KPFA - Bookwaves/Artwaves

Part One: Johanna Pfaelzer has been named the new Artistic Director of Berkeley Rep, starting in the 2019-2020 season. In this interview she talks about her history as the Artistic Director of New York Stage & Film, and about how she views her new position at one of the coountry's leading regional theatres. Berkeley Rep website [1]

 

 

 

Part Two: Loretta Greco, director of the Pulitzer Prize winning play "Sweat" by Lynn Nottage, discusses the themes of the play, which begins its run ACT's Geary Theatre on September 26th. "Sweat" takes place in Reading, PA, and concerns workers who find themselves in a precarious position following NAFTA and the 2008 financial crisis. ACT website. [2]

 

 

Also: A review of "Detroit '67" at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley.

 

[1] https://www.berkeleyrep.org/

[2] http://www.act-sf.org/

Robert Kelley, founder and Artistic Director of Theatreworks Silicon Valley, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

Robert Kelley helped found Theatreworks back in 1970, shortly after graduating college. Originally a workshop, over a short time it turned into a community theatre, then a professional theatre, and now is one of the country's leading regional theatre companies, with several originating shows (including the Tony winner "Memphis") going to New York and Broadway.

Entering his second-to-last season, a year before the company's fiftieth anniversary in 2019-2010, Robert Kelley discusses the history of Theatreworks, how it's situated within the Bay Area community, along with details of the upcoming season, which features a production of the Tony-winning musical based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, "Fun Home," and the latest play by Rajiv Joseph ("Guards at the Taj").

Theatreworks website [1]

An extended version of this interview can be found as a Bay Area Theatre podcast. [2]

[1] https://theatreworks.org/

[2] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-robert-kelley-artistic-director-of-theatreworks-silicon-valley/

Chris Hedges is the author of several books on politics and dissent.  Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt. On Tuesday, June 9th, 2015, he gave a speech in Berkeley as a benefit for KPFA, discussing his latest book at the time,Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt.  . Afterward, he was joined by host Richard Wolinsky for a Q&A that included questions by the host as well as by the audience. The Q&A is featured on today’s program, and is remarkable for its prescience. The next day, Donald Trump declared his candidacy for the presidency.

Erik Larson discusses his book, "In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin," hosted by Richard Wolinsky, and first aired on July 21, 2011.

As the Trump Administration continues through its second year, and as the threat of fascism grows, even as perhaps a noose is tightening around the regime’s neck, there’s a tendency to look back on the past, to see what we might learn and whether we can use that knowledge to cope with what’s happening today.

One of the decades that seems to have parallels to our own is the nineteen thirties, particularly in terms of the rise of Hitler in Germany, and I’ve noticed more than a few people I know personally have found books that maybe help them understand that era better. One of those books is Erik Larson’s 2011 “In the Garden of Beasts,” which looks at the rise of Nazi Germany from the perspective of an American family, that of ambassador William Dodd. Erik Larson is the author of several non-fiction works, including The Devil in the White City, Thunderstruck, and his most recent, Dead Wake, about the sinking of the Lusitania, in 2015.

In an e-mail sent on August 25, 2018, Eric Larson writes:

"I find it interesting that readers are making their own allusions to Trump and our times. I’ve tried to avoid making connections, though increasingly I do feel there’s a sinister resonance here, especially now that ICE seems inclined more and more to take on a Gestapo-esque role."

Erik Larson’s next book will be published in early 2020.

An extended version of this interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/erik-larson-2011-in-the-garden-of-beasts-berlin-in-the-1930s/

Joseph Kanon, author of the spy thriller, “Defectors,” is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.

Over the course of the last 22 years, Joseph Kanon has established himself as one of the best spy novelists around, in the vein of John Le Carre, Alan Furst, Graham Greene and Eric Ambler. His latest novel, “Defectors,” is about what happens after a Soviet mole defects to Russia. What is their life like? What happens then? Set in the early 1960s, “Defectors,” through copious research, sets up what life must have been like for people like Kim Philby and other Russian spies forced to leave the West to survive.

Extended 48-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/joseph-kanon-defectors/

Bill English, Artistic Director of San Francisco Playhouse, is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.

In this yearly interview, Bill English discusses the previous and upcoming seasons at San Francisco Playhouse. In addition, he discusses the current production of “Sunday in the Park with George” and examines the role of lighting in creating the feel of Playhouse productions.

San Francisco Playhouse website [1]

Extended Bay Area Theater podcast [2]

[1] https://www.sfplayhouse.org/sfph/

[2] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-bill-english-san-francisco-playhouse-2/

Interviews devoted to the arts, focusing on theatre and literature, with side-trips to film and non-fiction narratives. Also on tap: archive interviews from Probabilities and Bookwaves. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Donna Seaman, author of Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

The art world has not been kind to women artists. Being taken seriously, getting exhibited, getting remembered after their deaths: none of this happens automatically. Donna Seaman, book critic for Booklist, takes a look at seven twentieth century American woman artists whose work has been somewhat forgotten in the years since their deaths: Louise Nevelson, Gertrude Abercrombie, Lois Madou Jones, Ree Morton, Joan Brown, Lenore Tawney and Christina Ramberg.

In this discussion, Donna Seaman talks about each of these artists and how they related to the world and to art. She also talks about the recent controversy over the Bull sculpture on Wall Street, on sexism in the arts, and on the pull between artistic freedom and stylistic fads.

An extended version of this interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

Also: Review of "Sunday in the Park with George" at San Francisco Playhouse.

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/donna-seaman-rediscovering-seven-american-women-artists/

Jeanne Sakata is the author of the play "Hold These Truths" at Theatreworks Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto, July 11 - August 5, 2019. Jeanne Sakata is an actress who has appeared on several TV shows and films, and on stage at both ACT and Berkeley Rep.

Hold These Truths is the true true story following Gordon Hirabayashi, a Japanese-American student who fought internment to a relocation camp during World War II. This Northern California premiere celebrates the human spirit as it chronicles Hirabayashi's journey from college in Seattle all the way to the Supreme Court, and eventually to a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Directed by Lisa Rothe, with Joel de la Fuente starring as Hirabayashi,

Hold These Truths made its world premiere in 2007 at East West Players in Los Angeles. In 2012, the solo play made its Off Broadway premiere at Epic Theatre Company starring Joel de la Fuente, and received a 2013 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance. Since its world premiere, it has gone on to play throughout the nation including theatres in Boston, Honolulu, Washington, D.C., Portland, and many others.

Theatreworks website [1]

[1] https://theatreworks.org/

Khaled Hosseini

Ursula Rani Sarma

A Thousand Splendid Suns: ACT Artistic Director Carey Perloff in conversation with Khaled Hosseini, author of the novel, and Ursula Rani Sarma, who adapted the book for the stage.

The novel “A Thousand Splended Suns,” by Khaled Hosseini, about the relationship of two Afghan women over the several years, has been adapted for the stage by playwright Ursula Rani Sarma, and is running at A.C.T.’s Geary Theater July 17-29, 2018. Carey Perloff is directing the production.

On January 17, 2017, in front of an audience at the Geary, Carey Perloff spoke with Khaled Hosseini and Ursula Rani Sarma about the adaptation, about their careers, and about the nature of adaptation. This is an edited portion of that discussion.

Special thanks to Kevin Kopjak. Radio version produced by Richard Wolinsky.

Audio of the entire discussion [1]

Also: Review of "Dry Powder" at Aurora Theatre Company

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[1] https://soundcloud.com/actsanfrancisco/carey-perloff-khaled-hosseini-and-ursula-rani-sarma-in-conversation