'Voices' speak at Alderson Studio

There is a tendency, in the repetitive 100-channel cable television universe that we live in, to forget that there is more stimulating entertainment beyond what is 4 feet in front of us. In West Hollywood at the William Alderson Studio Theatre, some 20 actors are providing live entertainment to those lucky few who are brave enough to jump off their couch to see it.

Beginning last Friday and running through Dec. 19 at the 821 3/4 Fairfax Ave. theater, director Barry Primus is presenting "Voices of the 20th Century," three plays by three distinct 20th-century playwrights - Tennessee Williams' "The Long Goodbye," Thornton Wilder's "Rivers Under the Earth" and Caryl Churchill's "Three More Sleepless Nights."

"I wanted to use as many actors as possible," says Primus, who co-wrote and directed the feature film "Mistress" starring Robert DeNiro. "I thought that as this century ended, we should have three plays that had strong influences in our century."

Lawrence C. Ross, Jr.

West Hollywood Independent