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.
Theater
Comic farce about Machiavelli’s turn as a playwright debuts at Berkeley’s Central Works
Gary Graves’ new satirical play ‘Mondragola’ is a clever look at the political and societal chicaneries behind the scenes in 1522 Florence.
High school thespians get the spotlight at Berkeley Rep festival this Sunday
The March 12 festival will feature five mini-plays by and about students at Berkeley High and four other Bay Area high schools.
Oakland Theater Project’s ‘Exodus to Eden’ imagines a post-apocalyptic trudge from East Bay to Oklahoma
A ‘Grapes of Wrath’ journey in reverse, the new play is surreal and ambitious, though the production’s 25 songs are a bit excessive.
Aurora Theatre’s ‘Paradise Blue’ is richly imagined
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.
Tour Berkeley High’s gleaming new building for visual and performing arts
The new A Building is now open for classes such as Jazz Band and video production. The revamped Berkeley Community Theater will open later this year.
Berkeley Rep serves up a slice of life in the truck stop kitchen at ‘Clyde’s’
Formerly incarcerated cooks make ordinary sandwiches while dreaming of creating superb, unique ones in Lynn Nottage’s Tony Award-nominated human comedy.
Teatro Jornalero aims to bring its immigrant stories to a larger audience
The day laborers behind the Oakland theater troupe are looking for community support to expand their reach.
Berkeley Rep actor’s sorrowful eyes tell the story of Polish diplomat who reported on WWII extermination camps
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.’
Magic stage sets, tombstone humor lend irreverent touch to Berkeley Rep’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ adaptation
British director Emma Rice’s production is ingenious, though the dancing, prancing and antics alter the story’s overall feel.
Dramatic world premiere adaptation of Book of Sand
For a small company, Oakland Theater Project productions are professional and proficient. The play based on Borges’ 1975 short story is no exception.
Pho-focused play tackles food appropriation
In “Colonialism is Terrible, But Phở is Delicious,” playwright Dustin Chinn offers an oft-comedic take on thorny issues of race, history and dining.