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Eric Ting, director of “Gloria” a play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, which runs at ACT’s Strand Theatre through April 12, 2020, is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.

The play takes place in an office of cubicles at one of America’s leading magazines. Three editors and an intern talk about their life in the office. They are joined by a member of the fact-checking team, and at times, by Gloria, who also works for the magazine.

The rest of the play is a surprise. ACT website.

Eric Ting discusses spoilers for the play “Gloria”

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KPFA theatre critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “Gloria” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins at ACT’s Strand theatre through April 12, 2020.

ACT website

Text of review (minus actuality)

Sitting in a cubicle in an office, no matter how great the job or its prospects, can be a debilitating experience. At last that’s the way playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins saw his brief time working at the fabled New Yorker magazine several years ago.

It’s also true that TV shows like The Office, in particular, or, of course, several dozen other sitcoms over the years, have covered cubicle life more fully than any two hour play ever could, which is why Jacobs-Jenkins goes so much deeper in the funny and shocking “Gloria,” a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2014, now a production at ACT’s Strand Theatre through April 12th.

Eric Ting, director of the production

Gloria is one of those plays takes a sudden turn at the end of Act One, an event for which there seems to be no foreshadowing, so it’s a little hard to talk about themes except in the most general sense.

But one thing is very clear from Act One, that Branden-Jacobs Jenkins is a very funny writer. It’s non-stop laughter as the four characters in adjoining cubicles complain and babble about their lives, their future their disappointments, and of course, the stultifying role of management in their lives. It’s hard to single out any of the six member cast, though special kudos go to the fast talking Melanie Arii Mah as the non-stop office gossip. Lauren English is so different in her two roles that you have to pinch yourself to remember it’s the same actress. These folks are all really, really good.

As with many plays in which the funny dialogue in Act One gives way to a more serious aftermath in Act II, some audiences might feel let down. But that’s part of the plan, because Gloria examines how the contour of our lives are often shaped by sudden events out of our control, and that a play may end, but our own lives continue to go on.

Gloria, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Eric Ting, plays at ACT’s Strand Theatre through April 12th. For more information you can go to act-sf.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA.

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KPFA theatre critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “Culture Clash (Still) in America” at Berkeley Rep through April 5, 2020.

Text of review:

No words quite exist that define the performance troupe Culture Clash. On one hand, the trio are masters of sketch comedy; they’re also masters of political satire; and of cultural commentary; and of improve stand-up. All three members, Herbert Siguenza, Richard Montoya and Ric Salinas, also have worked over the past three decades as actors, and as writers.

From their origins in the Mission District in San Francisco, they bring a culturally sensitive and street-smart attitude with an underpinning of what we now call Latinx culture, to an examination of American society that, as it turns out, hasn’t changed all that much in thirty years.

That is hasn’t changed is evident in their new collection of sketches, Culture Clash, Still in America, based on their 2002 work, Culture Clash in AmeriCCa – which can be seen at Berkeley Rep’s Peets Theatre through April 5th, directed by Lisa Peterson.

Still in America opens as ICE agents interrogate a captured Latinx illegal immigrant, a sketch which soon expands into a tour that starts with a right-wing couple in Florida, and expands to include various ethnicities and gender identities. Most of the sketches are comedic, some rely on improv with the audience – and one in particular is a serious case-study of a harried and overwrought attorney for separated families and the problems he faces as he argues his cases and tries to bring children back to their parents. In the middle of an often uproarious collection of vignettes, it’s utterly harrowing.

The best, and funniest bit occurs about an hour into the show, as two older female sixties activists chatter about their lives in Berkeley today, slicing and dicing and name-dropping everything from the Berkeley Bowl to the Cheeseboard, to, you guessed it, KPFA. It’s fall to the floor hysterical – but you have to listen quickly, or half of it will pass you by before you notice. A second trip might be required.

While there’s certainly room for ad lib funkiness and improv, Still in America is a highly polished piece of theatre, under the tight direction of Lisa Peterson. While all three performers are sensational, Herbert Siguenza is particularly brilliant, especially in the transsexual and Berkeley biddies scenes. Though maybe that’s unfair to the other two, who also shine in their different roles.

And the political points are both funny and trenchant. It all makes for a solid, thoughtful, entertaining and often extraordinary night of theatre, not to be missed, especially if you’re someone listening to this very review on KPFA, right now.

Culture Clash Still In America, directed by Lisa Peterson, is performed at Berkeley Rep’s Peets theatre through April 5th. For more information you can go to berkeleyrep.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA.

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Anne Darragh, in conversation with KPFA associate theater critic C. S. Soong.

Actor Anne Darragh plays a scientist on a forward-looking mission in “The Children,” a play by Lucy Kirkwood, now at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. In “The Children,” three nuclear engineers reunite in the aftermath of a Fukushima-like disaster on the east coast of England. The play is directed by Barbara Damashek.

The Aurora Theatre is located at 2081 Addison Street in Berkeley.

Aurora Theatre Company’s website

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John Collins and Scott Shepherd, in conversation with KPFA associate theater critic C. S. Soong.

John Collins directs and Scott Shepherd performs in “Gatz,” now on stage at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. In “Gatz,” an office worker comes across a copy of “The Great Gatsby” and begins reading it aloud; over time, his co-workers associate themselves with the novel’s characters. “Gatz” was created by Elevator Repair Service; Collins is the theatre ensemble’s artistic director and Shepherd has performed with ERS since 1994. “Gatz” runs through March 1.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre is located at 2025 Addison Street in Berkeley.

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