Emily S. MendelBerkeley,
From the opening minutes of “An Octoroon” when BJJ, the stand-in for author, MacArthur Fellow Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, appears on a blank stage in his underwear and announces that he is a black playwright, you know that you ...
Four women wait in a luxurious room in an unnamed eastern European city.
Emily S. MendelBerkeley,
Four women wait in a luxurious yet austere room in an unnamed eastern European city waiting for an important man who may never arrive. This is the premise of “Splendour” by U.K.’s Abi Morgan (screenwriter of “Suffragette” and “The ...
Nancy S. BishopChicago,
"Ah, Wilderness!", Eugene O’Neill’s only comedy, is a charming, light-hearted play with an element foreign to most O’Neill scripts: a happy ending. The hero, teenaged Richard Miller (truthfully played by Niall Cunningham) is a young man who loves ...
Emily S. MendelBerkeley,
Kimber Lee’s powerful and profound one-act drama, “brownsville song (b-side for tray)” takes an all too familiar headline of a young black man gunned down in his Brownsville, Brooklyn neighborhood and develops it into a relatable personal tragedy that left ...
Toba SingerBerkeley,
On June 23, 2017, Toba Singer had a chance to sit down with actor Lance Gardner at Berkeley Rep. They talked about the three roles he plays in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ “An Octoroon,” a modern-day adaptation of Dion Boucicault’s 1859 play ...
Josh BaxtSan Diego,
If you accept divine right of kings, then loyalty should be absolute. Betraying the king would be tantamount to betraying God. But then there are the tricky realities of governance. Is the king still divine if he cannot rule? And ...
Emily S. MendelSan Francisco,
A cross between a musical profile and a rock and roll show, Randy Johnson’s “A Night with Janis Joplin” is undoubtedly entertaining. The best aspect of the evening is Kacee Clanton, who does a fabulous Janis. She has the deep ...
Lewis WhittingtonPhiladelphia,
At the trendy low-scale New York eatery, owner Mike wants to make things upscale, by hiring his former boss George, a former top chef, now a middle-age divorced alcoholic fresh from drug and alcohol rehab. That is the set ...
Josh BaxtSan Diego,
Arrogant doctors, mysterious maladies, incomprehensible jargon, “The Imaginary Invalid” might be the latest medical drama, rather than a 17th century comedy by the French playwright Molière. No doubt, that is why the play holds up so well. Despite all the ...
A world premiere musical based on the film by Mira Nair.
Emily S. MendelBerkeley,
From Mira Nair’s Golden Globe-nominated 2001 movie comes her world premiere musical version of “Monsoon Wedding,’ a big-hearted earnest extravaganza of a four-day Punjabi Indian wedding, with all the emotion, color and drama that goes with it. Just as “Fiddler ...
