Let Loose in the PlayGround
PlayGround celebrates its 20th annual Festival of New Works.
Read my feature in American Theatre. Read more
Sex and Death
Sometimes, no matter how avant-garde a play’s language or structure may be, it can be reduced to a simple thesis statement. Basil Kreimendahl’s Sidewinders, for example, now premiering with the Cutting Ball Theater, boils down to “Binary gender distinctions are overrated.” And Diana Amsterdam’s Carnival Round the Central Figure, produced by Symmetry Theatre Company at Live Oak Theatre, declares in no uncertain terms that people should accept death as part of life and not pretend it isn’t happening.
Inquiring Minds
A recent transplant to San Francisco from Georgia by way of New York, playwright Lauren Gunderson has taken the Bay Area by storm. Her full-length local debut was last year’s rolling world premiere of her revenge comedy Exit, Pursued by a Bear, and she has shows in the works with seemingly half the theatre companies in town, including Crowded Fire, SF Playhouse, Shotgun Players and Impact Theatre. Now Symmetry Theatre Company, a local outfit devoted to creating more stage opportunities for female Equity actors, gives us the Bay Area premiere of Gunderson’s play Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight
