Photo courtesy of Hershey Felder Presents

Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin

Theater Berkeley,
“Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin” is one in a series of one-man musical biographies written and performed by Hershey Felder. Berkeley Rep theater goers and critics, myself included, have already sung the praises of Felder, the gifted concert pianist, composer  ...
Wellesley Robertson III as Miles Davis and Olivier Normand as Jean Cocteau. Photo: Tristram Kenton

Needles and Opium

Theater San Francisco,
Robert Lepage’s 1991 creative drama of transatlantic love, loss and foreign complications intersperses tales of American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1981) (outstanding Wellesley Robertson III) and French writer, playwright and filmmaker, Jean Cocteau (1889 –1963) (marvelous Olivier Normand) with a  ...
leni

Leni

Theater Berkeley,
“Leni,” a powerful two-person high wire act, examines the controversial Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003), the 1930s extraordinary filmmaker and vilified Hitler propagandist. “Leni” is part exposition, part cross-examination and part psychoanalysis. This intermissionless 80-minute production explores, but of course, cannot  ...
(l to r) Sara Bruner (Norma McCorvey), Sarah Jane Agnew (Sarah Weddington), and Susan Lynskey (Linda Coffee) . Photo by Jenny Graham

Roe

Theater Berkeley,
Since its Supreme Court ruling in 1973, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States, has been a lightning rod that continues to electrify public opinion. It serves as a seismograph that registers politicians’ and citizens’  ...
Richard Diebenkorn, Seated Figure with Hat, 1967; oil on canvas; National Gallery of Art, Washington,D.C.,

Matisse/Diebenkorn

Art & Architecture San Francisco,
“Matisse always surprises me…. It’s the restraint coupled with the sensuousness that’s so utterly exceptional.” Richard Diebenkorn The distinguished artistic career of the prominent postwar California painter Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993) began with his unique style of abstract expressionism (ca.1946–1956),  ...
Claude Monet, La Grenouillère, 1869. Oil on canvas,.

Monet: The Early Years

Art & Architecture San Francisco,
“Monet: The Early Years” is visually gorgeous and academically significant. Presenting Monet’s work from the early phase of his career (1858-1872) starting when Monet was 18 years old and ending when he turned 32, the show traces the development  ...
Michael Doherty (Jason/Tyrone) and Carolina Sanchez (Jessica). Photo: Kevin Berne

Hand to God

Theater Berkeley,
“Hand to God,” a Tony-nominated, riotously funny romp, shaded with black undertones, uses a foul-mouthed sock puppet to demonstrate the shocking results when one is freed from society’s moral restraints. Playwright Robert Askins accomplishes this lesson using ribald humor overlaying  ...
Barzin Akhavan, Nadine Malouf . Background, Pomme Koch. Photo: Kevin Berne

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Theater San Francisco,
Against the current rage of Islamophobia infecting our nation, the world premiere of "The Thousand Splendid Suns" at ACT's Geary Theater explores the plight of Afghani women. Based on Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling 2007 novel, this theatrical adaptation by  ...
Tommy Gorrebeeck and Liz Sklar. Photo by David Allen.

The Real Thing

Theater Berkeley,
”I believe in mess, tears, pain, self-abasement, loss of self-respect, nakedness. Not caring doesn’t seem much different from not loving.” ― Tom Stoppard, “The Real Thing” Aurora’s outstanding production of Tom Stoppard’s award-winning 1982 play, “The Real Thing,”  ...