Theater Review: RICHARD III at African-American Shakespeare Company, San Francisco

Murder should be more fun: ‘Richard III’ at the African-American Shakespeare Company

Shakespeare’s Richard III is sometimes classified as a history, sometimes as a tragedy. The political subject matter is historical. The plot is tragedy-like in its high drama and high body count. The play lacks a tragic hero, though. Instead, we get a tragic villain: the manipulative Duke of Gloucester...
Sunday in the Park with George - Review at San Francisco Playhouse
San Francisco Opera - The Ring Video Interview

What’s Happening: The Ring at San Francisco Opera is bold, modern, and a must-see (VIDEO)

In case you missed it, Wagner's Ring is in town. San Francisco Opera is staging the German composer's epic work, The Ring of the Nibelung, once again. Given the buzz, it seems the show is one of the year's biggest and not-to be-missed. Director Francesca Zambello recently sat down with Loni...
Soft Power Theater Review - The Curran, San Francisco

The progressive dream of ‘Soft Power’

On November 29, 2015, the “most famous American Chinese playwright” was stabbed in the neck. That’s David Henry Hwang the real, award-winning playwright, and also David Henry Hwang the character in his own play Soft Power (currently at the SF Curran), and also David Henry Hwang the character in the...
Wild at Heart (David Lynch) screening

Francis Ford Coppola, Amber Tamblyn to headline David Lynch’s 2018 Festival of Disruption in Los Angeles

It's happening again. David Lynch has revealed the lineup for the next Festival of Disruption. Read on for the details here on Stark Insider. And don't forget: keep your eye on the donut not on the hole. Famed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and actress Amber Tamblyn are among those appearing on...
Quixote Nuevo - Cal Shakes Review by Ilana Walder Biesanz

Don Quixote rides (a tricycle) again at Cal Shakes

His quest is pointless, and often destructive. But he is fiercely loved by his family, neighbors, former students, and squire. May we all be so blessed.
Tuck & Patti - San Francisco Jazz Festival Review

36th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival in Full Swing: Tuck & Patti (Review)

The repertoire of Tuck and Patti deftly illustrates the purpose of this venue — bring people together across the Americas to celebrate music, love and life.
San Francisco Theater Review: ME AND MY GIRL at 42nd Street Moon, San Francisco

Tap and Tomfoolery: Me and My Girl

It’s funny how two people can discover the same thing at once. Calculus. Oxygen. A neglected musical. Me and My Girl, hardly a household name even among connoisseurs of classic musical theater, is getting simultaneous revivals from 42nd Street Moon in San Francisco and Encores! in New York –...
The Color Purple - SHN Orpheum Theatre review by Ilana Walder-Biesanz

Star power makes The Color Purple bright

The women of The Color Purple have unimaginably hard lives. They’re subject to an unrelenting series of rape, abuse, and racism. The musical (currently on tour to the SHN Orpheum) is touching and uplifting in spite of that, because it’s the story of how they overcome all those forces...