Arts & Culture :: Theater

Yucca, yucca: 'Kiss My Aztec'

Yucca, yucca: 'Kiss My Aztec'

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jun 11, 2019

Aztec society worshipped the sun. "Kiss My Aztec" frenetically proves the adage that there's nothing new under it.

Horns of plenty: 'Rhinoceros'

Horns of plenty: 'Rhinoceros'

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jun 11, 2019

You'd need an awfully thick skin to resist being tickled by the production of "Rhinoceros," Eugene Ionesco's 1959 classic now at the American Conservatory Theater.

Willie the Shakes' nonstop faerie frolic

Willie the Shakes' nonstop faerie frolic

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jun 4, 2019

Puck yeah! Relishing his role as Fairyland's mischief chief and occasional cur, Robin Goodfellow, aka Puck (Robyn Kerr) — already the doubling is dizzying! — delights in his assignment to confuse and befuddle.

Swamp creatures

Swamp creatures

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jun 4, 2019

"Kings," Sarah Burgess' engagingly unsavory behind-the-scenes D.C. drama now being staged by Berkeley's Shotgun Players, is a sort of Capitol Hill "Jurassic Park."

Un-convent-ional casting

Un-convent-ional casting

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • May 29, 2019

Make like a wise man and follow the beckoning star. You'll end up not in Bethlehem, but at the Gateway Theater.

The demon butcher of Wall Street

The demon butcher of Wall Street

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • May 28, 2019

There's an all-too-familiar glimmer of today's San Francisco in "American Psycho," the musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' black comic 1991 novel about a white-collar murderer, now making its West Coast debut.

Too little smoke, too much mirror

Too little smoke, too much mirror

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • May 21, 2019

"I wish we had a bar like this," one of my companions exclaimed upon seeing Devin Kasper's irresistibly inviting set for "The View UpStairs."

Poor baby

Poor baby

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • May 14, 2019

The title of "Significant Other," playwright Joshua Harmon's curdled romantic comedy now in its local premiere at the San Francisco Playhouse, refers not to one of the play's many soon-to-be-spouses but to Jordan Berman (Kyle Cameron).

Theater activism

Theater activism

  • by Jim Piechota
  • May 14, 2019

In his latest collection of essays and performance pieces, Tim Miller demonstrates a well-honed sense of humor, a passion for queer history, and the kind of melodrama only a true performance artist can exude.

Bible thumper

Bible thumper

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • May 14, 2019

Miriam, the sharp-witted atheist academic played by Annette O'Toole in "The Good Book" now at Berkeley Rep, is the kind of professor whose bravura makes a lecture hall come alive.

Cultural connections around the Bay

Cultural connections around the Bay

  • by Roberto Friedman
  • May 7, 2019

Possibilities for engagement with the arts and culture of the Bay Area do sometimes seem infinite. Take Out There's last week, for example — please!

Riffing on a Toni Morrison novel

Riffing on a Toni Morrison novel

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • May 7, 2019

Joe Trace and his wife Violet tell two sides of the same story in "Jazz," an adaptation of Toni Morrison's 1992 novel now in its West Coast premiere at the Marin Theatre Company.

Vanity night live

Vanity night live

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Apr 30, 2019

There's plenty of unsavory behavior on display in this American Conservatory Theater co-production with Washington, D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Comedy & connections in loneliness

Comedy & connections in loneliness

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Apr 23, 2019

Joshua Harmon has seen his share of romantic comedies. "You often have this gay sidekick to the female lead who will come into a scene, say something funny or supportive, then disappear for a while."