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...
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...
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.
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.
Inside The Ring: Backstage at San Francisco Opera’s production of ‘Ring of the Nibelung’ (Video)
Power. Love. Destruction.
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 –...
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...
Searching for freedom with Father Comes Home from the Wars
Midway through Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3, at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater in San Francisco), a Confederate colonel sets his Union prisoner Smith guessing his slave Hero’s price. The callous discussion of a human being’s dollar value horrifies Smith (and the audience), but to...
Shakespeare’s obscure ‘Timon’ sears at Cutting Ball
Shakespeare completionists surely took note when Cutting Ball Theater announced Timon of Athens as part of their 2017–18 season. It’s a difficult one to check off your see-them-all list: a few dozen Hamlets and Macbeths get produced for every time someone is brave enough to mount this “problem play.”...
Berkeley Rep Announces 2018-19 Season: Doll’s House Pt. 2, Fairview, Home, Good Book, more
Iconic theater celebrates 50th anniversary with 6 shows under Tonny Taccone's last year of artistic directorship.
