POINTY SCISSORS

This new play at Theatre West, by playwright Clara Rodriguez, is hilarious! My frequently-with-me-for-shows friend Marc said he rarely hears me laugh at entertainments, so he was semi-surprised to hear how much I was doing so at this one!

The cute cast board in the lobby, with all the kid scissors! Photo by Karen Salkin.

Everything about Pointy Scissors is perfect!  There are very many surprises in it, so I can’t review it in depth because I don’t want to ruin anything for you. But I have to laud the entire cast, in alphabetical order: Angela Bruning, Anibal Silveyra, (who I can tell also has a beautiful singing voice,) Richy Storrs, (who could easily play one of the Rascals in a musical biopic,) Monika Vidakovic, Danielle Weeks, and Steve Young, (who, it states in the program, has just returned to performing, and I heavily suggest he stay here!) (Wow—look at all those last names that begin near the end of the alphabet!) They’re all spot-on for their characters. I had actually recently seen Anibal, Monika, and Danielle in shorter playlets in WestFest, that theatre’s four-week member showcase; that’s why audiences should attend it each year—to discover new talent.

I knew nothing at all about the premise of Pointy Scissors going in, which I feel is the way it should be. A couple of people, whose opinions I trust, had told me it’s a laugh riot, and they were 100% correct. So I now suggest that you all trust me on this recommendation, as well.

All I can tell you is this: At only an hour and a half, with most of the ninety minutes full of hearty laughs, Pointy Scissors is one of the best shows you’ll see all year! (And believe me when I tell you that, as a theatre critic—which means sadly for me—most of the ones I see don’t compare, not even a little bit.)

(L-R) Danielle Weeks, Richy Storrs, Steve Young, and Angela Bruning. Photo by Garry M. Kluger, as is the one at the top of the page.

The basic set-up is that a responsible sister owns a small barber shop, (hence the title Pointy Scissors,) in which her sweet and slow brother works with her. And you just have to let the action unfold from there. It’s one surprise after another, and scrape after scrape! It does get a tad campy at times, but that’s part of the fun.

I cannot tell you more than that, lest I spoil it for you. But I can advise that you must pay attention from the very first sentence. (So don’t be late!)

The tag line is that the show is “about love and poor motor skills.” I don’t know about the “love” part, but I do know a little something about poor motor skills by a hair cutter—the guy who did my hair for my show for years was all of a sudden in a rush one day, and wound-up cutting my mid-back-length locks to where I looked like Anybody’s from West Side Story! What a disaster. And I was shooting a game show pilot two days later! The producers blamed it not getting picked-up on new very-unsexy look! (I pretty much agree with that assessment.) So, is what happens in Pointy Scissors worse than my personal debacle? You’ll just have to mosey on over to Theatre West to find-out for yourselves.

But know this—it’s exactly the comedic break we need in this depressing world right now.

Pointy Scissors running through December 7, 2025
Theatre West
3333 Cahuenga Boulevard West, LA
323-851-4839  www.theatrewest.org