Arts & Events

AROUND AND ABOUT THEATER: William Bivins' 'Education of a Rake' at Central Works

By Ken Bullock
Friday July 27, 2012 - 02:02:00 PM

A male Congressman's trying to get the ERA resuscitated and passed—but he has skeletons in his closet. Is he a feminist--or a scalliwag? William Bivins--who's been one of the more noticeable Bay Area playwrights of the past few years (Virago staged his 'Afterlife of the Mind' a couple years back)--wrote 'Education of a Rake,' directed by Central Works' co-founder, Jan Zvaifler, opening this Saturday after previews. Central Works continues to be one of the very most--and consistently--interesting--theatrically interesting--small companies in a Bay Area with hundreds of small theater companies. -more-


THEATER REVIEW: 'Noises Off' at Actors Ensemble of Berkeley

By Ken Bullock
Friday July 27, 2012 - 01:18:00 PM

"I hope you enjoy the remains of the evening."

Dropped lines, dropped contact lenses onstage, false entrances and exits, feuds raging onstage and off ... Michael Frayn's 'Noises Off' may not be the definitive farce for a small theater company to put on—but it's the definitive put-on of a small theater company staging a farce—and the mayhem that outdoes the slapstick. -more-