Review: “Equivocation” in Rohnert Park

by Barry Willis * The black-box Condiotti Theatre at Spreckels Performing Arts Center morphs into Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, a 17th-century courtroom, a torture chamber, an execution site, and more in Bill Cain’s Equivocation, now running in Rohnert Park through September 13. Adroitly directed by Spreckels’ artistic director Sheri Lee Miller, Cain’s 2009 play melds real…

2nd Review: “Intimate Apparel” in Petaluma

by Barry Willis * Playwright Lynn Nottage is a national treasure. Her plays such as Sweat, Clyde’s, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, and The Secret Life of Bees are always popular, always entertaining, and always thought-provoking. They tend to run in unexpected directions, which only partly explains their enormous appeal. Petaluma’s Mercury Theater is…

Review: “Intimate Apparel” in Petaluma

by Harry Duke * We live in a time when the need to attract an ever-dwindling audience to live theatre often leads to a company programming the latest Hollywood-style spectacle or musical adaptation of a well-known movie or television series. It’s either that or the old tried-and-true and very familiar. Shakespeare, anyone? It’s good to…

Review: “South Pacific” in Santa Rosa

by Cari Lynn Pace * Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific, now running at 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa through Sep. 20, debuted 75 years ago. Even though it harkens back to a simpler and more sanitized time, it still resonates today with romantic songs and a powerful message. Its strengths leads one to forgive…

Review: “Julius Caesar” in San Rafael

by Cari Lynn Pace * I took my English friend with me to Marin Shakespeare Company’s current production of Julius Caesar in the Forest Meadows Amphitheatre at Dominican University (now running through Sep. 13). My friend was as riveted as I was with the staging and characters and joked “This is bloody good.” Indeed—Julius Caesar…