More Than Kids’ Stuff

There is indeed a vacuum in L.A.’s mid-sized theater, and that vacuum is apparently reflective of the dearth of insightful theater criticism available in Calendar.

Don Shirley intimates in his Stage Watch column (Nov. 28) that the Coronet Theatre, seemingly because it primarily houses the Serendipity Theatre Company (a professional company devoted to theater for young audiences), does not present “challenging new work.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. Youth theater is a viable and important aspect of the local theatrical community.

In the past season, for example, I had the pleasure of working as an actor in Serendipity’s production of “A Bridge to Terebithia,” which used such “new and challenging” techniques as non-traditional casting, representational staging that incorporated elements of Kabuki and subject matter (explaining a senseless and “unjust” death of one child to another) that certainly challenged the emotions and intellects of adults and their children.

I fervently hope that when the other theaters mentioned in Shirley’s column begin producing, on a regular basis, the top-quality productions currently available at the Coronet through Serendipity, the vacuum of sensitive and insightful criticism will be filled as well.

GARY BOLEN Valencia