The award-winning actor plays a timid Midwesterner who insinuates himself into a wealthy and gullible family in this one-man psychological thriller.

Emily S. Mendel
Emily S. Mendel reviews Berkeley’s vibrant theater scene for Berkeleyside. As a native New Yorker (although an East Bay resident for most of her life), Emily grew up loving and studying theater, from Off-Off to On Broadway, as her multi-volume Playbill collection attests. Ending her law practice has given Emily the time to indulge in her love of the arts and travel.
Aurora Theatre’s ‘1984’ disturbs as authoritarian peril looms
The adaptation of George Orwell’s classic tale of thought police, hidden cameras and the crushing power of the state resonates strongly in our current political moment.
This ‘Cinderella’ is a struggling Berkeley artist who finds happily ever after with a prince of Silicon Valley
The Berkeley Playhouse production of the age-old tale has a few local touches, such as allusions to Cheese Board and the Butcher’s Son in the set.
Classic drag rock musical ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ makes for fabulous Berkeley theater
The Shotgun Players production of the now 25-year-old hit musical is as fun and outrageous as ever.
Berkeley Rep’s ‘Bulrusher,’ set in 1950s Booneville, is an evocative but somewhat jumbled folk tale
Eisa Davis’ Pulitzer-winning play, written partly in the dying Boontling dialect of Anderson Valley, follows an 18-year-old girl with the power to tell fortunes though a town full of secrets.
Funny new Berkeley play takes aim at tech bros, AI and the ethical void in Washington
‘The Engine of Our Disruption,’ a world premiere at Berkeley’s Central Works, will have you thinking while you chuckle.
Berkeley Rep’s ‘POTUS’ is a vulgar, mostly comic romp
The title, ‘POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,’ sets the tone for the play’s silly brand of political humor.
Never-before-seen photos of post-war Berlin and Jerusalem after the Six-Day War are on view in downtown Berkeley
The renowned Russian-Jewish photographer Roman Vishniac’s poignant photos are on view at the Magnes Collection.
‘Born With Teeth’ imagines the relationship when Shakespeare and Marlowe meet
The idea for the production sprang instantly when playwright Liz Duffy Adams learned that the two giants of Elizabethan theater might have collaborated on Shakespeare’s Henry VI.
Young boy given away by his adopted parents thinks he’s a wolf and yearns for a wolf pack in inventive new Berkeley play
The Shotgun Players production at the Ashby Stage is a “gut punch,” director Elizabeth Carter said. A puppet custom-made for the play represents part of the child’s character.
Defiant teen gets caught up in all-out fairy battle in this enchanting free outdoor Berkeley play
‘Faeries of the Moonlight,’ a modern musical fairy tale set in the airy amphitheater at John Hinkel Park, is suitable for all ages.
New West Berkeley mural is a repeated Hindi prayer
Berkeley artist Amrita Singhal recently finished the mural — her first — on the side of the building that once housed Sam’s 58 Club.