Category Archives: Theater
Mike Daisey recounts our obsession with cash
At the end of Mike Daisey’s solo show “The Last Cargo Cult,” now playing at Berkeley Rep, all I could do was sit back and gape.
For more than two hours I had watched Daisey shout, scream, murmur, and sweat as he spun a tale about the mysteries of a South Pacific island and the mysterious devotion Westerners have to cash. With little more than a few sheets of notes, a glass of water, a table, a handkerchief to wipe off his brow, and a backdrop of dozens of cardboard boxes featuring every conceivable type of consumer product, Daisey had managed to keep the audience captivated.
Starting with the chilling tale of how he almost died in a island puddle-hopper, and continuing through with stories of his (almost) middle class childhood in Maine, his rude awakening as a freshmen in college that some of his classmates had a lot cooler gadgets than he would ever be able to afford, and on to tales of our obsession with objects, Daisey was a force-field, drawing the audience further and further into his orbit.
Granted, not all the stories he told were engrossing. I didn’t really care for his recounting of the nine-hour dance pageant performed in the honor of one John Frum on the island of Vanuatu. And while he tries to make “The Last Cargo Cult,” a piece that calls into question the centrality of possessions and the willingness of Americans to bow to the mighty dollar, he doesn’t quite succeed. Yet I had a very good time going along for the ride.
(Warning: spoiler coming up)
Berkeley aerial dance troupe makes performance debut
Last summer we reported on a Berkeley team of climber-dancers — a discipline that was certainly new to us. The AscenDance Project were evidently skilled, however, as they made it to the Top 48 of TV show “America’s Got Talent”. Now we discover something called aerial dancing — and, of course, it’s a Berkeley group that is showing the way.
Oaks Theater on Solano closes, future uncertain
The Oaks Theater on Solano Avenue has gone dark once again.
Nine months ago, five men from India formed a group to take over the theater and bring in first-run films and Bollywood extravaganzas and serve dinner and drinks. Few of those plans came to fruition and the group, Merriment Media, stopped showing films shortly before Christmas.
“We weren’t able to meet our monthly expenses,” said Rama Sagiraji, who managed the theater for the group … Continue reading »
Coverlettes bring ’60s nostalgia fest to the Freight
If you’re looking to inject some upbeat holiday spirit into these rainy days before Christmas, you might want to meet Ella, Bella, and Stella Duvet, aka The Coverlettes, who will be playing Berkeley Wednesday and Thursday this week.
The “Coverlettes Cover Christmas” was a hit at the Aurora Theatre in 2008 and 2009, and now the fictitious ’60s-era girl group has crossed the street to the Freight & Salvage for a Christmas cabaret concert.
Bella, Ella, and Stella Duvet … Continue reading »
In “Of The Earth”, Odysseus begins his journey home
If you were fortunate enough to see the Shotgun Players’ production of “In The Wound” earlier this year at John Hinkel Park, you’ll be looking forward to the second part of what the Berkeley theater group calls The Salt Plays. “Of The Earth”, which opens this week on December 2, continues the chronicle of Odysseus, “the most famous war story ever told”.
As Shotgun puts it: “Now this soldier’s journey home begins. Demons stand between him and his family, monsters of the past, present and future. Finishing the percussive story that began earlier in the season, this second piece tears apart man’s concept of himself, and offers a journey of the traumatized mind through to the brilliance and beauty of destiny.”
Watch the video above for a taste of the production, which is written and directed by Jon Tracy, and will be performed at The Ashby Stage through January 16.
Berkeley Rep acquires new pre-production base
Berkeley Repertory Theater has acquired a new campus in West Berkeley to house all of its pre-production activities, including offices, costume, prop and scene shop, and storage. The 62,000 sq. ft. building at 999 Harrison will give the Rep approximately 50% more space than it currently uses for these activities at roughly half the current cost of the five sites it currently uses in Berkeley and Oakland.
“It’s been a necessity for a couple of decades but it became really … Continue reading »
Another biting parody of Berkeley
Since Berkeley has the reputation of being the home to all that is kooky, hippy, and crazy, we shouldn’t be surprised how often people poke fun of these attributes. The latest is Killing My Lobster, a much-lauded San Francisco theater troupe, who have made a hilarious video that is a take off of Bear Grylls (the British mountaineer and star of the TV show Man vs Wild) visiting Berkeley. The tag line is “Bear Grylls tackles the … Continue reading »
Berkeley Rep’s Great Game is powerful
The New York Times ran a front-page story Saturday that said Iranian officials had been slipping money secretly to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The Iranians wanted to try and counter the influence of the west – and make sure they had a foothold when the Americans depart.
This comes as no surprise to those who attended Berkeley Rep’s all-day Friday marathon of Great Game: Afghanistan, a three play production of the history of Afghanistan. For almost 200 years, … Continue reading »
Don Reed performing one-night benefit in Berkeley
This Sunday night, October 10, Don Reed, the comedian-playwright-producer behind East 14th — and a regular on HBO, Showtime and Comedy Central — will be performing at the Julia Morgan Theater as a fundraiser to support Leiomyosarcoma cancer research.
Reed will present two shows: “Stand Up” and “The Kipling Hotel: True Tales of the ’80s”.
East 14th was grounded on Reed’s recollections of growing up black and poor in 1970s Oakland, attempting to straddle the great divide between … Continue reading »
Litquake finally comes to Berkeley
Litquake, the largest literary festival west of the Mississippi, is celebrating its 11th anniversary. Each year, the festival brings together hundreds of authors and thousands of readers. Its annual Saturday night Lit Crawl in San Francisco’s Mission District, where readings are held in bars, art galleries, Laundromats, and restaurants, is a frolicking good time.
But as good as Litquake has been, this year it will be even better. That’s because the organizers have … Continue reading »
