L A Theatre Works

"The Mother… With the Hat" is not the actual title of the exhilarating Stephen Adly Guirgis play now at South Coast Repertory, but it's the best I can do without bringing down the strong arm of the censor. Hard as it might be for casual cursers to believe, naughty words still have the power to offend. Guirgis knows this on a deeper level than most. His characters throw the profanity equivalent of Molotov cocktails at one another. They're foulmouthed artists, spinning obscenely colorful invective to inflict as much damage as possible on their targets.

To accommodate ticket demand, L.A. Theatre Works' live radio theater presentation of Tennessee Williams' "The Rose Tattoo," starring Mercedes Ruehl and Anthony LaPaglia at the Skirball Cultural Center Dec. 8 through Dec. 12, has added a matinee performance on Dec. 11 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $31 and $35. Information: (310) 827-0889.

Alfre Woodward, Rita Moreno, Lisa Bonet and Paul Winfield will perform in the KCRW Playhouse presentation "Diverse American Voices," airing on KCRW-FM stations on April 24 at 6 p.m. In the L.A. Theatre Works/BBC co-production, the cast will read stories by four leading American writers, including Alice Walker, Sandra Cisneros, Toni Cade Bambara and James Baldwin.

Edward Asner, Kaitlin Hopkins, Jon Matthews and Douglas Weston will star in a live radio theater production of Feodor Dostoevsky's classic story "The Idiot," to be performed Wednesday-March 1 at the Doubletree Hotel in Santa Monica. The production will be recorded for future broadcast as part of L.A. Theatre Works' radio theater series "The Play's the Thing," which airs on KCRW-FM (89.9). Tickets to the 8 p.m. performances are $23 and $26. Information: (310) 827-0889.

Barbara Bosson ("Murder One"), Ella Joyce ("Roc"), Amy Pietz ("Caroline in the City"), Kevin Kilner ("Almost Perfect") and Christine Avila ("Zoot Suit") will play a group of jurors of mixed heritage trying to decide a racially sensitive court case in L.A. Theatre Works' live radio production "Voire Dire," written by Joe Sutton. The radio play, which will be recorded live for future broadcast on KCRW-FM (89.9), will be performed live on Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m.

Edward Asner, Tyne Daly and Yeardley Smith ("The Simpsons") will star in a new revival of the musical "Guns," which will be performed June 4-7 as a part of L.A. Theatre Works' "The Play's the Thing" live radio theater series. The performances, at the Doubletree Guest Suites hotel in Santa Monica, will be recorded for future broadcast on KCRW-FM (89.9). Tickets are $23 and $26; student tickets may be purchased for half price 10 minutes prior to curtain. For information, call (310) 827-0808.