Bay Area theatre talk with a Drama Guy
Five minutes to eight. For anyone else, five minutes to eight means exactly that. But when you are Japanese-American in 1942, just mere months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, … Continue reading Review: Both infuriating and inspiring, TheatreWorks’ ‘Hold These Truths’ is also powerful
I was able to pitch a series to Theatre Bay Area focusing on diversity on Bay Area stages. Here is the first piece, focusing on Asian American theatre, its progress and where … Continue reading My latest piece at Theatre Bay Area
Director Kirsten Brandt is a few days away from closing her first show with the African-American Shakespeare Company, a production of the vicious classic “Richard III.” And to hear the … Continue reading Closing weekend for powerful and timely ‘Richard III’ from African-American Shakes
Theirs is a bond like no other. It is not hard to see what makes Mariam and Laila come together. Both existing in a world of suffocating oppression, tethered to … Continue reading Review: A friendship built from oppression displayed in ACT’s searing ‘Splendid Suns’
One thing you have to say about those Donnelly’s – they know how to make an entrance. Take the dashing, thunderously white stepson Joshua. He doesn’t so much enter a … Continue reading Review: Everything’s all white with sharp ‘Two Mile Hollow’ at Ferocious Lotus
In the past few years, I have fallen in love with a few things. First, there’s KPop. What’s not to love about these fantastically constructed groups with sick dance moves … Continue reading Review: ‘Soft Power’ at the Curran takes sharp aim through laughs and song
As the family gathers where the loons call them back, the sunset cascades down onto the muddy bank while simultaneously piercing through the Lake House window. And as the night … Continue reading San Francisco’s Ferocious Lotus tackles a new genre in world premiere of Winkler’s ‘Two Mile Hollow’
“I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race.” – Hattie McDaniel in her acceptance speech at the 1940 Academy Awards * … Continue reading Two inspirations motivate Reynolds in her solo piece ‘Hattie McDaniel…What I Need You to Know’
At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of things. Circular dialogue that seemed to go nowhere in one of those New York Chinatown apartments that have a million … Continue reading Review: Initially confounding ‘Humans’ at SHN accelerates quickly with passion, pathos and purpose
There are so many depths and layers when it comes to portraying a character created by seminal South African playwright Athol Fugard. Wendy vanden Heuvel knows this all too well. … Continue reading vanden Heuvel explores mysteries and secrets in Fugard’s ‘A Lesson From Aloes’ at Z Below
With today’s generation of teenagers more connected than ever in the form of social media, the pressures to live up to a fabricated online ideal can be thoroughly treacherous. Specifically, … Continue reading Shotgun’s ‘Dry Land’ addresses the ‘fragile and formative’ teen years
There is no denying the charm and disarming nature of Heidi Schreck. She is whip-smart, delightfully funny, but underneath that billowy, sunny demeanor is a life lived, one that has … Continue reading Review: Effectively disjointed ‘Constitution’ by Heidi Schreck enlightens and entertains at Berkeley Rep
There is something so special about a Sunday morning at a Black church in the South. More than a year ago, my family and I ventured to my brother-in-law’s hometown … Continue reading Review: Sing the joyful noise with SHN’s phenomenal ‘Color Purple’
