‘Gum,’ not ‘gun’: Asylum seeker subjected to absurd interrogation in Shotgun Players’ ‘The Claim’
Language barriers, indifference and ignorance by civil servants lead a Congolese refugee’s interview for asylum to disastrous results.
Emily S. Mendel
Freelancer Emily S. Mendel reviews Berkeley’s vibrant theater scene for Berkeleyside. As a native New Yorker (although now a 37-year East Bay resident), Emily grew up loving and studying theater, from Off Off to On Broadway, as her multi-volume Playbill collection attests. Ending her 30-year law practice has given Emily the time to indulge in her love of the arts and travel.
Articles by Emily S. Mendel
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Berkeley tax lawyer started painting and ‘a lightbulb went off’
Amrita Singhal’s third solo show, “Seek, Memory,” is on view through Oct. 23 at Berkeley’s Shoh Gallery.
Bubble wrap, water fights, Nina Simone’s voice: ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ chronicles what makes life worth living
The Oakland Theater Project’s extraordinary one-person show, lets the audience commemorate the beauty of life along with the play’s narrator.
Aurora Theatre’s ‘stoop stories’ of sex, drugs and library books are intimate and memorable
Playwright Dael Orlandersmith’s filmed one-person creation, “Stoop Stories,” is now streaming via the Aurora Theatre through Oct. 2.
Buffoonery, tragedy, live theater: Cal Shakes’ ‘The Winter’s Tale’ is a delight
“The Winter’s Tale” is the California Shakespeare Theater’s first live, in-person performance since October 2019.
Berkeley playwright dreamed up tale of post-human robot museum curators during walks in the Rose Garden
Miyoko Conley, a grad student at Cal, was selected to have her play performed at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival the weekends of July 16 and 25.
Here’s a look ahead at live performances as local theaters prepare to reopen
After months of being entertained through livestreaming, artists are eager to return to the stage, so pull up a seat, sit back and enjoy.
A quartet of one-act vignettes from overlooked Black playwright Kathleen Collins
Playgoers drive into the parking lot of the Flax Art and Design store in downtown Oakland, watch through the windshields of their cars and listen through their FM radios.
TheatreFirst virtually presents the creative and entertaining ‘Magic Fruit’
Two women cook elaborate meals for each other: One fixes the Persian dishes her grandparents savored, while the other finally learns to love the Mexican cuisine of her roots.
Free from Berkeley Rep: ‘The Waves in Quarantine,’ six short, evocative films
The six-part series is patterned after the 1990 musical adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s 1931 experimental novel, ‘The Waves.’
Oakland Theater Project’s one-person ‘The Waste Land’ is brilliant
Lisa Ramirez shines in this production that takes place in a parking lot in downtown Oakland. Yes, a parking lot! Or you can stream it.
Four creative and exciting local theater productions to check out in April
Aurora Theatre Company, Those Women Productions, Oakland Theatre Project and TheatreFirst are working hard to stimulate and educate us, despite the challenges of the pandemic.
Aurora Theatre’s audio play is a powerful adaptation of Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest Eye’
Set in 1940 in Morrison’s hometown of Lorain, Ohio, the story revolves around Pecola Breedlove, a lonely 11-year-old-Black girl who is shamed by what she is told is her ugliness.
Engaging new play, ‘Feel the Spirit,’ soars at Shotgun Players
In this inventive production, written by Noelle Viñas for Zoom, a young gay Latina pastor tries to hold her congregation together through the coronavirus and a racial uprising.
‘God of Vengeance’ is a 115-year-old Yiddish play with 21st-century American themes
Catch this remarkable and lively Yiddish Theatre Ensemble presentation, which touches on issues like freedom of expression and respect for sex workers, Saturday through Tuesday.
Shotgun Players at 30 has turned crisis into opportunity
Lockdown be damned! The Berkeley theater group has forged ahead, renovating its stage and planning a new season designed to bridge the chasm between streaming and live theater.
