What do a 20th century Midwest American housewife turned author and a 19th century one-eared Dutch Post-Impressionist painter have in common? Well, they’re the subjects of two solo shows running now on North Bay stages. Napa’s Lucky Penny Productions is presenting Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End for a short run while Santa Rosa’s 6th Street…
“Fully Committed” is the term a pricey New York restaurant demands its reservations clerks use to inform potential guests that there’s no room for them at the table. It also describes what an actor has to be to take on 40 characters in a solo show that centers on the harried life of one of…
There may be no group more deserving of a laugh right now than the theatre community as pandemic-related closures and cancellations led to a general lack of mirth for folks who enjoy going to theatre and the artists who create it. North Bay companies are aiming to bring the funny back by programming several broad…
The centuries-old debate on just who did write the plays attributed to William Shakespeare takes center stage at the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center with their presentation of Amy Freed’s The Beard of Avon. Freed comes down squarely on the side of those who think Edward De Vere deserves the lion’s share of the credit and…
Billy Wilder’s 1950 film noir classic Sunset Boulevard reeks of cynicism. The story of a hack Hollywood writer who stumbles into an opportunistic relationship with a faded silent screen star is a tragedy of operatic proportions. The film’s star, Gloria Swanson, spent years trying to bring a radically altered musical version to the stage and…
One way theatre companies have responded to the pandemic and its related restrictions is to produce smaller shows. Solo performances, two-handers, small-cast dramas and comedies and stripped-down musicals have been the season openers on most local stages. Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse opens their GK Hardt Theatre with Murder for Two, a title that neatly…
What’s a community theatre to do when it wants to put on a large-scale family musical in the age of COVID? Well, if you’re Napa’s Lucky Penny Productions, you hire Scottie Woodard to direct the show and follow his lead in assembling a really creative design team and cast. Their production of Disney’s The Little…
The circle of life takes center stage in the North Bay with two plays featuring females dealing with challenges ranging from child rearing to senior living. Petaluma’s Cinnabar Theater invites you to Cry It Out while the Ross Valley Players would love for you to come and pull a Ripcord. Proof of COVID vaccination and…
Left Edge Theatre officially opens it season with a pair of one-acts running now through September 19 at its Studio Theatre at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa. The local premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s I and You is paired with the world premiere of Beautiful Monsters by Kelly Gray. Left Edge…
Science fiction has long been the purview of film and, to a lesser extent, television. Live theatrical productions of the genre have been few and far between, undoubtedly because of the challenges in staging what we have become accustomed to seeing on screen via the CGI extravaganzas of the past few decades. Local playwright and…
North Bay Stage and Screen 