The Lake EffectRajiv JosephTheatreWorks Silicon ValleyAs the lights go down and the scene on the stage illuminates, much has already happened involving the threesome we are soon to meet that they themselves do not totally know. Just as the snow-covered ground outside the little Indian, family-owned café before us will get deeper as it snows vigorously for the play’s … [Read more...] about “The Lake Effect”
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“The Convert”
“The Convert”Danai GuriraMarin Theatre Company When a three-hour production feels like a play half that length, it happens not by chance but as a direct result of plot intrigue, well-clipped direction, and masterful acting. Jasson Minadakis directs Marin Theatre’s The Convert with both fervor and respect for its historically important subject: the early clash of … [Read more...] about “The Convert”
“How the World Began”
How the World BeganCatherine TrieshmannCustom Made TheatreEscaping personal issues in New York to come teach high school science in a small, tornado-devastated Kansas town, a pregnant, husbandless Susan comes hoping to renew her life and to help this traumatized community. A flippant remark to a class of sophomores, describing theories of “spontaneous creation of the … [Read more...] about “How the World Began”
“Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical”
Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester MusicalAnthony Wayne & Kendell BowmanBrava Theatre Center (AnthonyKen, LLC, Producer)Entering Brava Theatre lobby, audience members feel an electricity and excitement that continues its meteoric rise once inside the auditorium up until the moment the first blast of overture music finally erupts from the onstage band. The big … [Read more...] about “Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical”
“Tree”
TreeJulie HebertSan Francisco PlayhouseWalking into the auditorium, all eyes immediately notice the scores of multi-sized, tied cardboard boxes that litter the entire two-level, modest home before us. We then notice a front porch with a rowboat docked in what appears to be the dry road in front. Mystery? Secrets? Revelations? What else could be in … [Read more...] about “Tree”
“Candide”
CandideMusic, Leonard BernsteinBook Adapted from Voltaire by Hugh Wheeler in New Version by John CairdLyrics by Richard Wilbur (& Sondheim, Latouche, Hellman, Parker & Bernstein)Lamplighters Music TheatreAfter being worked and re-worked for 33 years with many collaborators coming and going (and some now dead) and with some 97 total musical numbers/revisions having been … [Read more...] about “Candide”
“Indian Ink”
Indian InkTom StoppardAmerican Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.)When there is a deep, emotional bond created between the artist and the spectator, third century Hindu sages termed that bridge rasa. A..C.T.’s Indian Inknot only explores in a beautiful, moving symphony of words and scenes what it takes to create a state of rasa; but as directed by Carey Perloff and acted by a … [Read more...] about “Indian Ink”
“Our Town”
Our TownThornton WilderShotgun PlayersPerformed every day somewhere in the world, Our Town to me is the quintessential American play, is the play I have seen performed the most times in my life, and is the play that still moves me to tears each time I see it. I try not to miss a chance to see it performed, especially when done so by a group as consistently excellent and … [Read more...] about “Our Town”
