In Christopher Durang’s “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” Anton Chekhov meets Walt Disney in this over-the-top comedy that takes place in the rustic Pennsylvanian home of two single 50-something siblings. When their self-absorbed Hollywood actress sister comes gallivanting back into the picture with her very young and often Read More…
Captain Jean-Luc Picard from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and Gandalf from “Lord of the Rings” are coming to Bear country, and no, we’re sorry to say that they are not showing up on the USS Enterprise to protect the Bay Area from Sauron and his legions of orcs (aka Read More…
Berkeley residents should be on the lookout for famed English actors Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Read More…
How do you come to terms with the legacy of an idol? The same way we always have — write a play about the person and emphasize relentlessly his or her weaknesses. Break the person down, and boldly confront all the things you were afraid to consider when he or Read More…
Taming the trouser snake, frosting the pie, unlocking the chamber of secrets, battling the purple-headed yogurt slinger — we all know what these phrases really mean. It’s been around since human beings first realized hands could be useful for something other than high-fiving and biting one’s thumb in insult. Read More…
The Berkeley Fire Department recognized Berkeley police officers Stanley Libed and Kevin Neff at a ceremony Thursday for their heroics during a fire last month. Read More…
There are a few reasons that the man seated next to me may have dozed off midway through Wednesday night’s performance of “An Iliad” at the Berkeley Rep. For one, it was the dead middle of the work week. For another, the average American’s attention span is shrinking. And third, Read More…
If you give a cursory glance to the current signs on the walls of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, you might think yourself insane. In the men’s bathroom (nevermind why I was there), in lucid black ink, a framed piece of paper displays Chinese characters with the following statement beneath: “Salute Read More…
Berkeley smacks you in the face with culture. Everywhere you turn, there’s someone peddling hand-crafted works of art, showcasing their own breed of eccentricity or, if you are anywhere near the post office on Durant Avenue, spraying the wall with color — a vivid and visceral yellow, to be specific. Read More…
Tears were shed Friday night at the world premiere of Eve Ensler’s “Emotional Creature” at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Ensler — Tony Award-winning playwright of the renown “The Vagina Monologues” — brings forth a new play based on her New York Times best-selling novel of the same name under the Read More…