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Continue reading →: Ubuntu’s ‘Othello’ a language of love
Michael Navarra is playing Iago in Ubuntu Theater Project’s production of William Shakespeare’s “Othello.” It is a role that is both mesmerizing and intimidating. But for this particular production, there is a factor that makes the dynamic special. That is in regards to the stage he gets to perform on,…
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Continue reading →: Church life in Middle America dominates DMT’s ‘Book of Days’
There are three things needed in order to make a great play – a cheese factory, a fundamentalist church and a community theater. Seriously. Granted, there are certainly plays that have done very well without any of these components, but for Lanford Wilson’s “Book of Days,” the character driven…
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Continue reading →: Review: ‘Kinky Boots’ never ceases to amaze
I just love me some Lola. Based on the reaction of the crowd that gathered at the Golden Gate Theatre for opening night of the all too short run of “Kinky Boots,” I was most definitely not alone. This has been my fourth viewing of the show, and I am…
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Continue reading →: Pride fuels Torres-Falcón in SHN’s ‘Kinky Boots’
There was a time in his life where Juan Torres-Falcón looked at his brown skin and felt shame. New York City has a way of cutting someone to his or her core. And to a young man who first embarked on the Big Apple after the safe and familiar territory…
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Continue reading →: Review: ‘Rent’ at Sunnyvale Community Players is faithful, effective
There are few theatre productions more unique than a production of “Rent.” The first time I saw the show was on a national tour, just before I started doing the critic thing. Even though it was enjoyable, I do admit feeling a bit lost because everything, and I mean everything,…
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Continue reading →: Review: San Jose Stage’s ‘Boeing Boeing’ is slick and quick
If I were a betting man, I would bet your enjoyment of San Jose Stage’s production of French playwright Mark Camoletti’s“Boeing Boeing” is based on your own taste in comedy. And while that statement may be straight out of the gentle little town of Obviousville, it is really one…
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Continue reading →: Strahl shares her love of singing in Opera San Jose’s ‘Streetcar’
Ariana Strahl gets plenty of double takes when people find out she makes her living as an opera singer. After all, opera is not exactly known for its bevy of young folks snatching up tickets to see the works of composers with names such as Rossini, Bizet and Puccini. But…
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Continue reading →: Review: City Lights’ ‘Elephant Man’ is effective, insightful
John Merrick stands firmly at attention, a pair of khaki shorts, no shirt, staring blankly into space. This particular tableau is a bit striking in its simplicity. But slowly, as the doctor describes Merrick’s diagnosis, which attacks his anatomy, skin and his fragile psyche, Merrick slowly morphs into a being…
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Continue reading →: Crowded Fire’s ‘I Call My Brothers’ spends 24 hours inside the mind of a man
Evren Odcikin has worked hard to make sense of the destructive rhetoric that has taken root in this year’s presidential election. As a Muslim-American born and raised in Turkey, Odcikin has processed many feelings about his religion, his ethnicity, his role as an American, and is channeling those feelings in…
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Continue reading →: Review: Berkeley Rep’s ‘Macbeth’ fuses ancient and modern
When it comes time for the banal, yet sanguine pre-show announcement at any theatrical production, it is customary to announce the producing company and the show title with pride. And there were certainly good omens when it came to Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s announcement at their production of “Macbeth.” Sure, there…
David John Chávez
Bay Area theater critic/reporter, Executive Chair – American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association, Two-time Pulitzer Prize for Drama jurist (’22-’23). Follow me on socials and say hi! #hellatheatre
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