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Theatre Eddys

Theatre Eddys

San Francisco Bay Area Theater Reviews

Berkeley Repertory Company

Mother Road

June 21, 2024 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Mother Road Octavio Solis Berkeley Repertory Theatre Seventy-plus years have passed since the Joad family of John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath joined a parade of desperate migrant farmers, all leaving their starving lives in Dust-Bowl-ravaged Oklahoma of the 1930s while looking for the lush life they saw painted on fruit crates from California.  Two Joads – a mother and … [Read more...] about Mother Road

The Far Country

March 15, 2024 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

The Far Country Lloyd Suh Berkeley Repertory Theatre “I do not want to take from America … I want to give to America.”  So does the amiable, big-smiling Gee patiently make his case to the persistently doubtful U.S. Inspector to prove in 1909 that he is a naturalized American citizen who – like everyone living in Chinatown in 1906 – lost all his proof-of-birth papers in the … [Read more...] about The Far Country

Cambodian Rock Band

March 2, 2023 by Eddie Reynolds

Cambodian Rock Band Lauren Yee, with Songs by Dengue Fever Berkeley Repertory Theatre Presenting the Signature Theatre Production in Association with Alley Theatre, ACT Theatre/5th Avenue & Center Theatre Group, A play about family displacement, trauma, and massive genocide is not a play one would normally expect often to laugh, to tap one’s foot to rock music, … [Read more...] about Cambodian Rock Band

Sanctuary City

July 15, 2022 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Sanctuary City Martyna Majok Berkeley Repertory Theatre, in Association with Arena Stage Two high school seniors each are seeking sanctuary from a life that fate and family have unfortunately gifted them.  B (as in Boy) arrived in this country ten years prior and is now here illegally because his mom overstayed her visa – a mom who now has vowed to leave him and go … [Read more...] about Sanctuary City

Octet

April 28, 2022 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Octet Dave Malloy (Book, Lyrics, Music, Vocal Arrangements) Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Co-Production with Signature Theatre Barely acknowledging the others and each appearing a bit hesitant and even lost, eight individuals – four women, four men – arrive one by one to sit in a circle in what appears to be a church basement.  With a nod by one, they begin a sliding … [Read more...] about Octet

Gatz

February 14, 2020 by Eddie Reynolds

Into a drab, empty office setting with its metal shelves full of boxes that are clearly full of folders full of papers walks a man in his blue shirt and tie who sits at a table and attempts to turn on his computer – a clunky-looking model by today’s standards from some time period fifteen-to-twenty years ago.  After several frustrating attempts, he opens a small container on … [Read more...] about Gatz

White Noise

October 11, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

By his own admission, thirty-something Leo has done “everything right” his entire life: good grades, followed all the rules, established himself as a career artist, and has even won a ton of trophies as a bowling champion.  But then during one of his habitually sleepless nights when his mid-of-night walk takes him into an upper-class, white neighborhood, the young African … [Read more...] about White Noise

“The Great Wave”

September 20, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

The Great WaveFrancis TurnlyBerkeley Repertory TheatreSharon OmiAlmost every stormy winter, we natives of the San Francisco Bay Area read the tragic news that along the city’s Great Beach or nearby coastal areas someone has been swept to sea by a sudden-appearing “rogue wave,” never to be seen again.  In 1979 off the west coast of Japan, two teenage sisters venture out … [Read more...] about “The Great Wave”

“Kiss My Aztec!”

June 7, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Kiss My Aztec!John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone (Book)Benjamin Velez (Music and Arrangements)David Kemp, Benjamin Velez & John Leguizamo (Lyrics)Berkeley Repertory Theater   KC de la Cruz, Chad Carastarphen & Angelica BeliardElectricity sparks through the air as the arriving audience is already in full abuzz.  After all, big red balloons are bouncing off their … [Read more...] about “Kiss My Aztec!”

“The Good Book”

May 6, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

The Good BookDennis O’Hare & Lisa PetersonBerkeley Repertory TheatreDenmo Ibrahim with Elijah Alexander, Lance Gardner & Wayne WilcoxIt is the most published, most translated, most read, and probably controversial book in the world.  There are those who base all life’s decisions on its verses and those who sneer at the hypocrisies and contradictions of the people … [Read more...] about “The Good Book”

“Home”

March 29, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

HomeGeoff SobelleBerkeley Repertory TheatreThe Cast of HomeSay the word “home;” and for most of us a flood of both current realities and long-past memories come to mind along with a host of trite but true phrases we oft hear repeated in our own heads: “Home is where the heart is;” “Home sweet home;” “Oh Auntie Em, there’s no place like home.”  Pictures of family members … [Read more...] about “Home”

“Metamorphoses”

February 6, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

MetamorphosesMary Zimmerman (From the translations of Ovid by David R. Slavitt)Berkeley Repertory Theatre (in co-production with GuthrieTheater)Steven Epp & Sango TajimaThe element that flows, freezes, and flies into the sky as steam is the medium in which multiple, life-altering transformations occur in each of dozen-plus vignettes of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, now in … [Read more...] about “Metamorphoses”

“Paradise Square: A New Musical”

January 11, 2019 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Paradise Square: A New MusicalMarcus Gardley, Craig Lucas & Larry Kirwan (Book); Conceived by Larry Kirwan; Jason Howland & Larry Kirwan (Music); Nathan Tysen (Lyrics)Based on the Songs of Stephen FosterBerkeley Repertory TheatreThe Cast of Paradise Square: A New MusicalIn what is now regarded as the first inner-city slum in America -- one teeming by the early 1860s … [Read more...] about “Paradise Square: A New Musical”

“Pike Street”

November 27, 2018 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

  Pike StreetNilaja SunBerkeley Repertory Theatre Nilaja SunIn August 2017, I saw and reviewed Nilaja Sun's solo performance of "Pike Street" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  At that time, I contacted several Bay Area companies and suggested they consider bringing her and her compelling story to our local audiences.  While I unfortunately am unable to attend … [Read more...] about “Pike Street”

“fairview”

October 12, 2018 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

fairviewJackie Sibblies DruryBerkeley Repertory Theatre, In Association with Soho RepNatalie Venetia Belcon, Monique Robinson & Charles BrowingFor the first forty minutes or so, we seem to be watching what one character calls, “a good ol’ family drama ... a slice of life ... nothing big and flashy ... just a real story about real people.”  The situations are familiar … [Read more...] about “fairview”

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Eddie is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.

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About Eddie

Theatre Critic for the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, writing 150+ reviews annually for Theatre Eddys and Talkin' Broadway (San Jose/Silicon Valley). Read More

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