Laughs. It Hurts. ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ at Berkeley Rep
                    This wasn't supposed to happen. You know that sinking feeling you get? The curtain drops, and all of a sudden there's maybe a dozen actors all talking at each other, over top one another, in rapid-fire succession. Uh-oh, I can't keep up. And that bright, garish set, with a...                
                
            More of this virtual world at San Francisco Playhouse (review)
                    Russell delivers a performance that’ll give you shivers of recognition. You know this long-winded, self-serving, alpha male wanna-be who sucks the air out of the room.                 
                
            Smuin Ballet goes full cycle with ‘Unlaced’
                    The whole thing happens so organically, so subtly, that it seems to originate somewhere beyond the choreographer’s active imagination.                
                
            Come to the DMV, old friend… with Don Reed
                    Actor Don Reed presents nine characters – beginning with Alberta – the first roadblock at the “appointments or no appointments” desk.                
                
            Dreaming Irish at Broadway San Jose: ‘Once’ (Review)
                    This is a spinet on stage, not a baby grand, and what de Waal does with it can make you rethink the possibilities of music.                
                
            Rising Water, Rising Fast: Head of Passes
                    A different way to wrap your mind around Head of Passes is to think of it as a variant of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking – re-morphed culturally for the bayou and performed by a cast with killer acting chops.                 
                
            Tenderly Taut: ‘Death of a Salesman’ at SJ Stage
                    King's physical persona - particularly the glasses, head shape and hair - reminded me of Joseph P. Kennedy, gone to seed – which isn’t a bad image to have in the back of your head.                
                
            A Great Stage of Fools: ‘King Lear’ at Independent Eye (Review)
                    Bishop and Fuller worked together, handing puppets back and forth with the deftness of surgical assistant passing a scalpel.                
                
            Not Just for Folkies: ‘Fire on the Mountain’ breathes electricity
                    Entering the house, you soak in Joe Ragey’s scenic design upon which the contradictions of the place are writ large. “Harlan County is UMWA County” isn’t the only sign proclaiming union loyalty, but they all seem overshadowed by the smaller ‘We Accept Food Coupons’ placard.                 
                
             
            








