Ben Elton's Popcorn, a play which won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, will have its West Coast premiere at El Portal Center for the Arts. The run, directed by Jeremiah Morris, is from Sept. 8-Oct. 1.
In his Beverly Hills home on the night of the Oscar win, a director is held hostage by a real-life version of the gun-wielding thugs in his own ultra-violent films. Popcorn indicts in black comedy fashion the trend in current cinema to exploit over-the-top violence.
Featured in the cast are Maxwell Caulfield, David Faustino and Julie Cobb. Author Elton is a comedian and comedy writer, whose credits include UK TV's "Blackadder" and "The Young Ones."
El Portal Center for the Arts is located at 5269 Lankershim Blvd. in NoHo. For tickets and information call (818) 508-4200.
-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent