529 stories by "Lily Janiak"
Eliana Pipes' play builds to one of the most dangerous, genuinely original scenes recently on display on any Bay Area stage.
Previously, the Curran was home to an array of high-budget but daring theater that few other venues could or would pull off.
"The Empire Strips Back" parody at the Great Star Theater in San Francisco doesn't so much mock as pay tribute to George Lucas' imagination
Just how racist and ignorant would you have to be to act as Claire acts, Danielle Evans' "Boys Go to Jupiter" asks.
This San Francisco production of a 50-year-old Stephen Sondheim musical speaks pointedly to 2022, writes theater critic Lily Janiak.
Eric Ting's exit from Cal Shakes ends a dynamic, artistically vibrant seven-year tenure that's given the Bay Area some of its finest theater in recent memory.
With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the university's database suggests many unclaimed opportunities for screenwriters and TV showrunners.
If you've seen pretty much any other American family play, you can predict what Vickie Ramirez's characters will say and do.
Jessica Dickey's play says the invention of the pap smear is not just a textbook entry; it's about jumbly, wriggly human lives.
Lily Janiak says the audience is one of the best parts of "The Queen's Ball," the "Bridgerton"-inspired immersive experience at San Francisco's SVN West.
The appointment comes at a pivotal era as the hit-making company Berkeley Rep, and theater nationwide, strive to recover from the pandemic.
Lily Janiak reviews Martyna Majok's "Sanctuary City" at Berkeley Rep, an immigrant love story where feelings can be selfish and unselfish all at once.
The object of disruption at the dating show, presented at PianoFight in San Francisco, is the much-used, much-maligned app Tinder.
Since 1968, Peter Brook's "The Empty Space" has been sending generations of theater makers for their pencil sharpeners.
Bay Area experts in fashion, dance and history weigh in to help you make the most out of the "Queen's Ball" immersive experience from Netflix.
Practically overnight, immersive theater in the Bay Area has a major new player. Lily Janiak speaks with local power players of the medium about the trend.
Returning to summer parks for the first time since the pandemic hit, the Mime Troupe delivers as if only intention matters.
Jaclyn Backhaus' play, now in a West Coast premiere at Berkeley's Aurora Theatre Company, can be overly didactic at times, but a passionate yearning drives it.
The show about Broadway stars and a small-town lesbian serves as a fun kick-off to San Francisco's Pride Weekend.
As Ariel Craft departs Cutting Ball, Bay Area theater professionals who recently gave birth reflect on family-work balance.
"It is a bit of trip going from community college student to executive," union actor Sean Fenton joked.
Berkeley Rep, Teatro Visión, TheatreWorks and Cutting Ball Theater all have auspicious summer offerings.
Immersive theater is an art. Dear Netflix, please let local theater artists help you make this better.
Lucas Hnath's play about his mother's real-life kidnapping haunts as only nonfiction can.
Anaïs Mitchell's score can chug like a freight train or clang and gasp like the pistons and gaskets of Hades' foundry in this production at the Orpheum Theatre.
