Yes, please exit. Stage left, stage right – just get off the stage please.

Let this series be a lesson to you, kiddies. Just because you shoot something with nice lighting does not make it worth watching. There are a couple of things you *really* should have before unloading the lighting truck and pulling out the fancy HD camera:

1. A good script.
2. A uniformly good cast.
3. A director who does more than get simple coverage.

Alas, “Exit Stage Left” lacks all three. The script is so plodding and heavy-handed, it seems to be written for people who find soap operas too subtle to follow.

The cast is about 50% good, and that doesn’t include the main leads. The actor playing the director always has a look in his eye that seems to say “What’s my next line?” He’s just not… present.

The actor playing the “difficult playwright” is so wooden, it reminds me of those B movies from the 1950s.

And the lead actress playing the lead actress has negative charisma. She’s meant to be sexy/scary, but she’s merely annoying. Dianne Weist (“Bullets Over Broadway” has nothing to fear from this woman.

The rest of the cast is fine, but suffer from on-the-nose editing that does not let the performances breathe. The director/editor seems to simply record everything and dutifully edit it together, faithfully preserving every line. If only there were lines worth preserving.

For example (SPOILER ALERT), the final minutes of episode 1.11 have 2 characters having a big argument, and the director/editor lacks the talent to realize that if the argument were 1/10 as long, it would be 100 times more powerful. What starts out interesting devolves into a shrill shouting match more reminiscent of a scene from “Cops” than backstage at a theater.

Oh, I could go on, but why bother?

Don’t waste your time on this stilted uninspired series.