Theater Review: HANDS ON A HARD BODY (Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park) by Barry Willis

A WORKING-CLASS ENDURANCE CONTEST TURNS INTO A MUSICAL OF HOPE AND DESPERATION A spirited, heartfelt production that balances humor with grit Victory by attrition is the name of the game in …

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 8:32pm on February 23, 2026[SHARE]

Theater Review: IMPROBABLE FICTION (Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond) by Barry Willis

WRITERS RUN AMOK WHEN IMAGINATION TAKES OVER THE ROOM A nimble, high-energy ensemble comedy that turns creative frustration into gleeful theatrical chaos As hilarious today as it was when it…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 1:55am on February 13, 2026[SHARE]

Theater Review: MOTHER OF EXILES (Berkeley Repertory) by Barry Willis

MOTHER OF EXILES BAFFLES AT BERKELEY REP Jessica Huang's world premiere Mother of Exiles has posted a closing date of December 21. The lengthy run may not be a blessing for a disjoi…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 1:50am on November 23, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: NOISES OFF (San Francisco Playhouse) by Barry Willis

THE HILARIOUS NOISES OFF IS ON AT SF PLAYOUSE " OFF YOU GO The huge interior of an imposing English country estate by Heather Kenyon greets visitors to the San Francisco Playhouse, scene of …

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 2:52am on October 12, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: INTO THE WOODS (Spreckels Theatre Company in Rohnert Park) by Barry Willis

A SONDHEIM SPECTACLE Sonoma County's Spreckels Performing Arts Center has launched a tremendous production of Into the Woods, the perpetually popular and nearly forty-year-old musical spoof …

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 5:00am on September 29, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: INDECENT (CenterREP at the Lesher Center) by Barry Willis

A STUNNING INDECENT REMINDS US THAT FREE SPEECH IS ALWAYS ON TRIAL The triumphs and travails of an itinerant Yiddish theater troupe get a full examination in Paula Vogel's acclaimed hit play…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 5:00am on September 18, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN (Sonoma Arts Live Theatre Company at Andrews Hall) by Barry Willis

JOPLIN ROARS A legendary rock singer comes roaring back to life in A Night with Janis Joplin at Sonoma Arts Live. Libby Oberlin With elegant direction by Carl Jordan (also responsible for th…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 2:15am on September 9, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: FEATHERBABY (Spreckels Theatre Company in Rohnert Park) by Barry Willis

A FEATHERBABY IN SPRECKELS' CAP A talking, squawking parrot dispenses wit, wisdom, and wonder in Featherbaby at Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park. In a bright green suit and y…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 2:29am on September 2, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: BEAUTIFUL " THE CAROL KING MUSICAL (Transcendence Theatre Company at Field of Dreams in Sonoma) by Barry Willis

TRANSCENDENCE DOES BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFULLY Sonoma County's home-grown musical revue troupe Transcendence Theatre Company has launched a wonderful production of Douglas McGrath's theatrical bio…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 3:50am on August 10, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: MY FAIR LADY (San Francisco Playhouse) by Barry Willis

GET ME TO SF PLAYHOUSE ON TIME: MY FAIR LADY CHARMS UNION SQUARE Every summer, San Francisco Playhouse puts on a classic blockbuster musical that runs from early July into September. It's an…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 11:18pm on July 13, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NAPA VALLEY (Lucky Penny Productions in Napa) by Barry Willis

MUSICAL SATIRE SUPREME Napa's Lucky Penny Productions closes out its 2024-25 season with a screamingly funny spoof of an inexplicably popular TV franchise, in which five rich boozy women can…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 3:22am on June 4, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: RUMORS (Sonoma Arts Live) by Barry Willis

THE RUMOR THAT RUMORS IS A SCREAM IS NO RUMOR The late playwright/screenwriter Neil Simon remains one of America's most beloved creators of comedy. His plays often hinge on ludicrous setups,…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 2:58am on June 4, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME (San Francisco Playhouse) by Barry Willis

ANOTHER WORTHY WAY TO WONDER AT THE WORLD On rare occasions even the most seasoned reviewers are confounded by the inadequacy of language to describe a production so beautiful and transcende…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 3:50pm on May 10, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY (Aurora Theatre in Berkeley) by Barry Willis

The pleasure lies not in the cookies, but in the pattern the crumbs make when the cookies crumble. ~ Michael Korda Playwright Lynn Nottage is a national treasure"a two-time Pulitzer Prize wi…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 2:28am on May 3, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Reviews: OTHER DESERT CITIES (Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond and Lucky Penny in Napa) by Barry Willis

A TALE OF TWO CITIES Theater is all about storytelling, and stories don't come any better crafted than Jon Robin Baitz's Pulitzer Prize-nominated Other Desert Cities. The SF Bay Area is enjo…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 2:58am on April 30, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE (Sonoma Arts Live) by Barry Willis

LOVE AND CHANGE, SONOMA STYLE Dating and mating get fully examined and fully skewered in I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change at Sonoma Arts Live in downtown Sonoma, through May 4. Ably he…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 12:30am on April 24, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: ART (Shotgun Players, Ashby Stage in Berkeley) by Barry Willis

THE ART OF MAKING ART An extravagant art purchase causes a major upheaval among three old friends in Yasmina Reza's Art, at Berkeley's Ashby Stage through April 9. David Sinaiko and Benoî…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 3:08pm on March 17, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: REEFER MADNESS (Lucky Penny in Napa) by Barry Willis

NAPA'S LUCK PENNY GOES TO POT" IN A GOOD WAY A hokey 1930s propaganda film runs headlong into Beach Blanket Babylon in Reefer Madness at Napa's Lucky Penny Productions through March 23. A mu…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 3:05am on March 16, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: THE HEART SELLERS (Aurora Theatre) by Barry Willis

YOU GOTTA HAVE HEART Two young immigrant women find joy and hope in a budding friendship in Lloyd Suh's The Heart Sellers, at Berkeley's Aurora Theatre through March 9. The show moves to The…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 7:29pm on February 19, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: FROGGY (Center REP in Walnut Creek) by Barry Willis

FANTASTIC FROGGY Jennifer Haley's audacious graphic novel Froggy comes roaring to life on the Margaret Lesher Theatre's big stage in Walnut Creek, and it's one of the freshest theatrical …

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 2:12pm on February 16, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: EXOTIC DEADLY: OR THE MSG PLAY (San Francisco Playhouse) by Barry Willis

WELL-SEASONED THEATER IS LOADED WITH FLAVOR Welcome to 1999, a time of hysteria over the impending Y2K crisis, widespread fear of monosodium glutamate (MSG), crude video games and crude popu…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 8:10pm on February 11, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION (Sonoma Arts) by Barry Willis

SIX DEGREES SPOOFS UPPER-CLASS PRETENTIONS Sonoma Arts Live (SAL) has launched an ambitious production of Six Degrees of Separation, John Guare's now-classic tale of belief and deception amo…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 8:47pm on February 1, 2025[SHARE]

Theater Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Center Repertory Company at The Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek) by Barry Willis

THERE'S A LESSON HERE: EVEN WITHOUT THE BIG PARTY, THE MESSAGE RINGS CLEAR Charles Dickens' beloved A Christmas Carol is among the holiday season's most welcome recurring theater productions…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 6:36pm on December 16, 2024[SHARE]

Theater Review: WAITRESS (San Francisco Playhouse) by Barry Willis

IF THE HEAT IN AMERICA'S KITCHEN IS GETTING YOU DOWN, HEAD TO WAITRESS AT SF PLAYHOUSE San Francisco Playhouse has delivered an incredible gift for the winter holiday season: Waitress, Jessi…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 7:07pm on November 30, 2024[SHARE]

Theater Review: THE 39 STEPS (Masquers in Point Richmond) by Barry Willis

MASQUERS KNOWS THE STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL, MAGICAL COMEDY Alfred Hitchcock gets a good-natured but thorough pummeling in The 39 Steps at Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond, through December…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 8:59pm on November 21, 2024[SHARE]