Berkeley,

Photo by David Allen

Safe House

Theater Berkeley,
Keith Josef Adkins has written an admirable play that tells the tale of two free brothers of color in 1843’s Northern Kentucky. I use the word ”admirable” because the plight of the very different brothers — one ...
baryshnikov-1-credit-courtesy

Letter to a Man

Theater Berkeley,
“Letter to a Man” or, the mad man’s diaries, comes out of the scribbled ramblings of Vaslav Nijinsky as he was unraveled by schizophrenia. In varying states of lunacy he exposes his confusion with God and sex, incestuously projecting this ...
Brittany Bellizeare (Rose) and Andy Lucien (Max). Photo by Jim Carmody

The Last Tiger in Haiti

Theater Berkeley,
“The Last Tiger in Haiti,” a world premiere co-production between Berkeley Rep and the La Jolla Playhouse, was written by a talented newcomer, Jeff Augustin, who was born in Miami of Haitian parentage. He received his MFA in theater ...
Beth Wilmurt as Martha, David Sinaiko as George. Megan Trout as Honey, Josh Schell as Nick. Photo: Pak Han.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Theater Berkeley,
Fifty-four years after its Broadway debut, the award-winning “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” by Edward Albee (1928-2016) hasn’t lost any of its strength and force. The alcohol-fueled psychological mêlée among George, Martha, Nick and Honey ...
Folksy-seeming Buzz Windrip (David Kelly) imposes martial law after he's elected president. Photo: Kevin Berne, Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Trump, Clinton and Sinclair Lewis

Etc Berkeley,
There’s something for everyone in this locally-sourced adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’s “It Can’t Happen Here,” and therein lies its fatal flaw. Berkeley Rep’s artistic director Tony Taccone’s enthusiasm for the Federal Theatre Project, an outgrowth of the Depression-era Works ...
(background) Charles Shaw Robinson (Bishop Prang). (foreground, l to r) Will Rogers (Philip Jessup), Deidrie Henry (Lorinda Pike), Tom Nelis (Doremus Jessup), and David Kelly (Buck Titus). Photo courtesy of Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre

It Can’t Happen Here

Theater Berkeley,
With startlingly prescient timing, Berkeley Rep’s current production is a new adaptation of Pulitzer Prize winner Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 satirical political novel, “It Can’t Happen Here.” Originally written as a warning about the dangers of Hitler’s and Mussolini’s fascism as ...
Photo: David Allen.

Dear Master

Theater Berkeley,
Aurora Theatre, Berkeley, California Written by Dorothy Bryant Directed by Joy Carlin Starring Kimberly King, Michael Ray Wisely Website Berkeley playwright Dorothy Bryant seemed delighted to be in the audience at the opening of Aurora Theatre’s 25th anniversary ...
Wang Min (El Beh, left) and Lin Bo (Jomar Tagatac, right). Photo: Pak Han.

Caught

Theater Berkeley,
Shotgun Player’s production of playwright Christopher Chen’s stimulating, creative and complex work, “Caught,” confounded and ultimately conquered the audience in its opening night performance in Berkeley, California. The mesmerizing “Caught” concerns truth and lies in their infinite varieties, and the ...