|
|
|
Sort By:
 |
Theater
By Summi Kaipa
What did I expect when I heard that Kevin Killian's new play, White Rabbit, would be premiering at New Langton Arts? A Temptation Island episode with the likes of Siegfried and Roy, Claudia Schiffer, and Arnold Schwarzenegger sounded like a strange combo for such an otherwise sexually charged show, where the usual candidates are married couples tested by the throes of apparently lusty babes. Well, aside from the suspiciously funny premise of reality television as the plot of this play, Killian's premiere has nothing, thankfully, in common with the melodrama of such a show. More
|
 |
Theater
From Parody to Powerhouse Performance
John Ford’s “’Tis Pity She’s a Whore", is one of the most gruesome morality plays in Jacobean literature. With its turgid sensationalism, brusquely candid treatment of incest, and unrelenting presentation of the bilious clash between church and state, there are obvious congruencies with Shakespeare, but this tragedy foregoes Bard-like suggestiveness for categorical bawdiness. More
|
 |
Theater
Love and Desire Through the Ages
The Eastenders Repertory Company's sixth annual festival of short plays really isn't intended to shock, despite this year's theme: 100 Years of Sex Acts. While some of the vignettes are as titillating as you're likely to get from bare-bones theatre, the Oakland-based company is merely commencing with their festival formula: a chronological retrospective of the short play, revolving around a different theme each year.
Astute renditions of obscure literary masterpieces by the likes of Tennessee Williams, Caryl Churchill, and Federico Garcia Lorca set the stage for three marvelous evenings. More
|
 |
Theater
The most rudimentary function of the Circus is to make googly-eyed children of us all. As we ooh and aah over the lithe, pixie-like performers, hold our breaths for death-defying feats, and split our sides laughing at preposterously zany antics, it's easy to recognize the appeal. The Circus is that most primeval playground of wonder, mixing up the ethereal and exotic with the familiar and favorite accoutrements of childhood. Montreal, Quebec's septuplet of performers, Les 7 Doigts de la Main (or more simply, 7 Fingers) hold the trump cards in their delightful restoration of that dormant sense of possibility…with a decidedly grown-up twist. More
|
 |
Theater
Giving Voice to the Women of Iraq
Heather Raffo's exquisitely written, tautly acted play "9 Parts of Desire" is the kind of one-woman show that leaves viewers breathless at the very outset. For one thing, it's both topical and startlingly original. After all, how many portrayals of Iraqi women have we seen beyond the distorted media platitudes lamenting the unilateral plight of Middle Eastern females? More
|
 |
Theater
A Multicultural, Multilingual Feat
The South Asian production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” that is currently enjoying a run at the Curran Theatre seethes with the mischief and irrepressible sensuality that the Bard perhaps originally intended. This gorgeously hybridized, ingeniously rendered production is Shakespeare as you’ve never seen him before -- unloosed of the priggish, perfectly enunciated Queen’s English that tends to preclude any iota of visceral beauty and theatrical velocity. More
|
 |
Theater
Quake on Stage at The Berkeley Rep
“I am a real frog,” declares a green-gloved and generally Dr. Seussishly-outfitted character from the stage of the Berkeley Repertory Theater. “In fact, I am the sum total of all frogs!” And with these auspicious words, Frog himself sets out -- enlisting only the help of a flabbergasted tax collector called Mr. Katagiri -- to save Tokyo from Worm and his ruinous, subterranean undulations. More
|
 |
Theater
The definition for "oratrix" in Webster's 1913 Dictionary is as follows: \Or-a-trix\, n. A woman plaintiff, or complainant, in equity pleading. The accordingly named all-women Seattle enclave of slam performers, storytelling enthusiasts, and queer poets, one-ups its unassuming connotations in more than a few ways. Taking their cue instead from the original Latin word for "she who speaks", Or-a-Trix combines political parable with wrenchingly personal narrative, fusing themes of race, class, sex, and gender in seamless and inventive ways. More
|
 |
Theater
The Spaces Between Film and Stage
A bare stage with a projection screen, the image of two men walking amidst a dusty, black and white cinematic landscape, the sounds of piano rumblings reminiscent of the music from the silent film era. This is where Berkeley Rep’s production of “All Wear Bowlers” opens, with Trey Lyford and Geoff Sobelle, both the authors and stars of this production, exploring the permeations between film and stage, performer and audience, vaudeville and postmodern theater. More
|
|
|
Theater
By Melissa Broder
Inspired by confessional neurotics such as Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol and Woody Allen, the postmodern arts have come to resemble private diary entries; yet the finest playwright is still able to transform a personal notion into a universal theme. David Mamet's American Buffalo, which premiered in Chicago in 1975, exceeds the barriers of class, location and time, presenting audiences with a suspicious analysis of the American dream. In the vein of his predecessor Edward Albee, Mamet chooses depth over quantity when creating his characters. Buffalo's plot centers around a day in the life of three men at a junk shop... More
|
|
