Mexico Emerges from the White Box by Susan Dunn Theater-goers know Black Box Theater: a simple, unadorned performance space, usually a large square room with black walls and a flat floor.…
Millennial Notes" Karen Zacarias' Warriors Cross All Borders by Benjamin R. Garcia As I enter the elegant Victorian parlour at the Berkeley City Club, currently occupied by Central Works, I …
 Blood and Butts Thrill with Vintage Flair at Hypnodrome by Daniel Joseph Lilly Thrillpeddlers' "Shocktoberfest 17: Pyramid of Freaks" offers a fantasy feast for the senses. Creative Dire…
Lovely Yoruba Legends Spring to Life by Barry David Horwitz What a show. Could it be better, more moving or more passionate? Three powerful actors put their hearts and souls into examini…
The Scottish Play Makes News in the Mission by Susan Dunn What's most important in a "Macbeth" production? The words. The immortal words!  Do we need a full cast, period costumes,…
How Can a Chinese American Writer Show His Heart? by Daniel Joseph Lilly David Henry Hwang's "Yellow Face" (2007), a topical, funny, and thoughtful Obie award-winning play, features the "pla…
Theresa Rebeck Wins Michelin Stars for Fine Feast by Susan Dunn "Seared" puts everyone who likes food in their comfort zone, immediately. Cook pots hang from the ceiling; stew pots simmer an…
A Depression Era Play Takes Us Back to the Future by Benjamin K. Sloan I wish that all people of my generation, ages 18-25, could watch Berkeley Rep's "It Can't Happen Here." Maybe we are in…
Acting and Activism Meet in Depression Era Fantasy by Jacob G. Dickerman & Barry David Horwitz Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel It Can't Happen Here still resonates with us 80 years later. Th…
Young Jean Lee Looks at US Laughing at US by Barry David Horwitz Young Jean Lee's "The Shipment" (2009) is made up of four episodes involving ordinary family or friends who engage in what pa…
Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. His skin was pale and his eye was odd. He shaved the faces of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard of again. So begins Sweeney Todd " The Demon Barber o…
Mike Bartlett's Splendid, Dangerous Comedy by Barry David Horwitz ACT's stage set for "King Charles III" sets a high bar for the show"it's a stunning, spectacular castle, many stories high. …
"With a Little Bit of Love," Eliza Masters the King's English by Barry David Horwitz How did Lerner and Loewe get U.S. audiences to accept a simple formula about class conflict, taken from t…
Secrets & Lies Hide in Plain Sight at The Strand by Barry David Horwitz Phillip Howse's world premiere in S.F. Playhouse's Sandbox Series tries to bring the interior world of a teen age …
Dressed-Down Tragedy Exposes Modern Misogyny by Benjamin K. Sloan Eric Ting's bare stage "Othello" at Cal Shakes modernizes Elizabethan issues from 500 years ago for the U.S. in 2016. Shakes…
Close Encounters of the Indian Kind at Cubberley Theater by Susan Dunn Beautiful voices burst forth suddenly, a brilliant clarion call. Exotic instruments twang out a beat. And brightly cost…
Nicholas Leither lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, and teaches writing at Santa Clara University. His books include "Dubliners: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction" and "Slant: Writing Essays…
Chen Disturbs the Personal, Loves the Political by Barry David Horwitz On the way to an art show, you may stumble across great drama. How long is it since an art work or a play caught you, c…
"Frog and Toad" (Bay Area Children's Theater) runs weekends until September 25 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The show sidesteps heavy-handed morality to portray instead that most ethically …
Ambition, Love, and Terror Clash in Marin by Susan Dunn Marin Shakes' Artistic Director Robert S. Currier introduced his opening night Othello with the proclamation that this production is n…
Space Race vs. Galactic Disaster in the Mission by Benjamin K. Sloan & Barry David Horwitz As soon as the play "Speed of Light" by Sci-Fi writer Bella Poynton begins, with its simple, lo…
Rosa del Duca is a writer, journalist, teacher and musician. Her work has appeared in literary magazines like Cutbank, CALYX, River Teeth, and Mission at 10th. When she isn't writing or cran…
Space Age Melt-Down of Sex & Treats by Benjamin K. Sloan As a recent transplant from L.A., entering my junior year at CAL, on Saturday I ventured into "The City," the urban playground of…
Cal Shakes Shakes Up Shaw by Barry David Horwitz Director Lisa Peterson has unfurled an early, hilarious Shaw comedy that forecasts the 20th Century and beyond. "You Never Can Tell" (1896) a…
'The Fire Next Time' in New Thriller by Barry David Horwitz "The Thrush and the Woodpecker" at Custom Made Theater features three gripping performances by three superb actors. For that reaso…