Playwright Boni B. Alvarez’ new play, America Adjacent, could not be more timely. The current immigration brouhaha saturates the airwaves and the print media, skewing the national conversation, while those individuals caught up in the mess suffer in a myriad of ways. The United States of America is, and has always been, a shining beacon … Continue reading “America Adjacent” at Skylight Theatre
With The Joy Wheel, playwright Ian McRae has crafted a terrific, raucous comedy filled with vividly written characters that conjure up memories of the best of Neil Simon, seasoned with whiffs of the head-butting “Honeymooners,” and served up with delicious, outrageous sexual frankness by Jason Alexander’s superb direction. Frank (Dann Florek) and Stella (Gina Hecht) … Continue reading “The Joy Wheel” at the Ruskin Group Theatre
Sic transit gloria mundi –”Thus passes the glory of the world” Famous people fade into oblivion. Who, these days, remembers Arthur Godfrey? Who, you say? How about George Gobel? Huh? Jeff Chandler? Only an aging population remembers, and before long, pfft! Gone into the dustbin of history. Bess Myerson had a really fine, long run … Continue reading “Miss America’s Ugly Daughter: Bess Myerson & Me” at Greenway Court Theatre
August Wilson stands among the greatest of American playwrights in easy company with O’Neill, Williams, and Miller. Whenever I get a notice of an August Wilson play I haven’t seen yet, I make every effort to go. My goal is to see every one of his magnum opus, The Pittsburgh or Century Cycle. His Two … Continue reading “Two Trains Running” at the Matrix Theatre
There is something utterly absorbing about a well-made, expertly acted two-character play like Zoo Story, The Dresser, or Waiting for Godot (yes, I know, Lucky and Pozzo, but it is in its essence, a two-character play). Add to the canon Laura Maria Censabella’s exquisite Paradise, now in its West Coast premiere at Odyssey Theatre. In … Continue reading “Paradise” at Odyssey Theatre
The press release for The P.O.W. and the Girl, a new play from Katrina Wood, has a tease in it. The plot is inspired by the experiences of her father, Percy Herbert, a character actor. He was a prisoner of war in Southeast Asia and was part of the slave labor that built the Burma … Continue reading “The P.O.W. and the Girl ” at The Sherry Theatre
I fell in love with short plays when I discovered Actors’ Theatre of Santa Cruz and their annual presentation of 8 Tens at Eight. I went every year and wrote about them for the brilliant, now defunct, South Bay Area magazine, Out & About. The thing of it is, the plays are only ten minutes … Continue reading “Pick of the Vine: Season 17” at Little Fish Theatre
