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30-year wait to underground utility lines is nearly over | Historic Asian American bookshop closing

Avatar photo

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.

emilymendel@gmail.com
Posted inArts

Cal Shakes to pause theater productions in 2023, hopes to return in 2024

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel March 22, 2023, 8:00 a.m.March 22, 2023

Amid declining ticket sales and donations, the theater is shifting its business model to rely more on renting out Bruns Amphitheatre, which a survey shows is valued more highly than the plays the company produces.

Posted inArts

Comic farce about Machiavelli’s turn as a playwright debuts at Berkeley’s Central Works

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel March 20, 2023, 2:53 p.m.March 20, 2023

Gary Graves’ new satirical play ‘Mondragola’ is a clever look at the political and societal chicaneries behind the scenes in 1522 Florence.

Posted inArts

‘Cambodian Rock Band’ explores the power of music and evil

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel March 06, 2023, 8:00 a.m.March 9, 2023

Local playwright Lauren Yee pulls together these elements in her play that delve into the unimaginable horrors of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge at the Berkeley Rep.

Posted inArts

Oakland Theater Project’s ‘Exodus to Eden’ imagines a post-apocalyptic trudge from East Bay to Oklahoma

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel Feb. 08, 2023, 10:29 a.m.March 13, 2023

A ‘Grapes of Wrath’ journey in reverse, the new play is surreal and ambitious, though the production’s 25 songs are a bit excessive.

Posted inArts

Aurora Theatre’s ‘Paradise Blue’ is richly imagined

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel Feb. 06, 2023, 10:12 a.m.March 13, 2023

Following the habitués of a jazz joint called Paradise in 1940s Detroit, Dominique Morisseau’s play has finely honed dialogue, realistic characters and a dazzling and dramatic second act.

Posted inArts

Berkeley Rep serves up a slice of life in the truck stop kitchen at ‘Clyde’s’

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel Jan. 30, 2023, 9:30 a.m.January 31, 2023

Formerly incarcerated cooks make ordinary sandwiches while dreaming of creating superb, unique ones in Lynn Nottage’s Tony Award-nominated human comedy.

Posted inArts

Berkeley Rep actor’s sorrowful eyes tell the story of Polish diplomat who reported on WWII extermination camps

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel Dec. 05, 2022, 2:46 p.m.December 8, 2022

Academy Award nominee David Strathairn never overplays his role in a tour de force one-person performance of ‘Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski.’

Posted inArts

Magic stage sets, tombstone humor lend irreverent touch to Berkeley Rep’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ adaptation

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel Nov. 28, 2022, 8:30 a.m.November 28, 2022

British director Emma Rice’s production is ingenious, though the dancing, prancing and antics alter the story’s overall feel.

Posted inArts

Dramatic world premiere adaptation of Book of Sand

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel Nov. 21, 2022, 2:39 p.m.November 22, 2022

For a small company, Oakland Theater Project productions are professional and proficient. The play based on Borges’ 1975 short story is no exception.

Posted inArts

A brilliant West Coast premiere of ‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel Nov. 15, 2022, 2:38 p.m.November 15, 2022

It was thrilling to see Shotgun Players produce the West Coast premiere of such a complex, multifaceted and challenging production.

Posted inArts

Pho-focused play tackles food appropriation

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel Nov. 14, 2022, 12:08 p.m.November 14, 2022

In “Colonialism is Terrible, But Phở is Delicious,” playwright Dustin Chinn offers an oft-comedic take on thorny issues of race, history and dining.

Posted inArts

The Great Comet of 1812 from Broadway to Berkeley

Avatar photo by Emily S. Mendel Nov. 11, 2022, 11:00 a.m.November 15, 2022

An interview with playwright Dave Malloy and Shotgun Players’ co-director Patrick Dooley. The sung-through musical premieres Saturday at the Shotgun Players’ Ashby Stage Theater.

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