by Cari Lynn Pace * I was a teenager when two “monster comedy” shows aired on network TV in 30-minute black and white episodes from 1964 to 1966 (and in reruns ever since.) The Munsters and The Addams Family delighted us with their weird antics and bizarre proclivities which contrasted with and confused the outside…
by Woody Weingarten * Harold Pinter sure packs a brainload into his plays. Take Betrayal, which is on stage at Marin Theatre through Nov. 15, for example. • It’s tautly dramatic, with its pinpoint focus on a seven-year affair, predominantly in the ‘70s, between Emma, an art gallery owner played by Liz Sklar, one of…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Harold Pinter penned 29 plays on his way to becoming a major dramatist of the 20th century and earning the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature. Marin Theatre has taken on the British playwright’s challenging Betrayal. Carey Perloff directs the production running in Mill Valley through Nov. 15. Perloff has a…
by Cari Lynn Pace * I was hesitant to invite my friend to join me for Marin Theatre’s Bay Area premiere of The White Chip, now running in Mill Valley through Sep. 20. This semi-autobiographical comedy, written by Sean Daniels, is billed as “a humorous and human play about addiction and recovery.” The title refers…
My guest on the 07/09/26 “Theatre Thursday” segment on The Drive on 95.5 FM was Michael Gene Sullivan, writer of and performer in the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s latest theatrical poke in the eye of the establishment called WRECKAGE: A Musical Tragicomedy. The show is on tour throughout Northern California with stops in Sonoma County…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Marin County’s Larry Sultan took photos of his parents over a decade, creating a loving tribute to them and an often-annoying pain in the neck for them. Sultan travelled to his childhood home in Southern California each month seeking conversations and photographing his parents’ lives in search of a deeper…
by Cari Lynn Pace * If you are a fan of Stephen Sondheim, you will be delighted with this Throckmorton Theatre production of Company. If you don’t care for Sondheim’s repetitive musical style, you will still be delighted with this production. It’s a show filled with non-stop energy. Company focuses on bachelor Bobby’s 35th birthday…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Marin Theatre’s Boyer stage holds a magnificent set by Nina Ball populated with characters from somewhere in Russia. They lounge around while gossiping about their expected guests. When the house guests arrive, their long-absent relationships are sorted out. The arriving drama queen is Liubov, in a flighty and capricious role…
by Beulah F. Vega * The Gift of Nothing, now running at Marin Theater through Tuesday, Dec. 23, begins on a special day when the residents of the Mutts world celebrate by giving gifts to their friends and families. But Mooch the cat (Jordan Covington) has a problem: what to get the dog that has…
by Cari Lynn Pace * Sweeney Todd is the malevolent plot likely inspired by the campfire song “Dunderbeck’s Machine” which my Dad sang to us as youngsters. We boisterously sang along as mean old Dunderbeck turned critters into sausages, ultimately getting his just reward. Stephen Sondheim created an amped-up plot of human gruesomeness in this…
