KPFA - Bay Area Theater

Susannah Martin, in conversation with KPFA associate theater critic C.S. Soong.

Susannah Martin directs “The Events,” a play by David Greig presented by Shotgun Players at the Ashby Stage in Berkeley through June 4. In “The Events,” Claire, the surviving leader of a community choir, tries to understand why the gunman (“The Boy”) went on a shooting rampage.

The Ashby Stage is located at 1901 Ashby Avenue in Berkeley.

Shotgun Players website

Susannah Martin’s website

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Simon McBurney, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

Simon McBurney is the director and performer of “The Encounter,” a theatrical piece inspired by the Book Amazon Beaming by Petru Popescu, playing at the Curran in San Francisco through May 7th. Simon McBurney is the artistic director of Complicite, a London based theatrical company. He’s directed several plays and operas over the years, and acted in such films as The Theory of Everything, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, and other films, as well as the TV series The Borgias and The Casual Vacancy. “The Encounter” comes to San Francisco after a successful run in London and New York, and an American tour. Curran website.

“The Encounter” involves the use of headphones and binaural sounds to not only tell the story of the photographer Loren McIntyre in the jungles of Peru but to take the audience on its own trip,

A shorter version of this interview aired as an Arts-Waves program.

The post Interview: Simon McBurney, The Encounter at the Curran appeared first on KPFA.

KPFA theater critic Richard Wolinsky interviews Evren Odcikin, director of “Autobiography of a Terrorist” by Said Sayrafiezadeh, a Golden Thread production at Potrero Stage (Thick House) in San Francisco, through May 7, 2017.

Golden Thread website

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KPFA theater critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “Temple” by Steve Waters, directed by Tom Ross, at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley through May 14, 2017.

Aurora website

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Robert Hurwitt, former drama critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, and before that the San Francisco Examiner and the East Bay Express, is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.

Robert Hurwitt retired in April 2016 after a long and distinguished career as a critic and theater reviewer. Born as a “red diaper baby” and growing up in New York City’s suburbs, his love of theater began early. After moving to San Francisco and working as a free-lance writer, he was hired by the Express and later the Examiner — and when the Examiner was bought by Hearst, the San Francisco Chronicle, where he spent several years as the single most important critic in the region.

In this interview, he discusses his life and career, his feelings about criticism, and recommends three shows currently running in San Francisco.

A shorter version of this interview aired on KPFA’s Arts-Waves program.

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