Emily S. Mendel, a writer and photographer, has been a regular contributor to culturevulture.net since 2006, where she reviews theater, art, film, television and destinations. Ending her 30-year law practice has given Ms. Mendel the time to indulge in her love of travel and the arts, and to serve as the theater reviewer for berkeleyside.com.
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Writes in: Art & Architecture, Dance, Destinations, Etc, Features, Film, Television, and Theater.
TheaterBerkeley,
“Fairview,” Jackie Sibblies Drury’s brilliant new play, excellently directed by Sarah Benson, illustrates the power of theater to make an audience think, even squirm, during the performance, while its deep impression lingers on afterward.
Developed at the Rep’s ...
TheaterSan Francisco,
Written in 2015 by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Lynn Nottage, “Sweat” is a powerful and dramatic look at workers in the Rust Belt facing the demise of their union jobs. With an abundant amount of research and even more skill ...
TheaterBerkeley,
There are only a few more weeks left to see Aurora Theatre Company’s intense and moving production of “Detroit ’67,” by the award-winning playwright, Dominique Morisseau (book writer of “Ain’t Too Proud”). It’s a creative and personalized exploration of the ...
Art & ArchitectureNew York,
On September 18, 2018, I had the pleasure of interviewing Max Hollein, who became the new Director of New York’s Metropolitan Museum on August 1, 2018. We first met when he was the Chief Executive and Director of the ...
TheaterSan Francisco,
Despite a slow and inflated start, the West Coast premiere of “Everybody” at Cal Shakes, by award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (“An Octoroon”) closes with a strong finish that resonates deeply and lingers in one’s thoughts.
“Everybody” is a ...
TheaterBerkeley,
National Book Award finalist Christina García, author of six novels, including the satirical, “King of Cuba,” from which this play is adapted, attended its world premiere opening at Berkeley’s Central Works on July 21, 2018. Unfortunately, novels, even well-regarded novels ...
TheaterBerkeley,
One of the more remarkable aspects of the bold and engaging “White” is that James Ijames’ inspiration for the play is taken from a real event — a white male artist hired African-American actresses to present ...
TheaterSan Francisco,
How many works of literature can you name that have given rise to a regularly used English adjective? Not many? Me neither. But the word, “quixotic,” defined as “foolishly impractical, especially in the pursuit of ideals; especially marked by rash ...
Art & ArchitectureSan Francisco,
In a rare combination of beauty and scholarship, San Francisco’s Legion of Honor Museum is presenting “Truth and Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelites and the Old Masters,” an exhibition that compares the rich, idealist artwork of the mid-19th century English Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood ...
TheaterSan Francisco,
Just when I was bemoaning the dearth of newly minted original musicals, along comes “Soft Power,” a wonderfully innovative, exciting, intelligent and tuneful show, created by Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang ("M. Butterfly") and Tony-winning composer Jeanine Tesori ("Fun Home").
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