March 18, 2021

Bookwaves/Artwaves – March 18, 2021: Lauren Gunderson – Katya Cengel

59 minutes

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Links to on-line and streaming local theater & book events

Artwaves

Lauren Gunderson, whose play The Catastrophist is currently being streamed on the Marin Theatre Company website through July 24, 2021, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Recorded March 10, 2021.

Lauren Gunderson is the most produced living American playwright, and currently several of her works can be streamed on-line.

The Flats, which was co-written with Cleavon Smith and Jonathan Spector, can be streamed at the Aurora Theatre website.

Her one person play, Natural Shocks, can also be streamed through the Marin Theatre website or directly through Soundcloud.

You can listen to Audible Theater’s production of The Half Life of Marie Curie starring Kate Mulgrew on audible.com at this address. A filmed version of Marie Curie was available at Theatre squared, and may have extended past March 14, 2021. Check the website for details.

Lauren Gunderson is also the co-author of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, which is fast becoming a holiday classic, along with its sequel, The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, both taking place shortly after the conclusion of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Living in San Francisco, she is playwright-in-residence at Marin Theatre Company and teaches playwrighting.

While her focus is very broad, several of her plays concern women in history, and the role of women through history. Her work also has an activist element, which threads its way through such plays as The Taming and Natural Shocks. Photos by Bryan Derballa.

Extended 42-minute podcast.

Bookwaves

Katya Cengel, whose latest book is a memoir, “From Chernobyl with Love: Reporting from the Ruins of the Soviet Union,” is interviewed by host Richard Wolinsky.

“From Chernobyl with Love” tells the story of Katya Cengel’s years, around the turn of this century, as a reporter in Latvia and Ukraine — what life was like for a young American journalist dealing with countries on the brink of ruin, halfway between what they were as republics inside the Soviet Union, and halfway toward what they will become as independent countries. It also includes stories about her health issues while in the Ukraine, bribery, visits to other countries including Moldova, and about her reportage on Chernobyl, years after the meltdown.

:The complete 47 minute version of this interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast.

Announcement Links

Bay Area Book Festival May 1-9: Virtual Festival; Kazuo Ishiguro, Sunday May 2, 2 pm.

Books Inc Jenny Offill, Thursday March 18, 6 pm; Jack Kornfeld & Larry Brilliant, Tuesday March 23, 5 pm.

Book Passage. Orville Schell, March 20, 4 pm. Jacqueline Winspear, March 23, 6 pm. Lisa Scottoline and Lisa See, March 27, 6 pm. Sharon Stone, March 30, 7 pm.

The Booksmith Iain S. Thomas, March 22, 7 pm. Nicola DeRobertis-Theye with Hilary Leichter / The Vietri Project , March 23, 6:30 pm.

Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. Laila Lalami, March 18, 7 pm.

Kepler’s Books Walter Isaacson with Angie Coiro, March 18, 6 pm.

American Conservatory Theatre Act Out Loud, Virtual Play Reading Series: Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress, March 29 – April 4; Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw, April 12-16, The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder, April 26 – May 2.

Aurora Theatre Streaming now: The Flats, written by Lauren Gunderson, Cleaven Smith and Jonathan Spector, with Lauren English, Anthony Fusco and Khary L. Moye, directed by Josh Costello, Aurora Connects conversations every Friday, 4 pm. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, adapted for audio, starts on April 9th.

Berkeley Rep 10-episode audio series: Place/Settings: Berkeley, all episodes available now. What’s in a Play, Mondays 6:30 & 8 pm. Zoom, Registration required. June, 2021: Swept Away, a new musical.

Brava Theatre Center: Canta Brava: Celebrating Women in History, performance series, nightly, March 8-19, 7 pm.

California Shakespeare Theatre (Cal Shakes) Truth and Meaning at Play, Finn Lefever, April 2, 5:30 pm.

Central Works Audio plays: Bystanders by Patricia Milton, streaming now. The Human Ounce by Nicole Parizeau, streaming now. .

Cinnabar Theatre. Mac Beth, an update of Shakespeare’s play, adapted by Erica Schmidt, starts April 16.

Contra Costa Civic Theatre see listings for details.

Curran Theater: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child set to resume May 30, 2021.

Custom Made Theatre Undiscovered Works: The Re-education of Fernando Morales by Justin P. Lopez, April 2, 7 pm.

42nd Street Moon. You Can’t Stop the Beat, virtual gala, rebroadcast streaming. Third Tuesday Talks Over the Moon, 8 pm: Every other Friday at 8 pm: Full Moon Fridays Cabaret. Sundays at 8 pm: Quiz Me Kate: Musical Theatre Trivia.

Magic Theatre. Upcoming schedule to be announced.

Marin Theatre Company The Catastrophist by Lauren Gunderson, streaming through July 24, 2021. Natural Shocks by Lauren Gunderson, streaming through Soundcloud.

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Lecture: Alondra Aragon & Xochtil Larios de I Am Why, March 18, 6:30 pm; Luna Negra: Las Hermanas Gallagirls, March 19, 6 pm.

New Conservatory Theatre Center Interlude by Harrison David Rivers streams March 1 – April 14, pay as you wish.

Pear Theater. Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas, streams March 12-April 11.

Ray of Light: See website for listings.

Remote Theater. The Art of Sacrifice by Anthony Clarvoe. With Lauren English & Susi Damilano. Music by Paul Dresher. Streaming March 18-25.

San Francisco Playhouse. (Heiroglyph) by Erika Dickerson-Despenza, directed by Margo Hall, filmed onstage at SF Playhouse. Streaming through April 3, 2021. I Was Right Here by Julia Brothers, streams March 27-April 17, 2021.

SFBATCO Live with Rod and Marce on Twitch TV, every Thursday at 6 pm. Playday Informal Reading Series, March 18, 6 pm. Hella Theatre, April 8, 6 pm.

Shotgun Players. Every Time I Feel the Spirit by Noelle Vinas, a Zoom commission, begins April 2, 2021.

The Breath Project. Complete collection streaming on demand.

The Marsh: See calendar for listings.

Theatre Rhino Thursday performance conceived and performed by John Fisher on Facebook Live and Zoom at 8 pm: March 18: The Farm. Pandemic Performances benefit Friday April 2, 7 pm. Free Zoom reading: Falling Skies by Brayden Frascome, April 8, 2021, free.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Hershey Felder live from Florence: Puccini, streams through March 21. Anna and Sergei (Sergei Rachmaninoff), May 16, 2021.

National, Misc:

Chamber Music San Francisco: Five Concerts: February 13, March 6, March 20, April 10, April 24, all 7 pm. March 20: Calefax, wind ensemble from Amsterdam.

Dance Mission Theatre. See website for listings

Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Streaming now: Talking Back, a six part web series. On-demand audio recordings of early plays; videos of Indigenous Peoples Day 2020, etc.

Atlantic Theatre Company. See website for listings.

Irish Repertory Theatre. Home Winter Festival, See website for date and times (shows stream on different days and specific times). Free, with reservations: Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel; Yes, Reflections on Molly Bloom based on Ulysses by James Joyce; The Weir by Conor McPherson; Love, Noel; Belfast Blues by Geraldine Hughes; Give Me Your Hand: A Stroll Through England’s National Gallery; A Touch of the Poet by Eugene O’Neill; On Beckett with Bill Irwin; Meet Me in St. Louis. Through March 7 (check website for extensions).

Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you’ll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down.

National Theatrical Streaming: Upcoming plays from around the country.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [email protected]

The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – March 18, 2021: Lauren Gunderson – Katya Cengel appeared first on KPFA.

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