The venerable Ross Valley Players have a long history of presenting new works to their audiences. In 1984, they initiated the Ross Alternative Works (RAW) program, dedicated to staged readings and full productions of original works by Bay Area playwrights. This season brings Scott & Zelda: The Beautiful Fools, running now through April 28. Written…
In the pantheon of great American musicals, one would be hard-pressed to find Clark Gesner’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown on the list. What began as a concept album in 1966 soon transmogrified into a very successful off-Broadway show that never really cut it on Broadway. Its first run in 1971 lasted less than…
God takes center stage in two North Bay productions running through April 14. Sebastopol’s Main Stage West transports to you to 1840 and an Appalachian Heathen Valley, while Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater takes you on a passage to India in search of A Perfect Ganesh. Heathen Valley is referred to in the play as “the land…
It’s been said that the only two things guaranteed to survive the Apocalypse are cockroaches and Cher. Playwright Matt Lyle would like to add one more thing to that list – the good ol’ American barbecue – the setting of his 2014 play Barbecue Apocalypse, running now at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center through April…
“That’s so meta” is a phrase you hear bandied about a lot these days. It’s usually used to describe a reference by someone about themselves. Metatheatre is a style of play that acknowledges it is a play within a play – actors are aware of the audience and may interact with them or acknowledge they’re…
At a time when occupational safety regulations are being loosened and funding for the agencies responsible for their enforcement being reduced, it’s good to be reminded how those safeguards came to be and what life was like for American workers before then. The Ross Valley Players’ production of Melanie Marnich’s These Shining Lives does just…
‘MOTHER ROAD’ (March 3-October 26) Rating (out of 5): ★★★★½ The idea of writing a theatrical sequel to John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” would seem shocking were it not that the playwright is Octavio Solis, one of the country’s most-celebrated living writers of the Mexican-American experience. There is definitely something Steinbeckian about Solis’ award-winning work.…
