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Author: bdhorwitz

“A Doll’s House, Part 2” Redefines Marriage, at Berkeley Rep

“A Doll’s House, Part 2” Redefines Marriage, at Berkeley Rep

Lucas Hnath Updates, Invigorates Ibsen Classic by Barry David Horwitz When in the history of plays has a young writer taken on a hundred plus years old classic and written a “Part 2”? The audacity of Lucas Hnath’s undertaking is only outweighed by his stellar, modern take in “A Doll’s House, Part 2.”  Norwegian Henrik Ibsen must be applauding from Playwright Heaven. When the issue of whether Nora and Torvald are legally divorced comes up, we are challenged again on…

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“Detroit ‘67” Depicts Days of Fear & Rebellion, at Aurora, Berkeley

“Detroit ‘67” Depicts Days of Fear & Rebellion, at Aurora, Berkeley

Dominique Morisseau Aims for Motown Glory by Barry David Horwitz In Detroit in the long hot summer of 1967, the political winds are burning hot—under Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the anti-Vietnam war protests. Police brutality against African Americans in the big cities is boiling up and the lid is about to blow off. The season of political uprisings is raging, already, leading up to the Anti-War demonstrations in Chicago in 1968, at the Democratic Convention….

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“War of the Roses” Makes History LIVE, at Cal Shakes, Orinda

“War of the Roses” Makes History LIVE, at Cal Shakes, Orinda

Shakespeare & Ting Thrust into Present, Spectacularly by Barry David Horwitz Cal Shakes Artistic Director Eric Ting and Dramaturge Philippa Kelly have condensed four Shakespeare plays into one beautiful modern work that leaps off the stage, mingling with the news. Two power-hungry families compete for the English throne. Holy King Henry seems Obama-like—and egomaniac Richard suggests his successor. In Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” and “Richard III” plays, we find murders of brothers and nephews, harassing of wives and sisters, and clashes…

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“Washed Up on the Potomac” Liberates Mad Men, at S.F. Playhouse

“Washed Up on the Potomac” Liberates Mad Men, at S.F. Playhouse

Lynn Rosen Pits Freaks against Geeks by Barry David Horwitz What motivates a proofreader in a sweltering ad agency to huddle in a parka at her desk and shun her fellow workers? It’s the classic story of a nerdy receptionist who lives with her domineering mother and fears any contact. Incapacitated, she comically shuttles between desk and home, peeping out in fear. In “Washed Up on the Potomac” playwright Lynn Rosen presents the humble, quiet worker, Sherri, played with delicious…

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