First, let me tell you about a show I saw last week, then let me say a few words about where I saw it. “Trailer Park Gods” is an original play by Nayia Kuvetakis, a recent UC Berkeley graduate. So, actually, are most of the members of Faultline Theater, a San Francisco-based company made up …
Author Archives: second
“Point Break Live!” – May 6, 2015
Whatever else one says about “Point Break Live!,” you have to agree there aren’t many other live entertainments where the audience is doused with water, beaned by flying sandwiches, robbed at gunpoint by guys wearing Richard Nixon masks, and . . . um . . . spattered with blood. Fake blood, but yeah, blood. Welcome …
“The Way West;” and “The Amen Corner” – April 29, 2015
Music has a way of reaching out like no other art form. In times of stress it calms our nerves. It gives us strength when we are struggling. Then again, it also has a way of reaching into our souls and tearing us into sad little pieces. Two new Marin County shows, neither a traditional …
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“Nunsense!” – April 22, 2015
There may be more-than-one theatrical franchise of musical plays that started out as a line of greeting cards showing nuns saying vaguely racy things, but if there is, it’s not anywhere as famous or as popular as the “Nunsense” shows by Dan Goggins. The first one appeared off Broadway in 1985. The show, in which …
“King Lear” … with puppets! – April 15, 2015
I love puppets. It’s a secret that only a certain number of people know about me, but in my late teens, I was a professional puppeteer. It’s true. I had my own company – a puppet company – and we toured around Southern California doing, you know, puppet shows. That was a 35 years ago, …
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“Venus in Fur” – April 8, 2015
Something kinky has been taking place lately in the world of mainstream entertainment. Sadism and masochism are now to romantic comedy what romance and comedy use to be to romantic comedy. From the 2002 movie Secretary to 2011’s three-novel series 50 Shades of Grey (released as a movie earlier this year), many of our favorite …
Oregon Shakespeare Festival: “Guys and Dolls” and “Fingersmith” – April 2, 2015
One thing about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival that surprises a few newcomers is that only about four or five of the eleven shows they do each year are by William Shakespeare. The festival mixes things up a lot, adding original shows, historical classics, world premieres, musicals and American standards. This year – with four shows …
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Oregon Shakespeare Festival: “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Pericles” – April 1, 2015
Every year in spring, when people hear me talking about the shows that just opened at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, they get confused. “Wait . . . what? Just opened? You mean LAST year! Last SUMMER, right? The Shakespeare festival is in summer.” My response is usually along the lines of, “Yes, the …
“[Title of Show];” and “Deathtrap” – March 25, 2015
It’s a striking coincidence. You don’t have to be the writer of stage thrillers to see it. Maybe it’s the work of some devious theatrical conspiracy. How else to explain two shows opening in the North Bay the same weekend, each one a play about people writing a play about people writing a play. And …
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39th Annual San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Awards – March 11, 2015
Well, Monday night was a good night for North Bay theater people. At the 39th annual San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Awards, a batch of Sonoma County theaters were honored, with some very talented actors, directors and theater artists walking the steps up to claim awards for their work in 2014. Winners included Denise …
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