosophies; the arguments are cogent and the jokes are funny. Just as importantly, Larsen’s staging relishes Shaw’s genius for the unexpected but entirely logical conclusions and choices to which the characters’ perspectives lead them — without allowing us easy judgments.”

Backstage:
“George Bernard Shaw’s once-scandalous 1893 drama “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” can be a tough nut to crack, but thanks to the steadfast guidance of director Robin Larsen and a stellar double-cast ensemble of some of the Antaeus Company’s most resolute members, the balance between the crafty old master’s droll humor and jabs at the mores of his time survives remarkably intact.”

Broadway World:
“A class act at Antaeus…George Bernard Shaw’s splendidly amusing and enlightening play with very specific, detailed direction from Robin Larsen and a stellar ensemble of actors…The entire cast is electric.”

The Fall To Earth

LA Times:
“…don’t get too comfortable…in this taut, claustrophobic psychodrama…Robin Larsen’s sharp direction, Tom Buderwitz’s set, John Zalewski’s sound design, and Jeremy Pivnick’s lighting all combine to cast an eerie spell. Inexorably, this anonymous hotel room becomes a haunted house: You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

Backstage:
“In director Robin Larsen’s superbly crafted rendition…it’s the impeccable acting—particularly from the astonishing Williams—that makes this production worthwhile.”

StageSceneLA:
“Be prepared to talk about The Fall To Earth as you exit the theater, as you stick around in the lobby for more talk, and as you continue the conversation on the way home…director Robin Larsen…elicits from her stellar trio of leads three of the best performances you’ll see all year.”

Huffington Post:
“Robin Larsen’s direction was sensitive and made the bizarre quite acceptable as a female police officer gets inappropriately involved in a less-than-healthy family dynamic.”

Four Places

LA Times:
“Critic’s Choice: Director Robin Larsen and her fine cast are happy to put us through the ringer…”

Broadway World:
“In fact, the play has everything going for it: great writing, directing, acting and technical values…The acting is superb…Larsen’s staging and pace are excellent…Four Places is intense, remorseless drama at its finest.”

LA Weekly:
“GO!: …is thoroughly engaging and held in sharp balance by director Robin Larsen.”

Backstage:
“Joel Drake Johnson’s savvy and sensitive drama gets edgier by the minute, and in director Robin Larsen’s riveting West Coast–premiere rendition, it’s a funny and heart-wrenching vehicle for four astonishingly effective actors.”

Stage and Cinema:
“…the best-acted play in Los Angeles…Robin Larsen’s sharp-edged and crisp direction is sympathetic to every nuance which playwright Johnson comes up with; it is also lively and — perhaps you’ll be surprised to hear this — devastatingly funny.”

Pursued By Happiness

Variety:
“This bold, risky genre-bender is enjoying an exceptional world premiere production from the Road Theater Co… As she proved in last year’s triumphant “Four Places,” helmer Robin Larsen is brilliant at believably transforming polite conversation into gut-wrenching revelations of character.”

LA Times:
“Critic’s Choice: Die-hard romantics, fasten your seat belts. In Keith Huff’s offbeat, ever-intelligent “Pursued by Happiness”…comes to excruciating and mordantly funny life under Robin Larsen’s rigorous direction…”

Backstage:
“Fortunately, director Robin Larsen’s marvelous modernist staging and an accomplished cast drive the show, wedding enigmatic naturalism to satiric comment.”

Tryst

Backstage:
“Critic’s Pick! Every aspect of Karoline Leach’s sterling play is superb. Providing a life-changing experience that comes close to stopping the heartbeat are the mind-shattering insight, the writing, Robin Larsen’s breathtaking direction and Gabriel Olds’ performance as George Love, supreme con artist, and Deborah Puette’s as Adelaide, his willing mark… this sweet production is hugely amusing, emotionally stirring, and infinitely memorable.”

LA Times:
“Recommended: A period suspense drama laced with modern psychological twists, “Tryst” charts its sinister, atmospheric arc…with an economical elegance that even the most discriminating genre fans will relish… these sharp performers energetically sell the piece in Robin Larsen’s crisply paced staging…the illusion is just about perfect.”

Variety:
“Karoline Leach’s period drama gets a first-rate production in its West Coast premiere at the Black Dahlia Theater. The two actors are each excellent, delivering emotional and detailed work. Robin Larsen’s direction keeps the dramatic focus sharp…”

An Infinite Ache

LA Times:
“Critic’s Choice: Director Robin Larsen sustains a sure touch on the shifting complexities…A funny, poignant affair to remember.”

Backstage:
“Critic’s Pick: …director Robin Larsen displays an impeccable penchant for clarity…we are lovingly swept along with laughter and tears.”

LA Weekly:
“Recommended: …Robin Larsen’s sensitive direction… funny and engaging… a richly dimensional portrait of love in all its emotional, psychological and spiritual layers.