by Charles Kruger There can be no doubt that Cristina García, author of five novels, and a National Book Award nominee, is a writer of very considerable talent. And by all accounts, her novel, “King of Cuba,” which she has now adopted into a play, is an admirable work. As incarnated on the stage of […]
by Gary Gonser Jack London’s Credo, “the function of man is to live,” is translated into dance for delighted audiences in this resplendent production. Salsa, French, Romantic, Tango, 60’s Jive, 40’s Jive, Modern, Broadway musical, and cool. Seventeen dancer/singers are backed-up with a band of twelve that plays the hot and the cold with luxurious […]
by Charles Kruger “Pericles, Prince of Tyre” is generally considered to be one of Shakespeare’s least successful plays; so much so that some scholars wonder if he wrote it at all. The famous “First Folio” of Shakespeare’s plays (selected and published by his acting company shortly after his death) did not include “Pericles,” and most […]
by Charles Kruger At only 33 years old, playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a force to be reckoned with in the American theatre. His many awards include an Obie, a Fulbright scholarship, a MacArthur “genius” grant, a Paula Vogel award, a Windham-Campbell Literature Prize (Yale University), and more. He is currently a member of the prestigious […]
by Charles Kruger Sarah Kane’s brief and controversial career came to an abrupt end by suicide in 1999 when she was only 28 years old. With only five plays to her credit, she has had an outsized influence on millenial theatre. Her work is visceral, brutal, famously in your face, violent, poetic, and, arguably, extremely […]
by Charles Kruger The plum role of Richard III, one of Shakespeare’s most flamboyant, charismatic, and shocking characters, offers a great opporunity to an actor. From the opening moments of this production, L. Peter Callender grabs hold of Richard like a hunter tackling his prey with a knife and joyfully wrestles him to the ground. […]
by Charles Kruger Although there have been a handful of naysayers (alas, myself among them), it is generally agreed that Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George” is a masterpiece of musical theatre, winning on every count: music, book, lyrics, staging. Anybody coming to SF Playhouse’s version with an uncritical admiration for “Sunday” will not […]
