It's an ambitious undertaking, with the two-act play even taking us to the Garden of Eden -- a place that, on this evening, felt quite Barbarella.

Celebrating its second anniversary at The Retro Dome in San Jose, this Guggenheim Entertainment production lives up to the venue's name and is noteworthy for its singular vitality, clockwork professionalism and sheer entertainment value.

No humorless left wing hacks, the SFMT laughs at themselves, with characters like “Working Class Man,” and ups the ante by confronting the two-dimensionality of their subject material with a commedia dell'arte approach.

Once again, Actors Theatre of San Francisco has chosen to tackle one of the best and most difficult plays written in contemporary American English.

Short of an opening bit, and two vintage recreations of Jim Henson’s work from the mid 1950’s and early ‘60’s, the entire show involves a dialogue between master-of-ceremonies Patrick Bristow and the audience as he solicits suggestions for short bits that the six puppeteers then perform.

Famous events -- JFK's assassination, the Mets winning the World Series, the moon landing, Nixon -- are recalled by marks on the set, and camera tracking set-ups. In this world, soap stars never die.

The Big Fat Year End Comedy Show features a night of comedy and politics with a collection of stand-up comedy, skits, quizzes and many other surprises.

Yes, there are the minor lighting miscues and flubbing of lines typical of community theatre, but the undeniable talent in evidence and the timeliness of the topic make this a highly worthwhile production of an American classic.

Taken together, the piece had a ‘60’s feel to it, but in a good way, relieved from the overstated cultural baggage.

This was not some pompous Il barbiere whose wit dried shortly after the ink from Rossini’s pen.