Photo: Kevin Berne

Watch on the Rhine

Theater Berkeley,
Lillian Hellman (1905 –1984), celebrated author and left-wing political activist, would be both pleased and saddened that her 1940 play is being applauded across the country 77 years after it was written — pleased, of course, that her  ...
Dezi Solèy in PARTICIPANTS. Photo: Cheshire Isaacs

Participants

Theater Berkeley,
TheatreFirst has commissioned 12 enlivening and exhilarating short plays by outstanding playwrights that are designed to provoke thought, discussion and action. All the pieces in “Participants” share the didactic theme of exploring society’s reaction to our current social and political  ...
Photo: Cheshire Isaacs.

Black Rider

Theater Berkeley,
While many theatre companies put on undemanding feel-good musical shows for the holidays, leave it to Shotgun Players to produce the lauded “Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets,” an avant-garde expressionist take on a German folktale  ...
Photo: David Allen.

The Royale

Theater Berkeley,
Although it’s over 100 years since the first African-American boxer, Jack Johnson, won the world heavyweight boxing championship in a fight with James L. Jeffries, the white retired champion, the repercussions continue to be heard. The race riots, injuries and  ...
Ensemble inspired by traditional Korean wrapping cloth (bojagi), from the Cruise collection, 2016, by Karl Lagerfeld (German, b. 1938) for Chanel. Jacket and skirt: wool tweed; blouse: silk twill; pumps: calfskin; jewelry: pearl and glass. Chanel Patrimoine Collection, Paris. Photograph © Chanel

Couture Korea

Art & Architecture San Francisco,
A new and unique exhibit of more than 120 creations and artifacts highlighting the fabulous style, artistry and complexity of the five-hundred year-old tradition of Korean dress is on view at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum through February 4,  ...
Photo: Charles Erickson

Small Mouth Sounds

Theater San Francisco,
Broad Stage, Santa Monica, January 11-28, 2018 AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas, January 31-February 4, 2018 Arsht Center, Miami, February 16-March 4, 2018 Philadelphia Theatre Company, March 13-April 1, 2018 “Small Mouth Sounds” is an extraordinary play that is  ...
Photo: Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Imaginary Comforts

Theater Berkeley,
Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, author of the wickedly gothic children’s books, “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” is presenting his first play, the amusing “Imaginary Comforts, or The Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit” in its world premiere  ...
Walker Evans, “Truck and Sign” 1928-30.

Walker Evans, photographer

Art & Architecture San Francisco,
Walker Evans (1903-1975), a quintessential 20th century U.S. photographer, is being celebrated at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) with a retrospective exhibition of over 400 photographs, paintings, graphic ephemera and objects from Walker’s personal collection, including 300  ...
Photo:Cheshire Isaacs.

Blasted

Theater Berkeley,
Those who think that the primary purpose of theatre is to provide a light and entertaining evening out should be aware that playwright Sarah Kane’s one-act drama, “Blasted” is anything but that. Rather, it is an intense, painful experience, full  ...
Hamlet (John Douglas Thompson, right) is visited by the Ghost of his father (Steven Anthony Jones) | Photo: Kevin Berne

Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Theater San Francisco,
ACT’s new production of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is a long evening, with moments of poetry and power interlaced with periods of static and sluggishness. John Douglas Thompson is often mesmerizing as the Danish Prince Hamlet, and he is supported  ...