William Hodgson adeptly directs this play based on Greek scholar Anne Carson’s 1989 novel-length poem, Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse. Now playing through May 19 at the Oakland Theater Project.
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.
An African American math professor struggles with alienation from his familial and racial heritage in ‘Blue Door’
The title of Tanya Barfield’s play derives from “a belief in Gullah culture that if you paint your door blue, you keep away the evil spirits,” she has said.
Funny and fast-paced, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ inspires love and harmony
Featuring a multi-tier, colorful set and a mix of period and modern costumes, Shotgun Players’ Berkeley production is imaginative and cheerful.
‘The Far Country’ lyrically explores the complexity of the Chinese American immigration experience
Lloyd Suh’s play universalizes three generations of one family’s immigration story in its West Coast premiere at the Berkeley Rep.
Oakland Theater Project explores the toll of disability in ‘Cost of Living’
Directed by Emilie Whelan, ‘Cost of Living’ explores the lives and relationships of two disabled people and their caregivers in modern-day New Jersey.
Strong performances spark Central Works’ ‘Boss McGreedy’
Michael Ray Wisely plays a corrupt political boss in Berkeley Central Works Theater Company’s premiere of Gary Graves’ play.
Aurora Theatre’s ‘Manahatta’ links 17th century’s rapacious capitalists to those who caused the ’08 financial crisis
The same actors play the greedy 17th-century Dutch East India Company bigwigs who “purchased” Manhattan and the power-hungry 21st-century investment bankers about to go under.
All’s not as merry as it seems in Berkeley Rep’s ‘Cult of Love’
The humorous, insightful tale from playwright Leslye Headland slowly sucks viewers into the dark undercurrents of a family at Christmas time.
A tender college romance stirs to life on Ashby Stage in ‘Babes in Ho-lland’
The world premiere Shotgun Players production from Deneen Reynolds-Knott is set to nostalgia-steeped ’90s music.
Billy Crudup is a devious inveigler in Berkeley Rep’s ‘Harry Clarke’
The award-winning actor plays a timid Midwesterner who insinuates himself into a wealthy and gullible family in this one-man psychological thriller.
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.