Change is part of life. Some changes are easy, others much less so. And when cultures collide, change is often dangerous, violent, and destructive. From the opening scenes of Danai Gurira’s astonishing period drama “The Convert” – set in Colonial Africa in the late 1800s – we are plunged into the middle of such a …
Category Archives: Uncategorized
“Bonnie & Clyde;” and “Shining City” – February 25, 2015
The thing about death is, it’s not negotiable. Sooner or later, we all have to face it. Till then, it’s hanging out there, somewhere, waiting for us. And one way we deal with that is by experiencing books, movies, songs, poetry and plays about the inevitability of death. Somehow, when glimpsing the grim reaper through …
Continue reading ““Bonnie & Clyde;” and “Shining City” – February 25, 2015″
“Carousel” – February 18, 2015
“Carousel,” the second musical created by the legendary Rogers & Hammerstein, is noted today for two major things. One – it’s the show from which we gained the songs “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” sometimes alternately known as “When You Walk Through a Storm,” a song without which funerals, …
“I Am My Own Wife” – February 11, 2015
Twelve years ago, journalist and playwright Doug Wright unveiled a new one-actor play with a curious name: “I Am My Own Wife.” As a member of the Tectonic Theater, which had earlier premiered the ground breaking play “The Laramie Project,” Wright was fully adept at the process of creating documentary style theater, a play that …
“Heroines” and “In the Next Room” – February 4, 2015
In Victorian England, the unhappy wife of a repressed doctor yearns to feel alive – and finally takes matters into her own hands. In an imaginary steam-punk version of Victorian England, a band of brave, opera-singing women similarly yearn to be happy, free – and a little bit naughty – and they make it happen …
Continue reading ““Heroines” and “In the Next Room” – February 4, 2015″
Theatre Awards Season! – January 28, 2015
It’s awards season, and everyone’s talking about who got nominated and who didn’t. And no, I’m not talking about the Oscars. Last week, the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle announced the nominees for its upcoming 29th annual awards ceremony, to be held Monday March 9, at the Victoria Theater in San Francisco. After …
Continue reading “Theatre Awards Season! – January 28, 2015”
“The Fever” – January 21, 2015
I saw an amazing performance last weekend, but I have no clue how to properly describe what I saw. I could start by talking about Wallace Shawn, the playwright of “The Fever,” which was first performed in 1990 or so, was turned into a provocative film in 2004, and is now being performed by actor …
“Clybourne Park” – January 14, 2015
One need not have ever seen Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun to appreciate the setup – or laugh at the jokes – in Bruce Norris’s brilliant 2012 Pulitzer-and-Tony-winning comedy-drama “Clybourne Park.” Taking place immediately following the events of the original, Clybourne – running through January 25 at 6th Street Playhouse – …
“Edith Piaf: Under Paris Skies” – January 7, 2015
It’s a new year, and as the North Bay theater community prepares to launch its first shows of 2015, Cinnabar Theater, in Petaluma, has already unveiled its newest show, and I mean new. “Edith Piaf: Under Paris Skies” is an original commission, assembled from scratch for Cinnabar Theater, and though its creators are better known …
Continue reading ““Edith Piaf: Under Paris Skies” – January 7, 2015″