Berkeley Rep’s melodic musical ‘Octet’ explores the cacophony of the internet
Dave Malloy’s ingenious a capella chamber opera about an internet addict support group pierces a stake into the heart of the net, song by glorious song.
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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Black Cal students’ theories of political change play out over decades in Aurora Theatre show
‘The Incrementalist,’ written by Berkeley City College professor Cleavon Smith, is steeped in Berkeley history and explores the ongoing conflict between students and the administration.
‘Endlings’ resists sentimentalizing elderly Korean deep-sea abalone divers
All’s not paradise for the aquanauts in a new Oakland Theater Project production. But one Korean-American character, both tempted and pressured by the white gaze, is cynically writing a play about them.
‘Escape from the Asylum’ is a delightful madcap comedy
The Berkeley Central Works production — a world premiere — has wit, a well-executed umbrella-sword fight and a comically melodramatic séance.
Shotgun Players’ exuberant rock musical ‘Passing Strange’ explodes with youthful energy
Playing at the Ashby Stage through April 23, ‘Passing Strange’ is a picaresque journey of growing up set in South Central L.A. and pot-hazed Amsterdam.
Berkeley psychiatrist’s first play follows family living under the shadow of Huntington’s disease
‘Red Winged Blackbird,’ on view at Live Oak Theater, is Alyosha Zim’s heartfelt story about brotherly love, generational strife, religion and life-and-death choices.
Whaling crew is shipwrecked and ‘Swept Away’ in spellbinding Berkeley Rep musical
The world premiere Berkeley Rep production, long delayed by the pandemic, is set to music by folk/rock band The Avett Brothers.
Berkeley Rep managing director Susie Medak is stepping down after 3 decades
A self-described “animal of the theater,” Medak will depart Berkeley Rep in August. She’ll pursue executive coaching.
Brand-new theater troupe — the Berkeley Shakespeare Company — starts off with plucky take on ‘Macbeth’
The new Berkeley theater company was formed by three actors who met while performing ‘Taming of the Shrew’ at Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma County.
‘Father/Daughter’ bond ripples through time at Aurora Theatre
The world premiere of ‘Father/Daughter’ at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre twists the parent/child bond in several directions.
Door-slamming lovers are adrift in ‘Wintertime’ as live theater returns to Berkeley Rep
Charles L. Mee’s ‘Wintertime’ is the Berkeley Rep’s first live production since the beginning of lockdown.
Oakland Theater Project pulls Joan of Arc into the tumultuous present
The world premiere of playwright Lisa Ramirez’s one-act reimagining of the Joan of Arc story spans seven centuries.
‘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.
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.
