Courtroom dramas have long been a staple of mass entertainment. From TV’s Perry Mason to plays and films like The Caine Mutiny Court Marshall and A Few Good Men, audiences have long enjoyed the compact drama provided by a judicial trial. Playwright Selina Fillinger has written a worthy addition to that canon with Faceless, running …
Author Archives: second
This Random World – May 22, 2019
Serendipity. Fate. Chance. Destiny. Karma. Fortune. Kismet. Call it what ever you like, but playwright Steven Dietz (Becky’s New Car) doesn’t believe in it so much so that his play This Random World, running through May 26 at Left Edge Theatre, is even sub-titled The Myth of Serendipity. The connections that people have, make, or …
Jazz – May 15, 2019
The Oxford Dictionary uerecsa Huerdefines ‘jazz’ as a type of music of black American origin characterized by improvisation, syncopation, and usually a regular or forceful rhythm. The same definition could be applied to Nambi E. Kelley’s Jazz, her theatrical adaptation of Toni Morrison’s 1992 novel of the same name. Awoye Timpo directs the Marin Theatre …
To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men – May 8, 2019
The theatrical treatments of two great American novels come alive on North Bay stages with mixed results in productions running through May 19. 6th Street Playhouse is presenting Christopher Sergel’s adaptation (not Aaron Sorkin’s) of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Sergel had an agreement with Lee to produce a theatrical version of her novel …
Continue reading “To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men – May 8, 2019”
Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – May 1, 2019
Most folk’s affection for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory began with reading the book or watching the somewhat renamed 1971 Gene Wilder film. “Charlie” purists rejected Tim Burton’s 2005 cinematic take on the tale as too dark and weird. Well folks, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. San Francisco’s SHN Golden Gate Theatre is …
Continue reading “Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – May 1, 2019”
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown – April 24, 2019
One would be hard-pressed to find Clark Gesner’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown in the pantheon of great American musicals. What began as a concept album in 1966 soon transmogrified into a very successful off-Broadway show that never really cut it on Broadway. Its first run in 1971 lasted less than a month, and …
Continue reading “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown – April 24, 2019”
Barbecue Apocalypse – April 17, 2019
It’s been said that the only two things guaranteed to survive the Apocalypse are cockroaches and Cher. Playwright Matt Lyle would like to add one more thing to that list – the good ol’ American barbecue – as he explains in his 2014 play Barbecue Apocalypse, running now at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center through …
Heathen Valley, The Perfect Ganesh – April 10, 2019
God takes center stage in two North Bay productions running through April 14. Sebastopol’s Main Stage West transports to you to 1840 and an Appalachian Heathen Valley, while Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater takes you on a passage to India in search of A Perfect Ganesh. Heathen Valley is referred to in the play as “the land …
Continue reading “Heathen Valley, The Perfect Ganesh – April 10, 2019”
The Revolutionists – April 3, 2019
“That’s so meta” is a phrase you hear bandied about a lot these days. It’s usually used to describe a reference by someone about themselves. Metatheatre is a style of play that acknowledges it is a play within a play – actors are aware of the audience and may interact with them or acknowledge they’re …
These Shining Lives – March 27, 2019
At a time when occupational safety regulations are being loosened and funding for the agencies responsible for their enforcement being reduced, it’s good to be reminded how those safeguards came to be and what life was like for American workers before then. The Ross Valley Players’ production of Melanie Marnich’s These Shining Lives does just …