Reapers
Odyssey Theater Ensemble, Los Angeles, CA

Written and directed by American playwright John O'Keefe, "Reapers" (a world premiere at the Odyssey) artfully blends the abrasive theater of Sam Shepard with a fantasy version of Iowa -- wrapped in an edgy, spacey lyricism that confronts all of the beauty, horrors and complexities of the modern world. A brilliant and provocative sort of "Twilight of the Gods" for our own age. (More)
 

Spook
Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma, CA (2002)

Spook brings us into a prison cell in a collapsing Germany, 1945, where the head of Nazi Intelligence for the eastern front, General Herbert Schneider has surrendered under a false name, hoping to hide away. His presence is intuited by an American Intelligence officer, Captain Steven Wallace, eager to ferret out Schneider's extensive knowledge of our then-ally, the USSR. We expect a game of feints and shifts, and yep, we get it. (More)
 

Times Like These
Odyssey Theatre, Los Angeles, CA (2003)

Veteran playwright John O'Keefe takes a largely forgotten tragedy of the Holocaust and exploits it to devastating effect ... O'Keefe, who also directs, loosely bases his play on the real-life story of Meta Wolff and Joachim Gottschalk, married actors crushed under the juggernaut of the Third Reich. An idol of stage and film, the Aryan Gottschalk was threatened with dire consequences unless he separated from his Jewish wife, Wolff. But the night before Wolff and their only child were to be deported to Theresienstadt, the entire family committed suicide -- an event hushed up by the Nazis, who feared public riots if the news leaked out. (More)