Here There Are Blueberries Moisés Kaufman & Amanda Gronich Berkeley Repertory Theatre (A Tectonic Theater Project) In 2007, an unnamed former U.S. Army officer donated a 32-page album with 116 black-and-white photos to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum -- an album he had found over sixty years prior in 1946 in an abandoned apartment in … [Read more...] about Here There Are Blueberries
Best Bet
The Heart Sellers
The Heart Sellers Lloyd Suh TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in Co-Production with Aurora Theatre and Capital Stage When last year TheatreWorks Silicon Valley received the rights to produce the much-sought-after The Heart Sellers, Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli learned that two other Northern California companies also hoped to include on their playbill Lloyd Suh's … [Read more...] about The Heart Sellers
Fat Ham
Fat Ham James IJames San Francisco Playhouse A smoker is full of roasting pig and ribs; a big bowl of potato salad awaits on the picnic table; and a backyard is decked out in Christmas lights, "It's a boy" blue balloons, and strands of garland. All is set for a backyard wedding party like no one has quite ever seen. That is because the bride's husband died just a … [Read more...] about Fat Ham
ShaXspeare Reimagined
Shaxspeare Reimagined From the Works of William Shakespeare Rebecca Clark, Victoria Evans-Erville, AeJay Antonis Marquis, James Mercer II, Dawn Monique Williams & William Thomas Hodgson, Directors African-American Shakespeare Company The thirty-nine plays of William Shakespeare have been revisited, revised, and reconceptualized in thousands of ways since … [Read more...] about ShaXspeare Reimagined
Wild with Happy
Wild with Happy Colman Domingo New Conservatory Theatre Center Grief comes in ways unexpected for Gil as he tries his best to rush through the whole process in dealing with his mom's sudden passing where she resides in his hometown of Philly. After all, the struggling actor (and Yale English lit grad) needs to return tomorrow to New York for a call-back audition … [Read more...] about Wild with Happy
Nobody Loves You
Nobody Loves You Itamar Moses (Book); Gaby Alter (Music & Lyrics) American Conservatory Theater When reality TV with a "You're-off-the-island" edge merges with a bachelor/bachelorette dating show format that opens the floodgates for immediate social media inputs, memes, and votes for winners, then the result is a rom-com that is furiously fun from beginning to … [Read more...] about Nobody Loves You
Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical
Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical Min Kahng (Book, Music & Lyrics) TheaterWorks Silicon Valley, in Co-Production with Center Repertory Company Reminiscent of Sondheim's Passion, the musical now in its world premiere at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley also opens in the midst of a hot, bedroom scene of lovemaking, with arms and bodies … [Read more...] about Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical
The Gods of Comedy
The Gods of Comedy Ken Ludwig The Pear Theatre Warning: If ever in dire trouble, think twice before blurting out, "Oh save me, ancient gods of Greece." Should you do so, you may unleash on yourself one of the craziest, funniest, and most engaging farces that would make Aristophanes or Plautus proud. You should then be ready for a laugh-a-minute two hours where … [Read more...] about The Gods of Comedy
The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer; Lorenzo do Ponte, Original Italian Libretto Donald Pippin, English Version Pocket Opera Since its Vienna premiere in 1786, perhaps there is no better-loved, globally popular opera than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, an operatic comedy with laugh-out-loud mix-ups and shenanigans; … [Read more...] about The Marriage of Figaro
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya Anton Chekhov Adapted by Conor McPherson Berkeley Repertory Theatre, in Co-Production with Shakespeare Theatre Company In a co-production with Washington, D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre opens a stunning, star-rich, spectacularly directed Uncle Vanya bursting with dark humor and laugh-out-loud wit, brimming with … [Read more...] about Uncle Vanya
The Heart Sellers
The Heart Sellers Lloyd Suh Aurora Theatre Company Immigrants stand in line to show necessary papers to the waiting officer, who in turn says to each, "Now give me your heart." Each immigrant digs into their chest to present their heart. The immigrants discover the sad fact that they must sell their hearts to come to America. Luna, a recent immigrant from the … [Read more...] about The Heart Sellers
Waste
Waste Harley Granville-Barker Adapted by Carey Perloff Marin Theatre "Oh what practical, sentimental children you men are, you and your consciousness, you and your laws. You drive us to distraction and sometimes death by your stupidities. Poor women!" Is it any wonder that in an England with its toes still in the deeply moralistic waters of the recently … [Read more...] about Waste
An Enemy of the People
An Enemy of the People Henrik Ibsen Adaptation by Thomas Ostermeier & Florian Borchmeyer English-Language Version by Duncan Macmillan San Jose Stage Company "There are no moral billionaires. Not when millions are starving. And yet we revere them! We hope their electric cars will save the planet or, if not, that their rockets will get us to Mars. A … [Read more...] about An Enemy of the People
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
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