Exotic Deadly: Or The MSG Play Keiko Green San Francisco Playhouse In 1908, a Japanese scientist isolated and duplicated the savory taste of a particular type of seaweed, leading to a flavor enhancer that over the years became very popular in Asian cooking. In 1968, an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine by an unknown Dr. Ho Man Kwok claimed … [Read more...] about Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play
The Thing about Jellyfish
The Thing about Jellyfish Based on the Novel by Ali Benjamin Adapted for the Stage by Keith Bunin Berkeley Repertory Theatre A bright, curious, talk-a-mile-a-minute seventh-grade girl learns a life lesson that "sometimes things [even very bad things] just happen." To reach that important conclusion, Suzy must also ask herself, "What can jellyfish teach us about … [Read more...] about The Thing about Jellyfish
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress Alan Ball Coastal Rep Theatre Five young women each wearing identical, bridesmaid dresses that one describes as "makes me look like a linebacker" along with little hats that "makes us look like the flying nun" find escape from the outdoor reception in the former bedroom of the bride whom all -- including her younger sister -- more … [Read more...] about Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
Queering the Masses
Queering the Mass Davóne Tines The Chan National Arts Center With background sounds of thunder and rain with a roving red spot sweeping in the otherwise darkened arena, a rich, stirring voice begins to intone, “I’m. lost, and I’m calling for my baby; I need you cause I’m so alone.” As the sole singer dressed in white top and black shorts and long stockings … [Read more...] about Queering the Masses
Daisy
Daisy Sean Devine Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory A three-year-old, blonde girl stands in a meadow, holding a daisy and counting to ten in her sweet, high voice as she plucks off petals, charmingly making a few mistakes along the way. As she hesitates after nine, a booming male voice begins counting backwards from ten, much like heard in a rocket launch. Just as … [Read more...] about Daisy
Urinetown
Urinetown the Musical Mark Hollmann (Music & Lyrics); Greg Kotis (Book & Lyrics) South Bay Musical Theatre Capitalists who care more about cash than care of the people; legislators fawning over CEO’s and accepting bribes on the side; devastating droughts, shrinking water tables, and dubious responses by government officials; authoritarian threats and promised … [Read more...] about Urinetown
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams Los Altos Stage Company Perched outside the apartment’s open window on the fire escape where he will spend much of the upcoming play, a young man smokes and comments with little emotion, “The play is memory. Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted; it is sentimental; it is not realistic.” We will soon learn that this is Tom, … [Read more...] about The Glass Menagerie
In Love and Warcraft
In Love and Warcraft Madhuri Shekar City Lights Theater Company Generously peppered with words such as “damage dealers,” “mage food,” “debuffs,” and “battle rez,” the script of Madhuri Shekar’s In Love and Warcraft might appear at first bluff as a near impossible challenge for non-gamers who have never pounded the keys of their PC while playing the video superstar … [Read more...] about In Love and Warcraft
Noises Off
Noises Off Michael Frayn Palo Alto Players “Doors and sardines. Getting on, getting off. Getting the sardines on, getting the sardines off. That's farce. That's the theatre. That's life.” Perhaps no line better summarizes the challenge and the fun potential of both the fictional director and the actual stage director of Palo Alto Players’ latest opening, Michael … [Read more...] about Noises Off
Takes All Kinds
Takes All Kinds Dan Hoyle The Marsh In the fall of 2022, Dan Hoyle found himself at a “40s-something” party where during the chit-chat of chardonnay sipping, someone said to him, “So you do journalistic theatre? But aren’t they both kinda collapsing?” Given an insatiable drive to discover core truths about a community, culture, and/or even an entire country; a … [Read more...] about Takes All Kinds
DRAGCULA: A Parody in Living Greyscale
DRAGCULA: A Parody in Living Greyscale Adapted by Chris Steele from Bram Stoker’s Dracula Poltergeist Theatre Project, Potatoes Mashed Comedy & Oasis Arts The 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula by Irish author Bram Stoker not only is now considered one of the great classics of English literature, the Transylvanian tale of vampires, blood, and sexual suggestions by … [Read more...] about DRAGCULA: A Parody in Living Greyscale
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar Hershey Felder (Book); Sergei Rachmaninoff (Music) TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Little doubt but that there is a very real love affair between the San Francisco Bay Area and Hershey Felder. This is particularly true for the audiences of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley who have reveled in so many of his past musical biographies of famed composers … [Read more...] about Rachmaninoff and the Tsar
Waitress
Waitress Jessie Nelson (Book): Sara Bareilles (Music & Lyrics) San Francisco Playhouse Every day she bakes twenty-seven pies, including one each day that she creates as a new recipe on the spot – pies with names like Big Guy Strawberry, Polka Dot Peach, Lost Shepard’s, and Deep (Shit) Blueberry. At Joe’s Pie Diner where everyone wants once again to know “What’s … [Read more...] about Waitress
Theatre Eddys: Touring the World Now; Back In January 2025
Dear Loyal Subscribers to TheatreEddys.com: After posting 70+ reviews between mid-January and mid-July, you may have noticed that I have been noticeably absent since (except for one post of the 40+ shows my hubby Hernán and I saw at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, one of our favorites places to go in the entire world). Like the past couple of years, we are spending … [Read more...] about Theatre Eddys: Touring the World Now; Back In January 2025
TheatreEddys Goes to the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Beginning in 1947 with 8 productions performed uninvited on the ‘fringe’ of the first Edinburgh International Festival, today’s annual, 3.5 week Edinburgh Fringe is the world’s largest performing arts festival with 262 venues, 3317 productions, and 51,446 individual performances. And only saw 41 in the nine days we are here … my 6th and Hernan’s 3rd Fringe. Since this is … [Read more...] about TheatreEddys Goes to the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
