Thornton Wilder’s Time Travelers Turn into Glorious Ghosts by Barry David Horwitz When I moved to Berkeley in 1960 for school, I thought I’d landed in Thornton Wilder’s ideal small town. We left our doors unlocked, we talked to our neighbors, and even helped each other out. It was “Our Town” re-discovered. Well, that…
Millennial Notes Shakespeare Kicks Off New Season of Fantastic Live Theater by Jordan Freed Watching “The Winter’s Tale” at Cal Shakes feels like witnessing two prodigious trapeze artists pull off a miraculous balancing act. At every moment, I’m nervous things are about to go terribly wrong, but watching the performance succeed like a high…
Shakespeare Gets Dangerous in Women’s Prison Setting by Kim Waldron “Mischief, thou art afoot,” and it’s thrilling. In Director Phyllida Lloyd’s “Julius Caesar,” the actors appear as inmates in a women’s jail, fighting to mount their production under prison authority. First, a young woman shyly explains how she ended up in jail; then the…
Millennial Notes Elizabeth Carter Creates A Female-Centric World by Abby Tozer With a woman in the title role and three bi-racial daughters vying for the throne, Director Elizabeth Carter’s “King Lear” progressively challenges Shakespeare’s roles. Animating a remote cast of 13 actors, Carter carves a new path for virtual theater, putting live actors in…