Opinion: Examining why a play is a play

Several years ago, at the informal first reading of a new play in the living room of a friend, actor-educator Danielle Caine, one of the dozen-or-so folks there to give feedback, said something to the playwright that I’ll never forget. “Why is this a play?” she asked. “You have a story you want to tell?…

Reviews: “The Haunting of Hill House” in Monte Rio & “Arsenic and Old Lace” in Healdsburg

Halloween comes early to North Bay stages with two productions more commonly seen around that particular holiday. Monte Rio’s Curtain Call Theatre recreates The Haunting of Hill House through Sep. 28 while Healdsburg’s Raven Players present the serial-killing comedy Arsenic and Old Lace through Sep. 29. Shirley Jackson’s 1958 novel The Haunting of Hill House…

Review: “Body Awareness” in Sebastopol

Two very different comedies are nearing the end of their runs on North Bay stages and both are worth catching if you can. Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater is staging the popular musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors while Sebastopol’s Main Stage West is presenting Annie Baker’s Body Awareness. Both shows run through September 22. Baker’s play…

Review: “Little Shop of Horrors” in Petaluma

Two very different comedies are nearing the end of their runs on North Bay stages and both are worth catching if you can. Sebastopol’s Main Stage West is presenting Annie Baker’s Body Awareness while Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater is staging the popular musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors. Both shows run through September 22. You can’t…

Review: “The Mousetrap” in Ross

When something becomes popular enough to be successfully parodied, what made the original source material so popular tends to be forgotten. Case in point – the British murder mystery as exemplified by the works of Agatha Christie. Christie wrote 66 detective novels (many featuring the characters of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot), 14 short story…