BERKELEY PLAYHOUSE IS CURRENTLY STAGING a magical production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” on stage now through Aug. 2 at the historic Julia Morgan Theatre on College Avenue. Actors’ Equity Association member Michael R.J. Campbell leads a strong cast as Tevye, the poor dairy farmer who must lead his family through monumental changes over a […]
ON THE STAGE: Aurora Theatre’s ‘Detroit’ is a strange, but worthy, trip
WHEN A YOUNG COUPLE MOVES IN NEXT DOOR, Mary (Actors’ Equity Association member Amy Resnick) decides to invite them over for a backyard barbecue. Mary and her husband (Equity actor Jeff Garrett) are all smiles as they serve the newcomers grilled steak and potatoes on their furnished cement patio. It’s a picture-perfect, suburban American scene, […]
On the Stage: Orinda’s ‘Black Coffee’ well played — and historically remarkable
THE ORINDA STARLIGHT VILLAGE PLAYERS, an all-volunteer theater troupe that performs each summer in the city’s Community Park, opened its 2015 season Thursday with Dame Agatha Christie’s first published dramatic work, “Black Coffee,” featuring long-time OSVP lead man Ken Sollazzo in the role of Christie’s most enduring character, detective Hercule Poirot. Though Poirot appears in […]
On the Stage: Seasoned actors spice up Pinole Playhouse’s ‘Arsenic’
THE PINOLE COMMUNITY PLAYERS OPENED A CHARMING RENDITION of Joseph Kesselring’s comic “horror” play, “Arsenic and Old Lace,” to a crowded house Friday at their cafe-style venue in old-town Pinole. It’s an odd story full of odd characters, and the Players carry it all off with panache. The scene is set as white-haired Abby Brewster […]
On the Stage: From Cal Shakes, ‘12th Night’ — with a twist
CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER toured the Bard’s popular comedy of mistaken identities, “Twelfth Night,” last year, performing at its San Francisco venue and at several Bay Area community locations with an all-female cast, and now offers the show as its 2015 summer season opener at the Bruns Amphitheater in Orinda in similar fashion, with only one […]
On the Stage: Central Works’ ‘Yellow Wallpaper’ is heady, artful
“‘JANE’ BEGINS TO SEE STRANGE FORMS creeping around behind the torn and ragged wallpaper in the room,” reads the description of the latest new play at Central Works of Berkeley, an adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s autobiographical short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Central Works co-director Gary Graves. With an intro like that, one might […]
On the Stage: Bay Area Stage’s ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ on the road to success
BAY AREA STAGE OPENED RICHARD SHERMAN’S imaginative musical “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” to a modest crowd at the Empress Theatre in Vallejo on Friday. The production, which continues through this weekend at the Empress before moving to the Campbell Theatre in Martinez on June 6, has all the right ingredients, including a capable cast, polished […]
On the Stage: Napa’s ‘Kalos Kai Agathos’ leaves audiences in dark
DRAMA STUDENTS WILL NO DOUBT BE FASCINATED with the current production of Jon Tracy’s “Kalos Kai Agathos,” a modern take on the Oedipus plays by Sophocles that opened Friday and closes this weekend at the Napa Valley Conservatory Theatre. “Kalos” is presented in a nontraditional format and poses a unique challenge for the student actors. […]
On the Stage: BOTTG’s ‘Dinner’ has all the right stuff
BENICIA OLD TOWN THEATRE GROUP DIRECTOR CLINTON VIDAL has gathered just the right ingredients for a fun and lively production of Marc Camoletti’s rollicking farce, “Don’t Dress for Dinner,” which opened to a near-capacity crowd at the B.D.E.S. Hall on Friday. Scott Poitras and Natalie Hardt seem made for each other as philandering couple Bernard […]
On the Stage: Catch a funny ‘Foreigner’ at Contra Costa Civic Theatre
PLAYWRIGHT LARRY SHUE IS BEST KNOWN for two of his most popular comedy plays, “The Nerd,” which premiered in 1981 (and which was performed by Benicia Old Town Theatre in 2011), and a similarly styled romp, “The Foreigner,” in which Bay Area talent Ryan O’Donnell currently rocks the title role on the Contra Costa Civic […]