Arts & Culture :: Theater

Williams & Laughlin, more than pen pals

Williams & Laughlin, more than pen pals

  • by Tavo Amador
  • Feb 26, 2019

Edited by Peggy Fox and Thomas Keith, "The Luck of Friendship: The Letters of Tennessee Williams and James Laughlin" (Norton, $39.95) chronicles the decades-long relationship between the author and the founder of his publisher New Directions.

BAM blossoms

BAM blossoms

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Feb 19, 2019

"Violet" is in bloom, and it's a sight to behold. Also, a joy to listen to.

Caliphates & catfish

Caliphates & catfish

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Feb 19, 2019

Two forces are at war in "A White Girl's Guide to International Terrorism," a slow, soulful social drama and a hastily paced thriller.

Do we hear a waltz?

Do we hear a waltz?

  • by Philip Campbell
  • Feb 12, 2019

Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music," inspired by an Ingmar Bergman movie, endures as one of his most successful shows. It's that "Send in the Clowns" musical, as marketers are quick to remind.

Rory O'Malley on shamrocks & pansies

Rory O'Malley on shamrocks & pansies

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Feb 12, 2019

Rory O'Malley takes the stage at Feinstein's at the Nikko for a two-night run of "Pub Crawl," his deeply personal one-man show, on February 22 & 23.

Surfside existential

Surfside existential

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Feb 5, 2019

"Seascape," Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1975 play, is a crypto-comic riff on the E-train ride from Amoeba to Suburbia.

Eau de Ovid

Eau de Ovid

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Feb 5, 2019

Now playing at the Peet's Theater in a 20th anniversary revival of its original Berkeley Rep production, director and playwright Mary Zimmerman's celebrated interpretation of mythological tales "Metamorphoses" is set around a shimmering pool of water.

The King & I

The King & I

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Feb 5, 2019

In the San Francisco Playhouse's loopy "King of the Yees," Jue portrays Larry Yee, the father of playwright Lauren Yee, who herself is played onstage by Krystle Piamonte.

Comedy & kink

Comedy & kink

  • by Sari Staver
  • Jan 29, 2019

Queer artists are featured prominently in a new weekly comedy show that begins Fri., Feb. 1, in the basement of the infamous Armory Club (1799 Mission St.), the upscale cocktail lounge that was the lovechild of Kink.com.

Knives on the table

Knives on the table

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jan 29, 2019

The room is a barely dressed wound. Kate Boyd's set for the New Conservatory Theater Centre's sharp-toothed production of "Late Company" instantly establishes director Evren Odcikin's tone for the evening.

That's what she said

That's what she said

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jan 29, 2019

Oh, the things people say! "I am lost in a hall of mirrors. It's a maze in here, and no one ever gets out."

Singular sensations

Singular sensations

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jan 22, 2019

The versatility of solo theater as a form, and the diversity of the Bay Area artists who explore it, are being showcased between tonight and Feb. 10 in the second annual Solo Performance Festival produced by PlayGround.

New production of a classic musical

New production of a classic musical

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Jan 22, 2019

Fox will air a new, live production of the classic musical "Rent" on Sun., Jan. 27.

Dinner party politics

Dinner party politics

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jan 22, 2019

Jordan Tannahill was 23 when he wrote "Late Company," the emotionally explosive drama now in a regional premiere production at the New Conservatory Theatre Center.