Saturday night I went to see "Blackbird," a dark love story presented by the Vs. Theatre Company. Written by Adam Rapp, it's a tightly scripted play about two broken people -- a Gulf War veteran who has been plagued by physical and mental injuries since his return and his girlfriend, a drug-addicted, former-stripper who just wants to be told what to do. The entire play is set in a claustrophobic, trash-strewn room where they live without running water in New York City. And if that weren't enough, it's Christmas Eve and a little blackbird keep persistently tapping on the window trying to get into the room.

The acting is great, but it's the writing that makes this play so superb.

I'd recommend this show to those in the Los Angeles area but Saturday night's performance was the last. Fortunately, according to the program, a film adaptation of this play is coming out later this year.