San Francisco
(Bay Area)

FREEDOM WRITER San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO) is presenting a terrific production that tells the amazing true story of Bay Area icon Betty Reid Soskin, known to residents in the Bay Area as being the oldest ranger in National Park Service who retired two years ago at the age of 100 (she became…

THE STEPS TO SUCCESS They say that timing is everything. Timing certainly is everything in  The 39 Steps, the English spy spoof that occupies a delightful, often amazing, and even suspenseful two hours at the San Francisco Playhouse. A fun-filled comedy slapstick farce based on the Alfred Hitchcock thriller The 39 Steps takes place in pre-WWII…

A PIPELINE TO GREAT THEATER Theater can do more than entertain. A good drama can not only pull at your heartstrings, it has the ability to educate, influence and inform. Pipeline, now playing in San Francisco at the Taube Atrium Theater, is the story of Nya, (Leontyne Mbele-Mbong) an inner-city public school teacher, dedicated to…

Some consider A Midsummer Night’s Dream to be one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tributes to love: both romantic and platonic. “Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind. And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” Veronica Renner and Jamin Jollo At Shotgun Players, there is a lot of love for humanity in all…

THE DEMONS ON ANGEL ISLAND We’ve all heard stories about coming to America through Ellis Island. We’ve read the books and seen the movies set in the early 1900s about the immigrants sailing over the Atlantic Ocean, traveling in steerage on a packed ocean liner. We’ve seen the smiling faces of hope as the ships…

UNPACKING PACKS IN TOO MUCH INFO WITHOUT PACKING ENOUGH PUNCH Set in the East Coast Summer gay mecca Provincetown in 1959, four old vaudeville friends reunite anxiously awaiting the promising 60s decade to come. “Handsome young Massachusetts Senator John Kennedy with his gorgeous wife Jackie will hopefully throw his hat in the ring to run…

SURVIVING THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO Theatres took a big hit after COVID. Many lost a third of their audience. Now, regional theatres — those that haven’t shuttered — are turning to a new audience. One that represents the burgeoning diversity across racial and sexual lines. Whether you think that the “woke” conversation has gone…

WHAT MORE CAN I SAY? BRING YOUR KLEENEX The musical masterpiece Falsettos follows Marvin (William Giammona), an appealing, brainy, anxious, obsessive, wealthy Jewish gay man who struggles to create a tight-knit family out of his eclectic array of core relationships, including his ex-wife Trina (Ariela Morgenstern); his new, handsome, muscled and somewhat snarky young boyfriend…

In the 21st century with the advancement of social media, anyone has the ability to be the star of their own reality show. Communicating with friends, expressing personal politics or even showing pictures of your dinner can be fodder for news or conversation. Several years into the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) reality can be…

SEASONS OF LOVE A PRODUCTION OF LOVE Founded in 2007, Berkeley Playhouse is known for its youth programs and summer theater camps for Bay Area youth. Classic family friendly shows such as Peter Pan, Cinderella & Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory are amongst their productions. Occasionally though they take on more “adult themed” classics….

WHAT THE PHO IS GOING ON? Pho (pronounced in 2 sounds, sliding up at the end: fo/É™, like your saying “fur” with a strong New York accent) is a Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles, protein (usually beef, sometimes chicken) and herbs (depending on the chef, it can include spices such as ginger,…

CULT OF LOVE TAKES YOU FROM “HO, HO, HO” TO “HOLY CHRIST!” The Dysfunctional Family, whether in a comedy or drama, is a staple of storytelling, from The Bible and Shakespeare to Netflix. We all have one. And what better fodder for drama is there than the dysfunctional American family? Throw in the trope of…

ANDREA GORDON’S NEW PLAY IS A DIAMOND In Andrea Gordon’s lovely and engaging play Miriam and Esther Go to the Diamond District  —   which opened last Friday at Magic Theatre — two estranged sisters meet at their wealthy stepfather’s house 45 years after their opera singer mother’s death to go through her possessions and clean out…

EVERY BRILLIANT PLAY Now playing at Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek through Jan. 28 is the fantastic one-man show Every Brilliant Thing. Written by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahue, this show combines humor and pathos with audience participation for a night of riveting theater. Originating in London and made into an HBO…

For two generations, a yearly outing to see A Christmas Carol  has been a feel-good tradition for San Francisco families. American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) has staged adaptations of this famous Dickens story continuously since 1976, with few gaps until COVID, changing up the production on a regular basis to keep it from getting stale. Right along…

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A RUTHLESS CHILD? (ON STAGE, THAT IS) Just in time for some holiday fun, New Conservatory Theater presents the 1992 Off-Broadway smash hit Ruthless. With Book and Lyrics by Joel Paley and Music by Marvin Laird, it’s a dark comedy about a 1950s bored housewife living in the suburbs with her talented…