In a WordLauren YeeSan Francisco Playhouse, Sandbox SeriesWords and the memories they struggle to recall piece themselves together like puzzles with missing and/or wrong pieces in Lauren Yee’s In a Word. Guy, a husband, struggles to persuade his wife Fiona to go out for her birthday celebration dinner. She stubbornly resists, rooting herself in tangled and tortured … [Read more...] about “In a Word”
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“Stupid F**cking Bird”
Stupid F**cking BirdAaron PosnerSan Francisco PlayhousePrior to seeing Aaron Posner’s Stupid F**cking Bird, I revisited Chekhov’s The Seagull and surprisingly found myself wanting to laugh at the extreme melancholy, quickness of each character to cry over any available disappointment, and the seriousness and weight given to most every interaction. While most translations … [Read more...] about “Stupid F**cking Bird”
“Show People”
Show PeoplePaul WeitzDragon TheatreA play being acted for us that is also a play where our actors are actors acting for themselves. Sound confusing? Actually, in Paul Weitz’s well-crafted Show People, there is less confusion than fun for us as audience as the actors themselves become increasingly confused and perplexed in all their mixed-up roles of stage and … [Read more...] about “Show People”
“Breaking the Code”
Breaking the CodeHugh WhitemoreTheatre RhinocerosWith the recent Academy-nominated film The Imitation Game, the story of World War II Enigma code-breaker and computer pioneer Alan Turing is now much more widely known than when Hugh Whitemore’s 1986 Breaking the Code premiered. His play, however, brings to the 2015 audience aspects of Turing’s life … [Read more...] about “Breaking the Code”
“Hamlet”
HamletWilliam ShakespeareStanford Department of Theatre What can make a much-known, often-seen classic like Hamlet worth visiting one more time? Certainly, hearing the poetic majesty of familiar lines and witnessing yet again the young Hamlet struggle with his questions of life and death can be compelling reasons. But … [Read more...] about “Hamlet”
“The Lyons”
The LyonsNicky SilverAurora Theatre CompanyAnd yet another family gathers on the current American stage either at the bedside of a dying relative or at their home mourning for a lost member. In Nicky Silver’s The Lyons, a mother, a son, and a daughter enter the hospital room of their dying, cranky, even bitter-about-his-now-spent-life husband and father. This is the … [Read more...] about “The Lyons”
“Harbor”
HarborChad BeguelinNew Conservatory Theatre CenterSometimes, an unexpected event stimulates further events that probably are going to happen anyway but maybe not as quickly and not quite in the way that the trigger ignites them. In this West Coast premiere of Beguelin’s Harbor, the seemingly bucolic life of two gay men -- Ted the architect and Kevin the writer -- is … [Read more...] about “Harbor”
“2 Pianos, 4 Hands”
2 Pianos, 4 Hands Ted Dykstra & Richard GreenblattTheatreWorksEntering the theatre and seeing the two, ‘stretch’ Steinways fill the wide Mountain View stage, I wondered if I were the last person in the Bay Area finally to see this much-produced Canadian play since it had already appeared on several other, Bay Area stages (e.g., ACT, San Jose Rep, Center Rep) as well as over … [Read more...] about “2 Pianos, 4 Hands”
“Lift Up Your Skirt”
Lift Up Your SkirtKathy NajimyFeinstein's at the NikkoThis one-woman created and performed 'play' is a delight and a heart-warmer. Kathy Najimy tells not the story of her life but, as she says, 'stories of my life.' These stories are funny, intriguing, and usually with a message. They sometimes linger a bit too long in the telling; but the laughter they … [Read more...] about “Lift Up Your Skirt”
“Shit & Champagne”
Shit & ChampagneD'Arcy Drollinger OasisOpening the new Oasis nightclub, the revival of Shit & Champagne brings the excitement and energy that should launch this venue into a long life of fun and frolic. Drollinger's farce of the low-budget, 70s 'exploitation' films for the most part hits its mark at every turn. With super-hero-like drag queens; bumbling … [Read more...] about “Shit & Champagne”
