The SF Playhouse version of 'Camelot', with its knife's edge violence at the surface, comes closer to the feel of this period – further illustrating why the Arthurian ideal was so important – and so improbable.

Can you dig it? Don Reed's a gem of a storyteller, spinning tales of growing up in Oakland with dance moves that best anyone on two legs.

Caldwell’s Algernon bounced between insouciant petulance and the brittle wit of the chronically self-assured.

With little more than two wigs, a hoodie, a hat and a few minor props, Martinez stuns the audience as she flips through her characters, capturing some unique essence of each one.

The drawing room of 'A Minister’s Wife' is a space you dream of moving into, with spare lines and restraint appropriate to an Anglican minister, but filled with rich colors and walled bookcases laden with books.

Marin indicates he might not be the most reliable narrator, but since he presents multiple takes on an event, you dismiss it. Sometime later, the ah-hah hits, and you realize that the apparent falsity was some of the best acting Marin’s ever done.

Like Copland, Gershwin was the foreigner who created American music, mirroring us back to ourselves.

"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."

Costumer designer Brandin Barón developed the true shocker – a 1970’s wardrobe that isn’t an affront to the dignity of the characters.

It is entirely possible that American Idiot is one of those ephemeral miracles that can’t exist outside of a particular point in time. It’s worth asking whether this one can – or even if it should.