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.’
Theater
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.
At Berkeley City Club, clever comic sketches explore range of Black women’s experiences
Playwright Mildred Inez Lewis’ world premiere, ‘The Museum Annex’ is a clever homage to the 1986 classic, ‘The Colored Museum.’
‘We’re a theater, not a museum’: As he leaves Cal Shakes, Eric Ting reflects on making the classics relatable
Ting says he’s grateful for the community who “practice their art with a sense of justice at its core.”
The king is a Fillmore District real estate magnate in Cal Shakes’ twist on ‘Lear’
The production, by Oakland’s Marcus Gardley, mirrors Shakespeare’s story, but reimagines it with a 21st-century, modern-verse vocabulary.
Adolescent girls fight their peeping pastor in Shotgun Players comedy ‘Man of God’
The astute comic revenge fantasy at the Ashby Stage has a somber, realistic ending.
Thinking fast and thinking slow in Aurora Theatre’s ‘This Much I Know’
This adaptation of a best-selling nonfiction book is a thoughtful play about a psychology professor, his wife, an accident, Joseph Stalin’s daughter, and a white supremacist’s son.
Berkeley Rep to open downtown housing next to theater for visiting artists
The 45-unit complex includes classrooms, a gallery and studio space, offices, storage and outdoor courtyards.
Young politico falls for jazz-singing ‘Goddess’ in jubilant Berkeley Rep musical
Ten years in the making, this world premiere at Berkeley Rep combines a Kenyan myth with a modern twist.
Shotgun Players’ dark comedy ‘Dream Hou$e’ explores the meaning of home
After seeing ‘Dream Hou$e’ at the Ashby Stage, our reviewer dreamed about the two sisters packing up their childhood home. “The performance lingered in my subconscious,” she writes.