Though not as absurd as some of his plays, Ionesco’s “Exit The King” brings some issues to the stage that are thought-provoking and just edgy enough to make us think about the “art” and tragedy of death.

The world premiere of "Wake Up, Cameron Dobbs", is a charming, smart, and witty evening of comedy. It was very well acted, and I particularly enjoyed the light hearted humor.

The West End Players Guild tag line is “big theatre in a small space”. They are true to their word with this excellent production of The Seafarer - a powerful, darkly funny journey into the language-rich world of Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s native Dublin.

Some shows should have much longer runs than two weeks, but since Murdering Marlowe closes after next weekend, seizeth the day! This is a wonderfully inventive, clever take on the presumed rivalry between two young playwrights, William (Will) Shakespeare (Michael B. Perkins) and Christopher (Chris, though often called “Kit”) Marlowe (John Wolbers).

Resplendent in top hat, white tie and tails, Chuck Lavazzi brought his intimate cabaret act to the Missouri History Museum for two weekends (this is the second). His performance is part of a series presented by the Museum in collaboration with local theatre companies, in this case, the West End Players Guild (WEPG), whose 2011-12 season the show also kicks off. He came to sing the Golden Oldies, and I’m not talking about the Beatles or even Bing. His material is straight from the Amercian Vaudeville age, and mainly songs from its peak shortly before and during the 1920s.

Full enjoyment of any type of theater requires the willing suspension of disbelief; but Acts of Love, written by Kathryn Chetkovich, requires a full lobotomy.

The Memory of Water, a play about three English sisters, reminds me more of Beth Henley and the sisters in Crimes of the Heart than of Chekhov and his three sisters.

I'm grateful to the West End Players Guild for doing an evening of four one-act plays. There exists a fascinating store of one-act plays written over the years, some by our greatest playwrights, but theatres don't often find a way to work them into their schedules. Under the collective title A Woman's Place, the Guild chose four that place women in crucial roles. Two of the pieces are by playwrights whose names are very familiar, though the plays aren't, to me. David Mamet's "Australia" takes only a few moments and is packed with dialogue immediately recognizable as Mamet-speak, though here spoken not by men but by two women, played with fine sensitivity to the playwright's style by Susan Elaine Rasch and Elissa Schrader.

A few seasons ago, the Rep Studio Theatre mounted a production of Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso. I argued that I had never seen it until my husband showed me the playbill as proof. (Beware of collecting such things if always being right is important to you.) So, I then regretted volunteering to review it, assumed I simply hadn't cared for it and relegated it to my mental trash file. That was a mistake, as it turns out, having now seen, enjoyed and appreciated the West End Player's Guild's production of A Picasso.