Berkeley,

Imaginary Comforts

or The Story of the Ghost of the Dead Rabbit

Emily S. Mendel Theater October 19, 2017 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 ...

Blasted

The art of atrocity.

Emily S. Mendel Theater October 6, 2017 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 ...

Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations

Thirty of the Temptations' Greatest Hits in a dazzling musical.

Emily S. Mendel Theater September 23, 2017 Berkeley,

The story of The Temptations, the greatest rhythm and blues group of all time, bursts forth at Berkeley Rep in an explosion of energy and élan. Multi-talented artistic actors with soulful voices and limber legs capture the stage, backed by ...

Luna Gale

A family drama with issues.

Emily S. Mendel Theater September 21, 2017 Berkeley,

“Luna Gale,” the sun around whom all the characters in Rebecca Gilman’s impressive Bay Area premiere play rotates, is the only one we never see. That’s because “Luna Gale” is an infant, the focus of a custody battle between her ...

Luna Gale

Bay-area premiere at the Aurora Theatre, Berkeley

Emily S. Mendel Theater September 15, 2017 Berkeley,

“Luna Gale,” the sun around whom all the characters in Rebecca Gilman’s impressive Bay Area premiere play rotates, is the only one we never see. That’s because “Luna Gale” is an infant, the focus of a custody battle between her ...

The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence

Love, intimacy, and IBM's Watson computer.

Emily S. Mendel Theater August 23, 2017 Berkeley,

There’s a lot going on in the two-act, three-person production of “The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence” — multiple characters, multiple themes, multiple time periods — so it pays to concentrate in order to absorb all the stimulating ideas ...

An Octoroon

A 19th Century melodrama is given new life.

Emily S. Mendel Theater July 9, 2017 Berkeley,

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 ...

Splendour

Four women wait in a luxurious room in an unnamed eastern European city.

Emily S. Mendel Theater July 9, 2017 Berkeley,

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 ...

brownsville song (b-side for tray)

Shotgun Players, Berkeley

Emily S. Mendel Theater July 4, 2017 Berkeley,

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 ...

Q&A w/ Lance Gardner, actor in “An Octoroon” at Berkeley Rep

A "Depth Finder" for Both Actor and Audience

Toba Singer Etc July 4, 2017 Berkeley,

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 ...