Lisa Kron Makes Healing Comedy of Herself, Mom, and Allergies by Barry David Horwitz When Lisa Kron, the writer of “Well,” uses herself as a character called Lisa in her own play, the stakes are already pretty high. “Lisa” struggles to make a play out of her painful feelings about her mother–in a sprightly…
Potterveld Challenges Us with Sex, Guilt, and Twins by Barry David Horwitz Around the four sided playing area, in a lovely Victorian living room in the Berkeley City Club, Central Works presents their World Premiere #54, cryptically called “Years in the Hundreds.” Jesse Potterveld’s new play from Director Gary Graves’ prolific Writers Workshop turns…
Lucas Hnath Strikes Again, Melding Mind and Body by Barry David Horwitz “Isaac’s Eye” by Lucas Hnath is a wonder. You have to admire and love the Narrator/Actor (a sly Adam Niemann) who draws us into Newton’s life story. As Narrator, Niemann writes only the true facts of Newton’s life and work on the…
A Boy Learns to Dance, Coal Miners Learn to Strike! by Barry David Horwitz In 1981, Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative British government announced a plan to close 23 coal-mines in Northern England, putting 41,000 miners out of work. The miners rose up, organized their unions and went on strike for a year. Strikes are more…