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"slug": "north-by-northwest-review-act-san-francisco-insult-to-source-material-hitchcock",
"title": "At ACT, ‘North By Northwest’ Is an Insult to Hitchcock",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>I cannot tell you how much I hated \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em>, which opened this week at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/act\">ACT\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>. It is an insult to the source material of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 film, and an insult to the audience’s intelligence. I ran from it as soon as I could, muttering obscenities to anyone within earshot.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This production’s first abomination is a shift in tone from a sophisticated, understated thriller to an over-the-top comedy, rife with insipid stereotypes and cheap gags. The second is the near-constant presence onstage of a narrator, who sucks the life out of any scene by overexplaining the action. The third is regular interruptions from songs by 1950s female pop vocalists like Peggy Lee and Betty Hutton, which turn into lip-synced dance numbers by whichever actor has the misfortune to be on stage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fourth is the production’s reliance on a surface-level 1950s nostalgia. The fifth is a finger-wagging for anyone who might problematically harbor any similar nostalgia. The sixth is the absurd plot coda and forced social commentary it tacks on at the end, in a sudden and jarring switch from slapstick to earnestness, with an entreaty to the audience that we “never again” return to the tactics of the Cold War, and have hope, or something.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You get the idea. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot9RichSoubletII.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13994167\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot9RichSoubletII.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot9RichSoubletII-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot9RichSoubletII-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot9RichSoubletII-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(L–R) Bryony Pennington, Simon Oskarsson, Katy Owen, Danny Collins, Karl Queensborough and Patrycja Kujawska in ‘North by Northwest.’ (Rich Soublet II)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Adapted and directed by Emma Rice, the play is a complete misreading of Hitchcock’s original film, and its central theme of a mistaken identity that compounds upon itself. Roger Thornhill, who works in advertising, is misapprehended as a CIA operative and abducted by foreign agents. He soon finds that nobody trusts or believes him — not his captors, nor the police, the courts and even his own mother. In Hitchcock’s version, this is illustrated by a disturbing moment as an elevator of strangers breaks into laughter at Thornhill’s notion that someone could be out to murder him. Onstage at ACT, the scene is played as a joke, the punchline of which is Ella Fitzgerald singing “Get Happy” over the P.A. and everyone breaking into a hip-wagging go-go dance party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What is this play trying to do? Why does it turn Cary Grant’s distinguished Thornhill into an uber-\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/JillFilipovic/status/2054240710795370892\">chalant\u003c/a> bro? Why does it expect we’ll think a man in women’s clothing is funny? Why do Thornhill (Danny Collins) and love interest Eve Kendall (Patrycja Kujawska), who in Ernest Lehman’s original screenplay bounce beautifully around each other, have such little chemistry onstage despite reciting the same lines? Why is the play obsessed with the phrase “global security,” mocking it repeatedly, as if staving off World War III was not a worthy goal? Why is a play set in 1959 using so many songs — Wayne Newton’s “Heart,” Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” a knockoff of Isaac Hayes’ “Shaft” — from the 1960s and ’70s? Why does it treat the plot like fluff but then have the narrator turn somber and wonder, out loud, “When will the killings stop?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot8RichSoubletII.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13994166\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot8RichSoubletII.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot8RichSoubletII-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot8RichSoubletII-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot8RichSoubletII-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Simon Oskarsson, Danny Collins and Bryony Pennington in ‘North by Northwest.’ (Rich Soublet II)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I have a guess for some of this, and that’s the successful nine-year run in London of \u003cem>The 39 Steps\u003c/em>, a stage play adapted from the Hitchcock film that’s closest, thematically, to \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em>. Like this production, \u003cem>The 39 Steps\u003c/em> utilized a small cast playing many characters, and a sparse but modular set, with quick pacing. But \u003cem>The 39 Steps\u003c/em>, on stage, was well-crafted and trusted the audience. This \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em> assumes the audience isn’t smart enough to follow the plot, so the narrator (Katy Owen) leads call-and-response sessions with us to remember who’s who.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s also just focused on the wrong thing. The core of \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em> is one man’s need for identity and trust after he’s been stripped of it. At ACT, it’s spies, both onstage and off. A prompt in the lobby asks patrons for their favorite conspiracy. Walking tours associated with the production visit sites of “Cold War paranoia and espionage” near Union Square. Even Hitchcock himself, speaking with François Truffaut, called the inclusion of government secrets in the film “my best MacGuffin, and by that I mean the emptiest, the most nonexistent, and the most absurd.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As for the play’s awkward new ending, and retconning the sexism of the 1950s: why pick on \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em>? Why not undertake that with dim-witted pap like \u003cem>Kiss Me Stupid\u003c/em>, or \u003cem>Under the Yum-Yum Tree\u003c/em>? Or why not adapt a Hitchcock screenplay with more complex gender dynamics to explore, like \u003cem>Marnie\u003c/em>?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot11RichSoubletII.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13994169\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot11RichSoubletII.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot11RichSoubletII-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot11RichSoubletII-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot11RichSoubletII-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Danny Collins as Roger Thornhill in ‘North by Northwest.’ (Rich Soublet II)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I feel compelled here to note some of the good. The set — a rack of suits, four revolving doors and a parade of suitcases — gets repurposed in semi-interesting ways. The actors’ quick changes and choreography can be impressive. The famous cropduster and Mount Rushmore scenes have some inventive stage adaptation. Bryony Pennington (as Anna and others) is a standout, and an effervescent Owen makes the best with what she’s given.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But these are crowded out by the rest of it all, which is just plain disrespectful to one of history’s best films. If, five years from now, we see a zany \u003cem>Gong Show\u003c/em>-style staging of \u003cem>On the Waterfront\u003c/em> with disco interludes, I’ll know which play to blame.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"/>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘North By Northwest’ runs through Oct. 18 at the Toni Rembe Theater (415 Geary St.) in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2026-27-season/north-by-northwest\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This production’s first abomination is a shift in tone from a sophisticated, understated thriller to an over-the-top comedy, rife with insipid stereotypes and cheap gags. The second is the near-constant presence onstage of a narrator, who sucks the life out of any scene by overexplaining the action. The third is regular interruptions from songs by 1950s female pop vocalists like Peggy Lee and Betty Hutton, which turn into lip-synced dance numbers by whichever actor has the misfortune to be on stage.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The fourth is the production’s reliance on a surface-level 1950s nostalgia. The fifth is a finger-wagging for anyone who might problematically harbor any similar nostalgia. The sixth is the absurd plot coda and forced social commentary it tacks on at the end, in a sudden and jarring switch from slapstick to earnestness, with an entreaty to the audience that we “never again” return to the tactics of the Cold War, and have hope, or something.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Adapted and directed by Emma Rice, the play is a complete misreading of Hitchcock’s original film, and its central theme of a mistaken identity that compounds upon itself. Roger Thornhill, who works in advertising, is misapprehended as a CIA operative and abducted by foreign agents. He soon finds that nobody trusts or believes him — not his captors, nor the police, the courts and even his own mother. In Hitchcock’s version, this is illustrated by a disturbing moment as an elevator of strangers breaks into laughter at Thornhill’s notion that someone could be out to murder him. Onstage at ACT, the scene is played as a joke, the punchline of which is Ella Fitzgerald singing “Get Happy” over the P.A. and everyone breaking into a hip-wagging go-go dance party.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What is this play trying to do? Why does it turn Cary Grant’s distinguished Thornhill into an uber-\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/JillFilipovic/status/2054240710795370892\">chalant\u003c/a> bro? Why does it expect we’ll think a man in women’s clothing is funny? Why do Thornhill (Danny Collins) and love interest Eve Kendall (Patrycja Kujawska), who in Ernest Lehman’s original screenplay bounce beautifully around each other, have such little chemistry onstage despite reciting the same lines? Why is the play obsessed with the phrase “global security,” mocking it repeatedly, as if staving off World War III was not a worthy goal? Why is a play set in 1959 using so many songs — Wayne Newton’s “Heart,” Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” a knockoff of Isaac Hayes’ “Shaft” — from the 1960s and ’70s? Why does it treat the plot like fluff but then have the narrator turn somber and wonder, out loud, “When will the killings stop?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>What is this play trying to do? Why does it turn Cary Grant’s distinguished Thornhill into an uber-\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/JillFilipovic/status/2054240710795370892\">chalant\u003c/a> bro? Why does it expect we’ll think a man in women’s clothing is funny? Why do Thornhill (Danny Collins) and love interest Eve Kendall (Patrycja Kujawska), who in Ernest Lehman’s original screenplay bounce beautifully around each other, have such little chemistry onstage despite reciting the same lines? Why is the play obsessed with the phrase “global security,” mocking it repeatedly, as if staving off World War III was not a worthy goal? Why is a play set in 1959 using so many songs — Wayne Newton’s “Heart,” Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” a knockoff of Isaac Hayes’ “Shaft” — from the 1960s and ’70s? Why does it treat the plot like fluff but then have the narrator turn somber and wonder, out loud, “When will the killings stop?”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I have a guess for some of this, and that’s the successful nine-year run in London of \u003cem>The 39 Steps\u003c/em>, a stage play adapted from the Hitchcock film that’s closest, thematically, to \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em>. Like this production, \u003cem>The 39 Steps\u003c/em> utilized a small cast playing many characters, and a sparse but modular set, with quick pacing. But \u003cem>The 39 Steps\u003c/em>, on stage, was well-crafted and trusted the audience. This \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em> assumes the audience isn’t smart enough to follow the plot, so the narrator (Katy Owen) leads call-and-response sessions with us to remember who’s who.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s also just focused on the wrong thing. The core of \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em> is one man’s need for identity and trust after he’s been stripped of it. At ACT, it’s spies, both onstage and off. A prompt in the lobby asks patrons for their favorite conspiracy. Walking tours associated with the production visit sites of “Cold War paranoia and espionage” near Union Square. Even Hitchcock himself, speaking with François Truffaut, called the inclusion of government secrets in the film “my best MacGuffin, and by that I mean the emptiest, the most nonexistent, and the most absurd.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As for the play’s awkward new ending, and retconning the sexism of the 1950s: why pick on \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em>? Why not undertake that with dim-witted pap like \u003cem>Kiss Me Stupid\u003c/em>, or \u003cem>Under the Yum-Yum Tree\u003c/em>? Or why not adapt a Hitchcock screenplay with more complex gender dynamics to explore, like \u003cem>Marnie\u003c/em>?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As for the play’s awkward new ending, and retconning the sexism of the 1950s: why pick on \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em>? Why not undertake that with dim-witted pap like \u003cem>Kiss Me Stupid\u003c/em>, or \u003cem>Under the Yum-Yum Tree\u003c/em>? Or why not adapt a Hitchcock screenplay with more complex gender dynamics to explore, like \u003cem>Marnie\u003c/em>?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I feel compelled here to note some of the good. The set — a rack of suits, four revolving doors and a parade of suitcases — gets repurposed in semi-interesting ways. The actors’ quick changes and choreography can be impressive. The famous cropduster and Mount Rushmore scenes have some inventive stage adaptation. Bryony Pennington (as Anna and others) is a standout, and an effervescent Owen makes the best with what she’s given.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But these are crowded out by the rest of it all, which is just plain disrespectful to one of history’s best films. If, five years from now, we see a zany \u003cem>Gong Show\u003c/em>-style staging of \u003cem>On the Waterfront\u003c/em> with disco interludes, I’ll know which play to blame.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But these are crowded out by the rest of it all, which is just plain disrespectful to one of history’s best films. If, five years from now, we see a zany \u003cem>Gong Show\u003c/em>-style staging of \u003cem>On the Waterfront\u003c/em> with disco interludes, I’ll know which play to blame.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘North By Northwest’ runs through Oct. 18 at the Toni Rembe Theater (415 Geary St.) in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2026-27-season/north-by-northwest\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘North By Northwest’ runs through Oct. 18 at the Toni Rembe Theater (415 Geary St.) in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2026-27-season/north-by-northwest\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "With insipid stereotypes and cheap gags, the play makes a zany comedy out of the sophisticated film.",
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"title": "Review: ‘North By Northwest’ Is an Insult to Hitchcock at ACT in San Francisco | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>I cannot tell you how much I hated \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em>, which opened this week at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/act\">ACT\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>. It is an insult to the source material of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 film, and an insult to the audience’s intelligence. I ran from it as soon as I could, muttering obscenities to anyone within earshot.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This production’s first abomination is a shift in tone from a sophisticated, understated thriller to an over-the-top comedy, rife with insipid stereotypes and cheap gags. The second is the near-constant presence onstage of a narrator, who sucks the life out of any scene by overexplaining the action. The third is regular interruptions from songs by 1950s female pop vocalists like Peggy Lee and Betty Hutton, which turn into lip-synced dance numbers by whichever actor has the misfortune to be on stage.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fourth is the production’s reliance on a surface-level 1950s nostalgia. The fifth is a finger-wagging for anyone who might problematically harbor any similar nostalgia. The sixth is the absurd plot coda and forced social commentary it tacks on at the end, in a sudden and jarring switch from slapstick to earnestness, with an entreaty to the audience that we “never again” return to the tactics of the Cold War, and have hope, or something.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>You get the idea. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot9RichSoubletII.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13994167\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot9RichSoubletII.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot9RichSoubletII-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot9RichSoubletII-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot9RichSoubletII-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(L–R) Bryony Pennington, Simon Oskarsson, Katy Owen, Danny Collins, Karl Queensborough and Patrycja Kujawska in ‘North by Northwest.’ (Rich Soublet II)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Adapted and directed by Emma Rice, the play is a complete misreading of Hitchcock’s original film, and its central theme of a mistaken identity that compounds upon itself. Roger Thornhill, who works in advertising, is misapprehended as a CIA operative and abducted by foreign agents. He soon finds that nobody trusts or believes him — not his captors, nor the police, the courts and even his own mother. In Hitchcock’s version, this is illustrated by a disturbing moment as an elevator of strangers breaks into laughter at Thornhill’s notion that someone could be out to murder him. Onstage at ACT, the scene is played as a joke, the punchline of which is Ella Fitzgerald singing “Get Happy” over the P.A. and everyone breaking into a hip-wagging go-go dance party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What is this play trying to do? Why does it turn Cary Grant’s distinguished Thornhill into an uber-\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/JillFilipovic/status/2054240710795370892\">chalant\u003c/a> bro? Why does it expect we’ll think a man in women’s clothing is funny? Why do Thornhill (Danny Collins) and love interest Eve Kendall (Patrycja Kujawska), who in Ernest Lehman’s original screenplay bounce beautifully around each other, have such little chemistry onstage despite reciting the same lines? Why is the play obsessed with the phrase “global security,” mocking it repeatedly, as if staving off World War III was not a worthy goal? Why is a play set in 1959 using so many songs — Wayne Newton’s “Heart,” Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” a knockoff of Isaac Hayes’ “Shaft” — from the 1960s and ’70s? Why does it treat the plot like fluff but then have the narrator turn somber and wonder, out loud, “When will the killings stop?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot8RichSoubletII.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13994166\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot8RichSoubletII.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot8RichSoubletII-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot8RichSoubletII-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot8RichSoubletII-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Simon Oskarsson, Danny Collins and Bryony Pennington in ‘North by Northwest.’ (Rich Soublet II)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I have a guess for some of this, and that’s the successful nine-year run in London of \u003cem>The 39 Steps\u003c/em>, a stage play adapted from the Hitchcock film that’s closest, thematically, to \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em>. Like this production, \u003cem>The 39 Steps\u003c/em> utilized a small cast playing many characters, and a sparse but modular set, with quick pacing. But \u003cem>The 39 Steps\u003c/em>, on stage, was well-crafted and trusted the audience. This \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em> assumes the audience isn’t smart enough to follow the plot, so the narrator (Katy Owen) leads call-and-response sessions with us to remember who’s who.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s also just focused on the wrong thing. The core of \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em> is one man’s need for identity and trust after he’s been stripped of it. At ACT, it’s spies, both onstage and off. A prompt in the lobby asks patrons for their favorite conspiracy. Walking tours associated with the production visit sites of “Cold War paranoia and espionage” near Union Square. Even Hitchcock himself, speaking with François Truffaut, called the inclusion of government secrets in the film “my best MacGuffin, and by that I mean the emptiest, the most nonexistent, and the most absurd.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As for the play’s awkward new ending, and retconning the sexism of the 1950s: why pick on \u003cem>North By Northwest\u003c/em>? Why not undertake that with dim-witted pap like \u003cem>Kiss Me Stupid\u003c/em>, or \u003cem>Under the Yum-Yum Tree\u003c/em>? Or why not adapt a Hitchcock screenplay with more complex gender dynamics to explore, like \u003cem>Marnie\u003c/em>?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot11RichSoubletII.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13994169\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot11RichSoubletII.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot11RichSoubletII-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot11RichSoubletII-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/ProductionShot11RichSoubletII-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Danny Collins as Roger Thornhill in ‘North by Northwest.’ (Rich Soublet II)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I feel compelled here to note some of the good. The set — a rack of suits, four revolving doors and a parade of suitcases — gets repurposed in semi-interesting ways. The actors’ quick changes and choreography can be impressive. The famous cropduster and Mount Rushmore scenes have some inventive stage adaptation. Bryony Pennington (as Anna and others) is a standout, and an effervescent Owen makes the best with what she’s given.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But these are crowded out by the rest of it all, which is just plain disrespectful to one of history’s best films. If, five years from now, we see a zany \u003cem>Gong Show\u003c/em>-style staging of \u003cem>On the Waterfront\u003c/em> with disco interludes, I’ll know which play to blame.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"/>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘North By Northwest’ runs through Oct. 18 at the Toni Rembe Theater (415 Geary St.) in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2026-27-season/north-by-northwest\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A Shakespeare Story in Need of Brushing Up",
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"content": "\u003cp>During one of the most critical scenes in the play \u003cem>Hamnet\u003c/em>, a grieving mother, Agnes, watches in awe at the theater world of her husband, William Shakespeare. A world of costumes and nightly death, it also inspires reverence, and she comes to understand that her late son was the quintessence of glory. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To see Agnes absorb \u003cem>Hamlet\u003c/em>’s every word despite not understanding most of them is to witness simultaneous grief and healing. For eternity, she realizes, one of the world’s greatest plays will be connected to one of the universe’s most perfect 11-year-old boys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Running through May 24 at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater, \u003cem>Hamnet\u003c/em> gives agency to Shakespeare’s mysterious and enigmatic wife, known as Anne or Agnes. This is not a historical account of a woman who simply sat by as a dutiful spouse, raising three children in Stratford-upon-Avon as Shakespeare gallivanted through London’s seedy and bustling Elizabethan theater district. Nor is it \u003cem>Shakespeare in Love\u003c/em>, the 1998 film which portrays Anne as a loveless hindrance to Shakespeare’s quill and immortality. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988826\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/1_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg\" alt=\"A man in blue and a woman with a flower crown nuzzle up against one another\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988826\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/1_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/1_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/1_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/1_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rory Alexander and Kemi-Bo Jacobs as William and Agnes Shakespeare in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s ‘Hamnet’ at ACT in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Kyle Flubacker)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Hamnet\u003c/em> is more on par with the jukebox musical \u003cem>& Juliet\u003c/em>, in which Anne directly questions the misogyny of Shakespeare’s storytelling. (A young teenage girl throwing her life away for a dithering and pathetic boy who changes his passions like he changes his underwear? What kind of hot garbage is that, Will?) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Onstage at ACT, the battles between Agnes (Kemi-Bo Jacobs) and William (Rory Alexander) are filled with pain, as Shakespeare knows he has no choice but to make the four-day trek to London and continue writing plays that may someday change the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaptation from Maggie O’Farrell’s sweeping tale is a highly metaphoric jaunt through the thrill of new love — the mystery of this strange falcon girl who may have deep connections to witchcraft, and a base Latin tutor helping his father (Nigel Barrett) climb out of crippling debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988825\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1320px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/5_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1320\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988825\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/5_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/5_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-160x242.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/5_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-768x1164.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/5_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-1014x1536.jpg 1014w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1320px) 100vw, 1320px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Agnes (center), with Ajani Cabey as Hamnet and Saffron Dey as Judith in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s ‘Hamnet’ at ACT in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Kyle Flubacker)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Erica Whyman’s astute direction, long swatches of material become babies and pregnancies. This theatrical approach complements a grand and rustic scenic design by Tom Piper, who also designed the costumes. Simon Baker’s soundscape leans heavily into deep bass to augment whispers and wisdom that form much of the play’s mystery. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chakrabarti’s reimagined script veers somewhat from O’Farrell’s flashback-heavy 2020 novel. Yet it’s respectful to the novel’s great intentions (the stunning clarity in the book to describe a first tryst among the apples is staged beautifully here). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While much about ACT’s production works, it is not perfect. The initial sounds of child whispers are hard, if not impossible, to understand. While plenty of the show meets the story’s emotional demands, other moments fall toward a thinner, more unsatisfying end. Hard honesty moves through space with too much rapidity for an audience yearning for authenticity. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988824\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/6_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988824\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/6_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/6_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/6_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/6_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saffron Dey as Judith and Ajani Cabey as Hamnet in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s‘Hamnet’ at ACT in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Kyle Flubacker)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some fantastic setups preface the second act’s more damaging moments. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of Shakespeare knows that Hamnet’s demise is near; a gentle, well-paced staging doesn’t make that any easier to digest. But take note of how Jacobs conveys the hurt. As in the Ocscar-winning 2025 film of \u003cem>Hamnet\u003c/em>, Jacobs’ cries as Agnes are guttural, produced from a place that only exists for those who’ve bore and lost a child. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While William channels his agony into his opus, unbeknownst to those mourning back home, the stoic Agnes is the face of devastation, conveyed by Jacobs using every ounce of her emotions. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both John and Mary (Penny Layden) represent the issues that encompass Will as he navigates a scandalous pregnancy out of wedlock. While Barrett conveys the horror of John’s temper in O’Farrell’s novel, he’s equally delightful as the bumbling comic actor Will Kempe. And Troy Alexander as Barthlolomew is a gargantuan presence, taking charge when he sees fit. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art will always have the power to heal weary souls, contextualizing some of existence’s most distressing moments. Hamnet needs a greater commitment to manifest its own quintessence, but the pathway is there for the taking. \u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Hamnet’ runs through Sunday, May 24 at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2025-26-season/hamnet\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>During one of the most critical scenes in the play \u003cem>Hamnet\u003c/em>, a grieving mother, Agnes, watches in awe at the theater world of her husband, William Shakespeare. A world of costumes and nightly death, it also inspires reverence, and she comes to understand that her late son was the quintessence of glory. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To see Agnes absorb \u003cem>Hamlet\u003c/em>’s every word despite not understanding most of them is to witness simultaneous grief and healing. For eternity, she realizes, one of the world’s greatest plays will be connected to one of the universe’s most perfect 11-year-old boys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Running through May 24 at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater, \u003cem>Hamnet\u003c/em> gives agency to Shakespeare’s mysterious and enigmatic wife, known as Anne or Agnes. This is not a historical account of a woman who simply sat by as a dutiful spouse, raising three children in Stratford-upon-Avon as Shakespeare gallivanted through London’s seedy and bustling Elizabethan theater district. Nor is it \u003cem>Shakespeare in Love\u003c/em>, the 1998 film which portrays Anne as a loveless hindrance to Shakespeare’s quill and immortality. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988826\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/1_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg\" alt=\"A man in blue and a woman with a flower crown nuzzle up against one another\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988826\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/1_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/1_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/1_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/1_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rory Alexander and Kemi-Bo Jacobs as William and Agnes Shakespeare in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s ‘Hamnet’ at ACT in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Kyle Flubacker)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Hamnet\u003c/em> is more on par with the jukebox musical \u003cem>& Juliet\u003c/em>, in which Anne directly questions the misogyny of Shakespeare’s storytelling. (A young teenage girl throwing her life away for a dithering and pathetic boy who changes his passions like he changes his underwear? What kind of hot garbage is that, Will?) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Onstage at ACT, the battles between Agnes (Kemi-Bo Jacobs) and William (Rory Alexander) are filled with pain, as Shakespeare knows he has no choice but to make the four-day trek to London and continue writing plays that may someday change the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaptation from Maggie O’Farrell’s sweeping tale is a highly metaphoric jaunt through the thrill of new love — the mystery of this strange falcon girl who may have deep connections to witchcraft, and a base Latin tutor helping his father (Nigel Barrett) climb out of crippling debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988825\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1320px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/5_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1320\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988825\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/5_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/5_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-160x242.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/5_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-768x1164.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/5_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-1014x1536.jpg 1014w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1320px) 100vw, 1320px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Agnes (center), with Ajani Cabey as Hamnet and Saffron Dey as Judith in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s ‘Hamnet’ at ACT in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Kyle Flubacker)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Erica Whyman’s astute direction, long swatches of material become babies and pregnancies. This theatrical approach complements a grand and rustic scenic design by Tom Piper, who also designed the costumes. Simon Baker’s soundscape leans heavily into deep bass to augment whispers and wisdom that form much of the play’s mystery. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chakrabarti’s reimagined script veers somewhat from O’Farrell’s flashback-heavy 2020 novel. Yet it’s respectful to the novel’s great intentions (the stunning clarity in the book to describe a first tryst among the apples is staged beautifully here). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While much about ACT’s production works, it is not perfect. The initial sounds of child whispers are hard, if not impossible, to understand. While plenty of the show meets the story’s emotional demands, other moments fall toward a thinner, more unsatisfying end. Hard honesty moves through space with too much rapidity for an audience yearning for authenticity. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988824\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/6_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988824\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/6_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/6_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/6_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/6_HAMNET_KyleFlubacker-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saffron Dey as Judith and Ajani Cabey as Hamnet in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s‘Hamnet’ at ACT in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Kyle Flubacker)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some fantastic setups preface the second act’s more damaging moments. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of Shakespeare knows that Hamnet’s demise is near; a gentle, well-paced staging doesn’t make that any easier to digest. But take note of how Jacobs conveys the hurt. As in the Ocscar-winning 2025 film of \u003cem>Hamnet\u003c/em>, Jacobs’ cries as Agnes are guttural, produced from a place that only exists for those who’ve bore and lost a child. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While William channels his agony into his opus, unbeknownst to those mourning back home, the stoic Agnes is the face of devastation, conveyed by Jacobs using every ounce of her emotions. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both John and Mary (Penny Layden) represent the issues that encompass Will as he navigates a scandalous pregnancy out of wedlock. While Barrett conveys the horror of John’s temper in O’Farrell’s novel, he’s equally delightful as the bumbling comic actor Will Kempe. And Troy Alexander as Barthlolomew is a gargantuan presence, taking charge when he sees fit. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art will always have the power to heal weary souls, contextualizing some of existence’s most distressing moments. Hamnet needs a greater commitment to manifest its own quintessence, but the pathway is there for the taking. \u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Hamnet’ runs through Sunday, May 24 at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2025-26-season/hamnet\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||’ Captures the Nature of Girlhood Friendship",
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"content": "\u003cp>A few years ago, I wrote an opinion piece for my college paper titled “Friends Aren’t Forever and That’s Okay.” Reflecting on the fleeting nature of high school friendships, I realized that even though those friendships didn’t last, they meant a great deal, and shaped me in ways I couldn’t fully understand at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve graduated college now, but couldn’t help but think of these friendships while watching \u003cem>||: Girls :|| ||: Chance :|| ||: Music :||\u003c/em>, a new play by Eisa Davis at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/act\">ACT\u003c/a>’s Strand Theater in San Francisco. Davis, raised in the Bay Area and inspired by her time in UC Berkeley’s Young Musicians Program, clearly understands the bonds of girlhood. Directed by outgoing ACT Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon, the play captures the essence of being a teenage girl amongst other teenage girls: a combination of ego and uncertainty, with small moments feeling magnified and personal. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>||: Girls :|| ||: Chance :|| ||: Music :||\u003c/em>, we’re introduced to four high school girls at a prestigious summer music program in Berkeley who’ve been assigned to rehearse and perform together as a group. Aside from their love for music, they seem to have nothing in common.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987819\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/106_GCM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987819\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/106_GCM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/106_GCM-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/106_GCM-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/106_GCM-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hillary Fisher (Fax) and Naomi Latta (Margot) in the world premiere of Eisa Davis’ ‘||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fax (Hillary Fisher), the group’s vocalist, is anxious, hyper-prepared and constantly overthinking, a perfectionist prone to rambling. In contrast, Margot (Naomi Latta), the group’s drummer, is laid-back and carefree. She proclaims that “words are so not [her] vibe,” yet her playing reveals an intensity beneath the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Riles (Yeena Sung), the pianist, is vibrant and unapologetically expressive, with multicolored hair, a wardrobe filled with fun prints and Labubus hanging from their backpack. Then there’s the more reticent Clementine (Gianna DiGregorio Rivera), often in the background, who effortlessly plays multiple instruments and offers comic relief. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, there are no boys at the program, and throughout the summer, these girls create unexpected bonds despite their clashing personalities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987821\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/155_GCM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987821\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/155_GCM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/155_GCM-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/155_GCM-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/155_GCM-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yeena Sung (Rile), Gianna DiGregorio Rivera (Clementine), and Naomi Latta (Margot) in the world premiere of Eisa Davis’ ‘||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a series of monologues, we get a glimpse into the minds of these girls and their home lives; the play touches on heavy themes like eating disorders, substance abuse, sexuality and homelessness. But as is often the case with teenage girls (I speak from experience), they’re so consumed by their own struggles that they fail to recognize how vastly different their lives are outside this shared space. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point in the first interactions between Fax and Margot, Fax turns to the audience and says “I don’t know this yet, but this person has begun to shape my life.” While the audience laughed at this break of the fourth wall, it resonated deeply with me. It’s often only in hindsight that we recognize how deeply people have impacted us – especially those we least expected. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even Clementine, who doesn’t forge as deep a relationship with the other three, represents something important: the person you often take for granted. Someone who’s always there, and you don’t realize how much their presence really mattered until they aren’t anymore. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987822\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/147_GCM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987822\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/147_GCM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/147_GCM-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/147_GCM-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/147_GCM-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Latta (Margot) and Gianna DiGregorio Rivera (Clementine) in the world premiere of Eisa Davis’ ‘||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the end of the play, we we learn that none of these girls really kept in touch. They’ve all grown in ways that are natural, and that their high school selves could have never imagined. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of me wanted to see the girls get past their differences and help each other grow through life. But that’s not typically how things play out. The abrupt ending to these friendships as summer ends is true to these fleeting-yet-formative friendships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>||: Girls :|| ||: Chance :|| ||: Music :||\u003c/em> doesn’t mourn that girlhood ends — it honors what grows from of it. As I wrote in that sophomore-year opinion piece, “These are the people who shape you into who you are and who you want to become, even if it’s only a brief amount of time that your paths cross.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘||: Girls :|| ||: Chance :|| ||: Music :||’ runs through April 19 at ACT’s Strand Theater (1127 Market St., San Francisco). \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2025-26-season/girls-chance-music/performances\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A few years ago, I wrote an opinion piece for my college paper titled “Friends Aren’t Forever and That’s Okay.” Reflecting on the fleeting nature of high school friendships, I realized that even though those friendships didn’t last, they meant a great deal, and shaped me in ways I couldn’t fully understand at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve graduated college now, but couldn’t help but think of these friendships while watching \u003cem>||: Girls :|| ||: Chance :|| ||: Music :||\u003c/em>, a new play by Eisa Davis at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/act\">ACT\u003c/a>’s Strand Theater in San Francisco. Davis, raised in the Bay Area and inspired by her time in UC Berkeley’s Young Musicians Program, clearly understands the bonds of girlhood. Directed by outgoing ACT Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon, the play captures the essence of being a teenage girl amongst other teenage girls: a combination of ego and uncertainty, with small moments feeling magnified and personal. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>||: Girls :|| ||: Chance :|| ||: Music :||\u003c/em>, we’re introduced to four high school girls at a prestigious summer music program in Berkeley who’ve been assigned to rehearse and perform together as a group. Aside from their love for music, they seem to have nothing in common.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987819\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/106_GCM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987819\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/106_GCM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/106_GCM-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/106_GCM-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/106_GCM-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hillary Fisher (Fax) and Naomi Latta (Margot) in the world premiere of Eisa Davis’ ‘||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fax (Hillary Fisher), the group’s vocalist, is anxious, hyper-prepared and constantly overthinking, a perfectionist prone to rambling. In contrast, Margot (Naomi Latta), the group’s drummer, is laid-back and carefree. She proclaims that “words are so not [her] vibe,” yet her playing reveals an intensity beneath the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Riles (Yeena Sung), the pianist, is vibrant and unapologetically expressive, with multicolored hair, a wardrobe filled with fun prints and Labubus hanging from their backpack. Then there’s the more reticent Clementine (Gianna DiGregorio Rivera), often in the background, who effortlessly plays multiple instruments and offers comic relief. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, there are no boys at the program, and throughout the summer, these girls create unexpected bonds despite their clashing personalities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987821\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/155_GCM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987821\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/155_GCM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/155_GCM-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/155_GCM-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/155_GCM-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yeena Sung (Rile), Gianna DiGregorio Rivera (Clementine), and Naomi Latta (Margot) in the world premiere of Eisa Davis’ ‘||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a series of monologues, we get a glimpse into the minds of these girls and their home lives; the play touches on heavy themes like eating disorders, substance abuse, sexuality and homelessness. But as is often the case with teenage girls (I speak from experience), they’re so consumed by their own struggles that they fail to recognize how vastly different their lives are outside this shared space. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point in the first interactions between Fax and Margot, Fax turns to the audience and says “I don’t know this yet, but this person has begun to shape my life.” While the audience laughed at this break of the fourth wall, it resonated deeply with me. It’s often only in hindsight that we recognize how deeply people have impacted us – especially those we least expected. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even Clementine, who doesn’t forge as deep a relationship with the other three, represents something important: the person you often take for granted. Someone who’s always there, and you don’t realize how much their presence really mattered until they aren’t anymore. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987822\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/147_GCM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987822\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/147_GCM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/147_GCM-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/147_GCM-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/147_GCM-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Latta (Margot) and Gianna DiGregorio Rivera (Clementine) in the world premiere of Eisa Davis’ ‘||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the end of the play, we we learn that none of these girls really kept in touch. They’ve all grown in ways that are natural, and that their high school selves could have never imagined. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of me wanted to see the girls get past their differences and help each other grow through life. But that’s not typically how things play out. The abrupt ending to these friendships as summer ends is true to these fleeting-yet-formative friendships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>||: Girls :|| ||: Chance :|| ||: Music :||\u003c/em> doesn’t mourn that girlhood ends — it honors what grows from of it. As I wrote in that sophomore-year opinion piece, “These are the people who shape you into who you are and who you want to become, even if it’s only a brief amount of time that your paths cross.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘||: Girls :|| ||: Chance :|| ||: Music :||’ runs through April 19 at ACT’s Strand Theater (1127 Market St., San Francisco). \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2025-26-season/girls-chance-music/performances\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973179\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036.jpg\" alt=\"A slender Black man in a yellow suit points to the right while young contestants in colorful clothes stand against a blue wall\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973179\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jason Veasey (far right) with Ana Yi Puig, Seth Hanson, Molly Hager, A.J. Holmes and John-Michael Lyles (background, L–R) in ‘Nobody Loves You’ at ACT. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Are there any bigger losers than winners of a dating show?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/american-conservatory-theater\">American Conservatory Theater\u003c/a>’s stupendous production of \u003cem>Nobody Loves You\u003c/em>, the answer is a resounding yes. As in, yes, everyone involved with reality dating shows are gluttons for embarrassment on a national level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The action revolves around Jeff (A.J. Holmes), whose bouncy girlfriend Tanya (Ashley D. Williams, in multiple roles) locks in with the rest of the country to see who will be told “nobody loves you,” the popular sign-off where losers of the same-named reality dating show are reminded just how undesirable they are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973182\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973182\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Ana Yi Puig, Molly Hager, A.J. Holmes, Seth Hanson, and John-Michael Lyles in ‘Nobody Loves You’ at ACT. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jeff, who is much more consumed with trying to find a philosophy dissertation focus, soon realizes that he can explore the sociological impact of reality dating, where spontaneous meet cutes are impromptu only until a director asks for a re-shoot with a new camera angle. And if he can infiltrate the operation as a covert contestant, he can not only win back Tanya, but expose the rot within the genre, allowing grateful citizens to someday welcome him as their great liberator. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how does one with only a Ph.D mandate and dreams of destruction take down a billion-dollar entertainment juggernaut? What awaits Jeff is a societal microcosm, a merry band of narcissists ready for inane competitions to obtain sweet, sweet lovin’. The capricious nature of what plays well for the millions of fans who hang on every vapidity make this level of “reality” as truthful as a three-dollar bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nobody Loves You\u003c/em> is created by two Berkeley natives and childhood friends – Tony-winning playwright Itamar Moses and composer Gaby Alter, who clearly understand what makes reality shows tick. There are opposites who attract when they really don’t, such as the Jesus-loving, aptly named Christian (Seth Hanson), paired with party girl Megan (Molly Hager), who does what she can to bring sexy back when a sauna is her dance partner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973180\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973180\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Molly Hager and Seth Hanson in ‘Nobody Loves You’ at ACT. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A third complication comes aboard in the form of Samantha (Ana Yi Puig), a third grade teacher looking for love and validation. But just like smarmy, silky-smooth soul singer and vacuous show host Byron (Jason Veasey) clearly states, triangles and love make for poor bedfellows, a dazzling soul tune accompanying the point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13971920']What makes the show especially delightful is the way it both handles and exploits the minutiae of the reality-TV world under Pam MacKinnon’s assured direction. Whether it’s doing the tango while trying to avoid a truth mine, embarking on an “Intense Crush Ceremony” or watching the grand finale two-hour special the day before the actual grand finale two-hour special, Moses’ script goes wild with wit. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those witticisms spill towards a different kind of tango when the freshly-freed Jeff meets the show’s assistant producer, who feels the same about the reality genre. Jenny (Kuhoo Verma) has big plans to lean into her unapologetic femininity as a documentarian, a dream most definitely deferred. Can both of these curious, pensive souls avoid the pitfalls of this plastic world of Crush Ceremony Mix CDs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973178\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) Molly Hager, John-Michael Lyles, Ana Yi Puig and Seth Hanson in ‘Nobody Loves\u003cbr>You’ at ACT. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The magic of MacKinnon’s succinct pacing alongside Steph Paul’s snazzy choreography make this story tight and compact. It doesn’t hurt that the cast is full of of triple-threat talent that doesn’t let up. Hanson, Hager and Puig are terrific at playing the sacrificial lambs for mass entertainment, hoofing and bleating as the chaos unfolds. Holmes excels at divvying up Jeff’s own inner torture and conflicted feelings, and Williams plays well with the audience, providing a nod and a wink to let them in on inside jokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the host, Veasey channels James Ingram, with dashes of Barry White and Luther Vandross; his costumes (designed by Sarita Fellows) seem to indicate that the sequin store is missing most of its stash. The frenetically hilarious John-Michael Lyles, and his turn as Evan, reveals a joyous dance with this genre in the show’s waning moments. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the most potent number belongs to Verma, who rattles off “Jenny’s Song” within a moment of personal tragedy, and drills into every ounce of the tune’s pure intentions with assured gravitas. Sure, the job sucked, but when you’re young, and connections that’ve taken years to build go poof, it’s a tough thing to reckon with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973181\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John-Michael Lyles and Kuhoo Verma in ‘Nobody Loves You’ at ACT. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mindless entertainment is a necessary evil. With perceived triumphs and consequences in every episode, reality television appeals to our inner voyeur and allows our own placement atop the societal pyramid. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While \u003cem>Nobody Loves You\u003c/em> can offer pure laughs — and reality shows may lead the league in unintentional comedy — there’s a hint of melancholia in watching folks debase themselves in pursuit of love, the thing we all strive to obtain. As Jenny says with potency, “You can perform or you can connect, but you can’t do both at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether or not there’s truth in that sentiment, rest assured that the 15 seniors looking for love in “Golden Nobody Loves You” will be trying to prove Jenny wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Nobody Loves You’ runs through March 30 at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2024-25-season/nobody-loves-you/\">Details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973179\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036.jpg\" alt=\"A slender Black man in a yellow suit points to the right while young contestants in colorful clothes stand against a blue wall\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973179\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_036-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jason Veasey (far right) with Ana Yi Puig, Seth Hanson, Molly Hager, A.J. Holmes and John-Michael Lyles (background, L–R) in ‘Nobody Loves You’ at ACT. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Are there any bigger losers than winners of a dating show?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/american-conservatory-theater\">American Conservatory Theater\u003c/a>’s stupendous production of \u003cem>Nobody Loves You\u003c/em>, the answer is a resounding yes. As in, yes, everyone involved with reality dating shows are gluttons for embarrassment on a national level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The action revolves around Jeff (A.J. Holmes), whose bouncy girlfriend Tanya (Ashley D. Williams, in multiple roles) locks in with the rest of the country to see who will be told “nobody loves you,” the popular sign-off where losers of the same-named reality dating show are reminded just how undesirable they are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973182\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973182\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_186-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Ana Yi Puig, Molly Hager, A.J. Holmes, Seth Hanson, and John-Michael Lyles in ‘Nobody Loves You’ at ACT. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jeff, who is much more consumed with trying to find a philosophy dissertation focus, soon realizes that he can explore the sociological impact of reality dating, where spontaneous meet cutes are impromptu only until a director asks for a re-shoot with a new camera angle. And if he can infiltrate the operation as a covert contestant, he can not only win back Tanya, but expose the rot within the genre, allowing grateful citizens to someday welcome him as their great liberator. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how does one with only a Ph.D mandate and dreams of destruction take down a billion-dollar entertainment juggernaut? What awaits Jeff is a societal microcosm, a merry band of narcissists ready for inane competitions to obtain sweet, sweet lovin’. The capricious nature of what plays well for the millions of fans who hang on every vapidity make this level of “reality” as truthful as a three-dollar bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nobody Loves You\u003c/em> is created by two Berkeley natives and childhood friends – Tony-winning playwright Itamar Moses and composer Gaby Alter, who clearly understand what makes reality shows tick. There are opposites who attract when they really don’t, such as the Jesus-loving, aptly named Christian (Seth Hanson), paired with party girl Megan (Molly Hager), who does what she can to bring sexy back when a sauna is her dance partner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973180\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973180\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_075-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Molly Hager and Seth Hanson in ‘Nobody Loves You’ at ACT. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A third complication comes aboard in the form of Samantha (Ana Yi Puig), a third grade teacher looking for love and validation. But just like smarmy, silky-smooth soul singer and vacuous show host Byron (Jason Veasey) clearly states, triangles and love make for poor bedfellows, a dazzling soul tune accompanying the point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>What makes the show especially delightful is the way it both handles and exploits the minutiae of the reality-TV world under Pam MacKinnon’s assured direction. Whether it’s doing the tango while trying to avoid a truth mine, embarking on an “Intense Crush Ceremony” or watching the grand finale two-hour special the day before the actual grand finale two-hour special, Moses’ script goes wild with wit. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those witticisms spill towards a different kind of tango when the freshly-freed Jeff meets the show’s assistant producer, who feels the same about the reality genre. Jenny (Kuhoo Verma) has big plans to lean into her unapologetic femininity as a documentarian, a dream most definitely deferred. Can both of these curious, pensive souls avoid the pitfalls of this plastic world of Crush Ceremony Mix CDs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973178\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_126-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) Molly Hager, John-Michael Lyles, Ana Yi Puig and Seth Hanson in ‘Nobody Loves\u003cbr>You’ at ACT. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The magic of MacKinnon’s succinct pacing alongside Steph Paul’s snazzy choreography make this story tight and compact. It doesn’t hurt that the cast is full of of triple-threat talent that doesn’t let up. Hanson, Hager and Puig are terrific at playing the sacrificial lambs for mass entertainment, hoofing and bleating as the chaos unfolds. Holmes excels at divvying up Jeff’s own inner torture and conflicted feelings, and Williams plays well with the audience, providing a nod and a wink to let them in on inside jokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the host, Veasey channels James Ingram, with dashes of Barry White and Luther Vandross; his costumes (designed by Sarita Fellows) seem to indicate that the sequin store is missing most of its stash. The frenetically hilarious John-Michael Lyles, and his turn as Evan, reveals a joyous dance with this genre in the show’s waning moments. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the most potent number belongs to Verma, who rattles off “Jenny’s Song” within a moment of personal tragedy, and drills into every ounce of the tune’s pure intentions with assured gravitas. Sure, the job sucked, but when you’re young, and connections that’ve taken years to build go poof, it’s a tough thing to reckon with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973181\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/NLY_157-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John-Michael Lyles and Kuhoo Verma in ‘Nobody Loves You’ at ACT. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mindless entertainment is a necessary evil. With perceived triumphs and consequences in every episode, reality television appeals to our inner voyeur and allows our own placement atop the societal pyramid. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While \u003cem>Nobody Loves You\u003c/em> can offer pure laughs — and reality shows may lead the league in unintentional comedy — there’s a hint of melancholia in watching folks debase themselves in pursuit of love, the thing we all strive to obtain. As Jenny says with potency, “You can perform or you can connect, but you can’t do both at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether or not there’s truth in that sentiment, rest assured that the 15 seniors looking for love in “Golden Nobody Loves You” will be trying to prove Jenny wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Nobody Loves You’ runs through March 30 at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2024-25-season/nobody-loves-you/\">Details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Review: Love Is an Argentinian Tango in ACT’s ‘Private Lives’",
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"content": "\u003cp>The tango is a luscious expression of lost love, nostalgia and melancholia — and a staple of Argentinian life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the hands of Elyot and Amanda, their tango is perfect: a soft kick here, a gentle spin there, with bodies that flutter close together to turn their hot breath into hotter fire. But when the dance pauses, the fire of their passion turns to embers, reminding them why they got divorced in the first place. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The aesthetically pleasing production of Noël Coward’s \u003cem>Private Lives\u003c/em> at American Conservatory Theater (ACT), running through Oct. 6, conveys an irresistible sensuality. Tanya Orellana’s scenic design is its own star of the show, with bright splashes of color that contrast with the darkness of Coward’s heady script. The terrific cast of four is guided masterfully by director KJ Sanchez (paired smoothly with tango instructor Lisette Perelle), who pulls every little ditty of physical humor out of Coward’s pithy comedy of manners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965260\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965260\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hugo E. Carbajal and Sarita Ocón in Noël Coward’s ‘Private Lives’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, there aren’t nearly enough of those ditties to sustain the humor over the play’s two-hour run time. Too many moments lack purposeful urgency. The script itself is a relic and meanders far too long, oftentimes being overly chatty without saying much. The task of a modern production like ACT’s — one in which it mostly succeeds — is to gloss over these deficiencies with aplomb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13963021']Elyot Chase (Hugo E. Carbajal) and his new bride Sibyl (Gianna DeGregorio Rivera) are on their honeymoon, toasting to new beginnings. Elyot’s marriage to Amanda (Sarita Ocón) is a thing of the past, and Amanda is now the bride of Victor (Brady Morales-Woolery). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As fate would have it, only a small fence separates the couples at their honeymoon hotel. On the hotel balcony, love, lust and loathing overtake Elyot and Amanda in equal measure; their harmonious accord as dance partners makes the inadequacies of prior passions easy to forget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965256\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965256\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Hugo E. Carbajal, Gianna DiGregorio Rivera and Brady Morales-Woolery in Noël Coward’s ‘Private Lives’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As is to be expected in a genre where social conventions are upended by manipulative characters shallower than a dry puddle, Amanda and Elyot take turns being more awful than the other, all while consuming an endless fountain of brandy. Negotiating the whims of Elyot and Amanda is its own dance for Sibyl and Victor, collateral damage in the selfish pursuits of two who treat marriage as less important than an elementary school promise ring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the dialogue drags, the production positively soars in the machinations of physicality. You can feel the creativity of Sanchez oozing into every little onstage step, stutter and shake. As Elyot, Carbajal’s motions are loaded with spry dexterity. (Take note of his stylized pushups, his fantastically sensual bit with a robe, and his command of the tango.) Even moments of the script’s problematic nature, dealing with domestic violence, are treated softly and skillfully with highly choreographed and playful physicality from the entire talented cast. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every bit Carbajal’s equal is Ocón, a phenomenal performer built for both classic and contemporary interpretations. While her Amanda is putty in the hands of Elyot’s smooth sauntering, Ocón’s ability with some of Coward’s most universe-revealing lines in response to Elyot’s raging misogyny is a marvel. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965258\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965258\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarita Ocón, Hugo E Carbajal, Gianna DiGregorio Rivera and Brady Morales-Woolery in Noël Coward’s ‘Private Lives’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Both Rivera and Morales-Woolery force their characters to disrupt the chaos that Elyot and Amanda bring, and their subtlety at allowing Coward’s humor to flow naturally presents delightful foils to their counterparts. They are part of an overall cast unified with skill and substance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are a million reasons why the characters in \u003cem>Private Lives\u003c/em> shouldn’t be anywhere near a relationship with another human. But if this reinvention of Coward’s classic proves anything, it’s that when a problem comes face-to-face with the tango, the stirring and sophisticated dance has always been, and forever will be, undefeated. \u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Private Lives’ runs through Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2024-25-season/private-lives/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The tango is a luscious expression of lost love, nostalgia and melancholia — and a staple of Argentinian life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the hands of Elyot and Amanda, their tango is perfect: a soft kick here, a gentle spin there, with bodies that flutter close together to turn their hot breath into hotter fire. But when the dance pauses, the fire of their passion turns to embers, reminding them why they got divorced in the first place. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The aesthetically pleasing production of Noël Coward’s \u003cem>Private Lives\u003c/em> at American Conservatory Theater (ACT), running through Oct. 6, conveys an irresistible sensuality. Tanya Orellana’s scenic design is its own star of the show, with bright splashes of color that contrast with the darkness of Coward’s heady script. The terrific cast of four is guided masterfully by director KJ Sanchez (paired smoothly with tango instructor Lisette Perelle), who pulls every little ditty of physical humor out of Coward’s pithy comedy of manners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965260\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965260\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_154-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hugo E. Carbajal and Sarita Ocón in Noël Coward’s ‘Private Lives’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, there aren’t nearly enough of those ditties to sustain the humor over the play’s two-hour run time. Too many moments lack purposeful urgency. The script itself is a relic and meanders far too long, oftentimes being overly chatty without saying much. The task of a modern production like ACT’s — one in which it mostly succeeds — is to gloss over these deficiencies with aplomb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Elyot Chase (Hugo E. Carbajal) and his new bride Sibyl (Gianna DeGregorio Rivera) are on their honeymoon, toasting to new beginnings. Elyot’s marriage to Amanda (Sarita Ocón) is a thing of the past, and Amanda is now the bride of Victor (Brady Morales-Woolery). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As fate would have it, only a small fence separates the couples at their honeymoon hotel. On the hotel balcony, love, lust and loathing overtake Elyot and Amanda in equal measure; their harmonious accord as dance partners makes the inadequacies of prior passions easy to forget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965256\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965256\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_197-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Hugo E. Carbajal, Gianna DiGregorio Rivera and Brady Morales-Woolery in Noël Coward’s ‘Private Lives’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As is to be expected in a genre where social conventions are upended by manipulative characters shallower than a dry puddle, Amanda and Elyot take turns being more awful than the other, all while consuming an endless fountain of brandy. Negotiating the whims of Elyot and Amanda is its own dance for Sibyl and Victor, collateral damage in the selfish pursuits of two who treat marriage as less important than an elementary school promise ring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the dialogue drags, the production positively soars in the machinations of physicality. You can feel the creativity of Sanchez oozing into every little onstage step, stutter and shake. As Elyot, Carbajal’s motions are loaded with spry dexterity. (Take note of his stylized pushups, his fantastically sensual bit with a robe, and his command of the tango.) Even moments of the script’s problematic nature, dealing with domestic violence, are treated softly and skillfully with highly choreographed and playful physicality from the entire talented cast. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every bit Carbajal’s equal is Ocón, a phenomenal performer built for both classic and contemporary interpretations. While her Amanda is putty in the hands of Elyot’s smooth sauntering, Ocón’s ability with some of Coward’s most universe-revealing lines in response to Elyot’s raging misogyny is a marvel. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965258\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965258\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/PVL_235-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarita Ocón, Hugo E Carbajal, Gianna DiGregorio Rivera and Brady Morales-Woolery in Noël Coward’s ‘Private Lives’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Both Rivera and Morales-Woolery force their characters to disrupt the chaos that Elyot and Amanda bring, and their subtlety at allowing Coward’s humor to flow naturally presents delightful foils to their counterparts. They are part of an overall cast unified with skill and substance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are a million reasons why the characters in \u003cem>Private Lives\u003c/em> shouldn’t be anywhere near a relationship with another human. But if this reinvention of Coward’s classic proves anything, it’s that when a problem comes face-to-face with the tango, the stirring and sophisticated dance has always been, and forever will be, undefeated. \u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Private Lives’ runs through Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2024-25-season/private-lives/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘The Lehman Trilogy’ at ACT: Phenomenal Acting, But Too Kind to Finance",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>The Lehman Trilogy\u003c/em>, which opened at A.C.T. Wednesday in San Francisco, is a three-and-a-half hour tour de force of impeccable acting talent. On Broadway, it won five Tony Awards, including Best Play. It is a thrill to watch. It will also evaporate your faith in this country’s financial system, and the willingness of theater to challenge its abuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A chronological telling of the Lehman Brothers as both a family and a company, the play opens in 1844, when Henry Lehman arrives in New York from Bavaria. Filled with reverence for the promise of America, he moves to Montgomery, Alabama, and is soon joined by his brothers Emanuel and Mayer, who help run the Lehman general store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958916\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958916\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R): Aaron Krohn (Mayer Lehman), John Heffernan (Henry Lehman), and Howard W. Overshown (Emanuel Lehman) in ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over three acts, the Lehmans serve as a proxy for a history of U.S. finance. Slavery, the Civil War, various tragedies and downturns — the Lehmans, as middlemen, find a way to profit from all of it. They go from buying and selling commodities to investing their millions into industry, technology and, ultimately, the intangible concept of investing itself. (As one character bellows: “Money is a ghost! Money is numbers! Money is air!”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every actor on stage delivers jaw-dropping performances. In \u003cem>The Lehman Trilogy\u003c/em>’s masterclass, actors John Hefferman, Aaron Krohn and Howard W. Overshown play their roles, narrate the action, occupy new characters and impersonate others, often in the same 10-second span. With exact pacing from famed director Sam Mendes, and a taut script by Stefano Massini, these are experts at their craft. The set design by Es Devlin is similarly dazzling — a plain office of boxes and furniture on a turntable, constantly and imaginatively transformed against a semicircle of projected backdrops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958919\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958919\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R): Howard W. Overshown (Emanuel Lehman), John Heffernan (Henry Lehman), and Aaron Krohn (Mayer Lehman) in ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But at the end of each act, I had to ask myself: Where is any sort of indictment for the Lehmans’ rampant greed and exploitation?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a Horatio Alger story of the opportunity of America, \u003cem>The Lehman Trilogy\u003c/em> too often lionizes rather than criticizes the firm that played a leading role in the financial collapse and subsequent Great Recession. It jumps from the 1960s to 2008 in a short matter of minutes, skipping entirely over the Reagan era, deregulation, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, adjustable rate mortgages, credit default swaps, foreclosed homes and the many who suffered and died at the hands of Wall Street run amok.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958918\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958918\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R): Howard W. Overshown (Emanuel Lehman), Aaron Krohn (Mayer Lehman), and John Heffernan (Henry Lehman) in ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I repeat: the acting is astonishing. But while the play’s final image on stage is mesmerizing, after three and a half hours of humanizing the Lehman Brothers firm, the play doesn’t present its bankruptcy and collapse as comeuppance so much as a sad loss of one family’s American dream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thousands of other American families, meanwhile, would like a word.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Lehman Trilogy’ runs through June 23 at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2023-24-season/the-lehman-trilogy/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>The Lehman Trilogy\u003c/em>, which opened at A.C.T. Wednesday in San Francisco, is a three-and-a-half hour tour de force of impeccable acting talent. On Broadway, it won five Tony Awards, including Best Play. It is a thrill to watch. It will also evaporate your faith in this country’s financial system, and the willingness of theater to challenge its abuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A chronological telling of the Lehman Brothers as both a family and a company, the play opens in 1844, when Henry Lehman arrives in New York from Bavaria. Filled with reverence for the promise of America, he moves to Montgomery, Alabama, and is soon joined by his brothers Emanuel and Mayer, who help run the Lehman general store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958916\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958916\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_112-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R): Aaron Krohn (Mayer Lehman), John Heffernan (Henry Lehman), and Howard W. Overshown (Emanuel Lehman) in ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over three acts, the Lehmans serve as a proxy for a history of U.S. finance. Slavery, the Civil War, various tragedies and downturns — the Lehmans, as middlemen, find a way to profit from all of it. They go from buying and selling commodities to investing their millions into industry, technology and, ultimately, the intangible concept of investing itself. (As one character bellows: “Money is a ghost! Money is numbers! Money is air!”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every actor on stage delivers jaw-dropping performances. In \u003cem>The Lehman Trilogy\u003c/em>’s masterclass, actors John Hefferman, Aaron Krohn and Howard W. Overshown play their roles, narrate the action, occupy new characters and impersonate others, often in the same 10-second span. With exact pacing from famed director Sam Mendes, and a taut script by Stefano Massini, these are experts at their craft. The set design by Es Devlin is similarly dazzling — a plain office of boxes and furniture on a turntable, constantly and imaginatively transformed against a semicircle of projected backdrops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958919\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958919\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_053-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R): Howard W. Overshown (Emanuel Lehman), John Heffernan (Henry Lehman), and Aaron Krohn (Mayer Lehman) in ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But at the end of each act, I had to ask myself: Where is any sort of indictment for the Lehmans’ rampant greed and exploitation?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a Horatio Alger story of the opportunity of America, \u003cem>The Lehman Trilogy\u003c/em> too often lionizes rather than criticizes the firm that played a leading role in the financial collapse and subsequent Great Recession. It jumps from the 1960s to 2008 in a short matter of minutes, skipping entirely over the Reagan era, deregulation, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, adjustable rate mortgages, credit default swaps, foreclosed homes and the many who suffered and died at the hands of Wall Street run amok.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958918\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958918\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/LEH_236-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R): Howard W. Overshown (Emanuel Lehman), Aaron Krohn (Mayer Lehman), and John Heffernan (Henry Lehman) in ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I repeat: the acting is astonishing. But while the play’s final image on stage is mesmerizing, after three and a half hours of humanizing the Lehman Brothers firm, the play doesn’t present its bankruptcy and collapse as comeuppance so much as a sad loss of one family’s American dream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thousands of other American families, meanwhile, would like a word.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Lehman Trilogy’ runs through June 23 at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2023-24-season/the-lehman-trilogy/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>There is a specific and toxic level of melancholia that comes with modern life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certainly, having the world at one’s literal fingertips makes for infinite possibilities. No longer do archaic fossils of culture dominate society — think about the last time you needed to buy a concert or sports ticket in person, or when you last sat in a bookstore reading a novel or magazine with pages that required physical turning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, phones, tablets or a trusty laptop provide every creature comfort known to humanity, and tech’s capabilities expand with each new update. But at what cost? Are we, in our yearning for more knowledge with blaring rapidity, simply feeding the beast? Frailty, thy name is algorithm!\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952875\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1278px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1278\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121.jpg 1278w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-800x1202.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-1020x1532.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-1022x1536.jpg 1022w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1278px) 100vw, 1278px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">BD Wong (M) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In playwright Kate Attwell’s world premiere of \u003cem>Big Data\u003c/em>, commissioned and presented by American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, modern society’s horrors take the form of the dastardly-yet-dashing “M” (B.D. Wong), an automated puppet master who readily loads his subjects with thoughts and ideas that veer from inspired to toxic. “M” is random as all get out – knocking on stranger’s doors to simply hang out, seducing a young man and offering pleasures of the flesh, and subtly convincing an older couple that their time on this Earth has surpassed its useful life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Director Pam MacKinnon’s meticulous attention to detail provides effective, steady subtlety inside Attwell’s staccato-ish dialogue. Occasionally, the script has a propensity to drone into one-note, ineffective territory, especially within stretches of the first act. This is not a fault of the cast, which is universally terrific. Both Sam (Gabriel Brown) and Timmy (Michael Phillis) are handsome, married millennials whose polyamorous dealings veer outside of simple physicality. Those invited inside their velvet, lustful ropes didn’t plan for the baggage of loneliness that both carry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952876\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952876\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Gabriel Brown (Sam), Rosie Hallett (Lucy), and Michael Phillis (Timmy) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Likewise, a sense of unease persists between medical professional Lucy (Rosie Hallett) and husband Max (Jomar Tagatac). While Lucy easily gives every ounce of herself to big tech, her cell phone notifications going off incessantly, Max is much more concerned with old school natural dangers like earthquakes and flooding. Together, the mix of infertility, home economics and large loans turn the couple into carbon and oxygen balls of mass agita.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The distinct nature of each act is intentional. Whereas the first act establishes five characters, all with their own issues, the second introduces two new characters entirely, revealing the ways in which the aforementioned folks connect. As the older parentals, Didi (Julia McNeal) and her husband Joe (Harold Surratt) don’t carry the same relationship to tech as their younger counterparts, but are nonetheless affected mightily by its constant presence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Didi and Joe refuse to succumb to the new vanguard without a fight, thanks to Joe’s gargantuan cement truck that creates a physical barrier to the tech devices they’re actively shunning. (That smart thermometer is no match for concrete.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952878\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952878\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gabriel Brown (Sam) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While no one would advocate the play’s denouement, there is something poetic about Didi and Joe’s choices. Technology will always move forward, yet at a time when the human mind is challenged more than ever by the artificial world, human expendability is on the table in unforeseen ways. To those who make art their life’s work, putting random words into a machine and having poetry and music returned with soaring fidelity is horrifying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13951752']Each performer takes turns as the representation of societal strife. Tagatac, an ACT favorite, brings forth a skittish freneticism that parallels our divisive times. Hallett, whose listening skills are uncanny, engages sharply with Tagatac and advocates for her character’s neurosis with resonance. Brown and Phillis carry the responsibility of establishing the narrative’s style, handling many of the play’s funniest moments due to their honesty. And McNeal, along with Surratt and his dopey, everyman quality, delivers critical information with searing truth, magically making her case about the world’s artificiality and what it means to her generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a primary strength, \u003cem>Big Data\u003c/em> advocates that the absurd really isn’t that absurd at all. Back in the day, we just knew how to breathe. Now, there’s an app for that. Even while Attwell’s dialogue is often sly, characters don’t speak with wonderment and discovery, and instead with mechanical precision. Each of the first act’s scene changes are soulless jaunts, moving from one reality to the next, within Tanya Orellana’s broad, barren scenic design. A completely different world appears in the second act — brought upon by the charming Wong as he gleefully pops and prances all over the place, sporting many fun costume changes borne of Lydia Tanji’s design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952874\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952874\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">BD Wong (M) and Gabriel Brown (Sam) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the end of the day, what messages are we sending to certain generations? Your dollar bill is worthless, and so is that change in your pocket, because it’s all about cash-free zones and cryptocurrency now. How about some soulless poetry or music from Chat GPT? Is this where society is headed? Are we just birds programmed to eat, drink, even play piano on command? How does one even do that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let me guess – there’s an app for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Big Data’ runs through Sunday, March 10, at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2023-24-season/big-data/\">Details and ticket info here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There is a specific and toxic level of melancholia that comes with modern life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certainly, having the world at one’s literal fingertips makes for infinite possibilities. No longer do archaic fossils of culture dominate society — think about the last time you needed to buy a concert or sports ticket in person, or when you last sat in a bookstore reading a novel or magazine with pages that required physical turning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, phones, tablets or a trusty laptop provide every creature comfort known to humanity, and tech’s capabilities expand with each new update. But at what cost? Are we, in our yearning for more knowledge with blaring rapidity, simply feeding the beast? Frailty, thy name is algorithm!\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952875\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1278px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1278\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121.jpg 1278w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-800x1202.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-1020x1532.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_121-1022x1536.jpg 1022w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1278px) 100vw, 1278px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">BD Wong (M) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In playwright Kate Attwell’s world premiere of \u003cem>Big Data\u003c/em>, commissioned and presented by American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, modern society’s horrors take the form of the dastardly-yet-dashing “M” (B.D. Wong), an automated puppet master who readily loads his subjects with thoughts and ideas that veer from inspired to toxic. “M” is random as all get out – knocking on stranger’s doors to simply hang out, seducing a young man and offering pleasures of the flesh, and subtly convincing an older couple that their time on this Earth has surpassed its useful life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Director Pam MacKinnon’s meticulous attention to detail provides effective, steady subtlety inside Attwell’s staccato-ish dialogue. Occasionally, the script has a propensity to drone into one-note, ineffective territory, especially within stretches of the first act. This is not a fault of the cast, which is universally terrific. Both Sam (Gabriel Brown) and Timmy (Michael Phillis) are handsome, married millennials whose polyamorous dealings veer outside of simple physicality. Those invited inside their velvet, lustful ropes didn’t plan for the baggage of loneliness that both carry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952876\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952876\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_176-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Gabriel Brown (Sam), Rosie Hallett (Lucy), and Michael Phillis (Timmy) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Likewise, a sense of unease persists between medical professional Lucy (Rosie Hallett) and husband Max (Jomar Tagatac). While Lucy easily gives every ounce of herself to big tech, her cell phone notifications going off incessantly, Max is much more concerned with old school natural dangers like earthquakes and flooding. Together, the mix of infertility, home economics and large loans turn the couple into carbon and oxygen balls of mass agita.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The distinct nature of each act is intentional. Whereas the first act establishes five characters, all with their own issues, the second introduces two new characters entirely, revealing the ways in which the aforementioned folks connect. As the older parentals, Didi (Julia McNeal) and her husband Joe (Harold Surratt) don’t carry the same relationship to tech as their younger counterparts, but are nonetheless affected mightily by its constant presence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Didi and Joe refuse to succumb to the new vanguard without a fight, thanks to Joe’s gargantuan cement truck that creates a physical barrier to the tech devices they’re actively shunning. (That smart thermometer is no match for concrete.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952878\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952878\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_043-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gabriel Brown (Sam) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While no one would advocate the play’s denouement, there is something poetic about Didi and Joe’s choices. Technology will always move forward, yet at a time when the human mind is challenged more than ever by the artificial world, human expendability is on the table in unforeseen ways. To those who make art their life’s work, putting random words into a machine and having poetry and music returned with soaring fidelity is horrifying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Each performer takes turns as the representation of societal strife. Tagatac, an ACT favorite, brings forth a skittish freneticism that parallels our divisive times. Hallett, whose listening skills are uncanny, engages sharply with Tagatac and advocates for her character’s neurosis with resonance. Brown and Phillis carry the responsibility of establishing the narrative’s style, handling many of the play’s funniest moments due to their honesty. And McNeal, along with Surratt and his dopey, everyman quality, delivers critical information with searing truth, magically making her case about the world’s artificiality and what it means to her generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a primary strength, \u003cem>Big Data\u003c/em> advocates that the absurd really isn’t that absurd at all. Back in the day, we just knew how to breathe. Now, there’s an app for that. Even while Attwell’s dialogue is often sly, characters don’t speak with wonderment and discovery, and instead with mechanical precision. Each of the first act’s scene changes are soulless jaunts, moving from one reality to the next, within Tanya Orellana’s broad, barren scenic design. A completely different world appears in the second act — brought upon by the charming Wong as he gleefully pops and prances all over the place, sporting many fun costume changes borne of Lydia Tanji’s design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952874\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952874\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/BDA_102-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">BD Wong (M) and Gabriel Brown (Sam) in the world premiere of Kate Attwell’s ‘Big Data,’ running at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater through March 10. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the end of the day, what messages are we sending to certain generations? Your dollar bill is worthless, and so is that change in your pocket, because it’s all about cash-free zones and cryptocurrency now. How about some soulless poetry or music from Chat GPT? Is this where society is headed? Are we just birds programmed to eat, drink, even play piano on command? How does one even do that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let me guess – there’s an app for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Big Data’ runs through Sunday, March 10, at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2023-24-season/big-data/\">Details and ticket info here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In the early 1970s, Don Cornelius broke ground on national television with \u003cem>Soul Train\u003c/em>. Yet as days turned into years, that same broken ground was unable to stabilize beneath him, the beauty of his calling ultimately unfolding into tragedy borne of his ambition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the long-awaited, monumental world premiere of \u003cem>Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical\u003c/em> at American Conservatory Theater, the grandiloquent celebration of Black music and dance shoots fire through every nook and cranny of the theater. With its commitment to largesse, along with a mostly solid penning of Cornelius’ complicated legacy by Dominique Morisseau, the show’s future is laser-focused on Broadway, despite flaws that compromise the show’s organicity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13934446\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1597\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13934446\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119.jpg 2400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amber Iman (Pam Brown) and Quentin Earl Darrington (Don Cornelius) in ‘Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne and Alessandra Mello)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chicago south sider and local television host Don Cornelius (Quentin Earl Darrington) is a golden-throated visionary, convincing his bosses at WCIU in Chicago to support a Black version of Dick Clark’s popular \u003cem>American Bandstand\u003c/em>, a show with minimal interactions with Black artists. While those bosses ultimately approve the move, with the first episode premiering in 1970, none feel it necessary to own a piece of the pie, making Cornelius the overnight owner of a franchise that would last for 35 years and become the nation’s epicenter for Black culture and entertainment. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_10795181']The ascendance of Cornelius ushers in problematic relationships with many in his orbit, including wife Delores (Angela Birchett), manager Pam Brown (Amber Iman) and son Tony (Sidney Dupont). As time goes on, wars are waged with the evolution of music itself as Cornelius rails against “fuckin’ disco” and “fuckin’ hip-hop,” turning the very name of the show, \u003cem>Soul Train\u003c/em>, into an anachronism. Those battles expand to a mind and body that begins to fail him, leading to a self-inflicted death by gunshot in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The music — drawing on dozens of hits from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s — is, of course, great, shaped by Kenny Seymour’s terrific arrangements. Director Kamilah Forbes has oodles of talent to work with, and the collection of dancers shaped by Camille A. Brown’s choreography that cooks with butane are the heartbeat of the show. The ubiquity of the \u003cem>Soul Train\u003c/em> dance line and the evolution of popular movement that informed parties and dance halls around the world are given royal treatment here, assisted mightily by Dede Ayite’s multi-decade costume plot, Jason Sherwood’s gargantuan scenic design and the luminous lighting of Jen Schriever. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13934450\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1597\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13934450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003.jpg 2400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cast of ‘Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne and Alessandra Mello)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of \u003cem>Soul Train\u003c/em>‘s highs and lows are prominently displayed in the narrative. While the early 1970s brought the forces of \u003cem>Soul Train\u003c/em> and Motown into Los Angeles, where the hippest dancers and musicians splashed California sun all over their midwest artistic creations, booking talent was still difficult. Even Dick Clark recognized the evolving purchase power of Black viewers, starting his own ill-fated knockoff named \u003cem>Soul Unlimited\u003c/em>, which, thanks to a Cornelius ally named Jesse Jackson, proved to be very limited. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While dance is the star of the show, it’s the story of Cornelius itself that compels. As time marches forward, Cornelius finds his influence slipping away, his abilities to serve as kingmaker giving way to new genres like rap and New Jack Swing. Finding ways for an old soul man to interact with the uncompromising power of Public Enemy or the visceral smoldering of “My Prerogative” (a scalding number that garnered a standing ovation) pushes Cornelius deeper into a King Lear-like tragedy. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13934452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1597\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13934452\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294.jpg 2400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kayla Davion (Jody Watley) and the cast of ‘Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne and Alessandra Mello)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The show is not without its flaws. Based on the tried-and-true formula that many jukebox musicals follow, \u003cem>Hippest Trip\u003c/em> doesn’t break any new ground. Many elements of the blueprint are instantly recognizable, including problems introduced and solved with glaring rapidity. While songs like the Five Stairsteps’ “O-o-h Child” and Al Green’s “Tired of Being Alone” weave into the storyline, the majority of its big numbers, despite talent overflowing from the stage, are in the service of nostalgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amber Iman, as brilliant a musical theater performer as they come, plays a role that feels underdeveloped. And Angela Birchett, as the ill-fated Delores, seems as if she was given minimal stage directions which probably say something like, “stand here and sing sadly.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show finds more success when it barrels down and dives deeply into what made Cornelius the man he was, Darrington passionately channeling the weight of Cornelius on his powerful shoulders. Cornelius invokes figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Hampton, the Last Poets and the Black Arts Movement in too-brief passing mentions that nonetheless signify his place among them. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13934447\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1597\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13934447\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359.jpg 2400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne and Alessandra Mello)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There are plenty of historical figures that come along and change the world, and Cornelius is on the short list of those who have. Coming out of the explosive images and harmful media depictions of Black people in the 1960s, it was Cornelius and his vision that put a people on his back in the 1970s and beyond, showcasing the beauty of Black culture and self-expression, providing agency and careers to massively talented artists. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The brilliant multi-hyphenate Gil Scott-Heron, who makes brief appearances in \u003cem>Hippest Trip\u003c/em>, was incorrect about one small detail – every Saturday morning for 35 years, the revolution of Don Cornelius was most certainly televised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical runs through Oct. 8, 2023, at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2023-24-season/soul-train/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the early 1970s, Don Cornelius broke ground on national television with \u003cem>Soul Train\u003c/em>. Yet as days turned into years, that same broken ground was unable to stabilize beneath him, the beauty of his calling ultimately unfolding into tragedy borne of his ambition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the long-awaited, monumental world premiere of \u003cem>Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical\u003c/em> at American Conservatory Theater, the grandiloquent celebration of Black music and dance shoots fire through every nook and cranny of the theater. With its commitment to largesse, along with a mostly solid penning of Cornelius’ complicated legacy by Dominique Morisseau, the show’s future is laser-focused on Broadway, despite flaws that compromise the show’s organicity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13934446\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1597\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13934446\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119.jpg 2400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_119-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amber Iman (Pam Brown) and Quentin Earl Darrington (Don Cornelius) in ‘Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne and Alessandra Mello)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chicago south sider and local television host Don Cornelius (Quentin Earl Darrington) is a golden-throated visionary, convincing his bosses at WCIU in Chicago to support a Black version of Dick Clark’s popular \u003cem>American Bandstand\u003c/em>, a show with minimal interactions with Black artists. While those bosses ultimately approve the move, with the first episode premiering in 1970, none feel it necessary to own a piece of the pie, making Cornelius the overnight owner of a franchise that would last for 35 years and become the nation’s epicenter for Black culture and entertainment. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The ascendance of Cornelius ushers in problematic relationships with many in his orbit, including wife Delores (Angela Birchett), manager Pam Brown (Amber Iman) and son Tony (Sidney Dupont). As time goes on, wars are waged with the evolution of music itself as Cornelius rails against “fuckin’ disco” and “fuckin’ hip-hop,” turning the very name of the show, \u003cem>Soul Train\u003c/em>, into an anachronism. Those battles expand to a mind and body that begins to fail him, leading to a self-inflicted death by gunshot in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The music — drawing on dozens of hits from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s — is, of course, great, shaped by Kenny Seymour’s terrific arrangements. Director Kamilah Forbes has oodles of talent to work with, and the collection of dancers shaped by Camille A. Brown’s choreography that cooks with butane are the heartbeat of the show. The ubiquity of the \u003cem>Soul Train\u003c/em> dance line and the evolution of popular movement that informed parties and dance halls around the world are given royal treatment here, assisted mightily by Dede Ayite’s multi-decade costume plot, Jason Sherwood’s gargantuan scenic design and the luminous lighting of Jen Schriever. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13934450\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1597\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13934450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003.jpg 2400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_003-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cast of ‘Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne and Alessandra Mello)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of \u003cem>Soul Train\u003c/em>‘s highs and lows are prominently displayed in the narrative. While the early 1970s brought the forces of \u003cem>Soul Train\u003c/em> and Motown into Los Angeles, where the hippest dancers and musicians splashed California sun all over their midwest artistic creations, booking talent was still difficult. Even Dick Clark recognized the evolving purchase power of Black viewers, starting his own ill-fated knockoff named \u003cem>Soul Unlimited\u003c/em>, which, thanks to a Cornelius ally named Jesse Jackson, proved to be very limited. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While dance is the star of the show, it’s the story of Cornelius itself that compels. As time marches forward, Cornelius finds his influence slipping away, his abilities to serve as kingmaker giving way to new genres like rap and New Jack Swing. Finding ways for an old soul man to interact with the uncompromising power of Public Enemy or the visceral smoldering of “My Prerogative” (a scalding number that garnered a standing ovation) pushes Cornelius deeper into a King Lear-like tragedy. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13934452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1597\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13934452\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294.jpg 2400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_294-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kayla Davion (Jody Watley) and the cast of ‘Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne and Alessandra Mello)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The show is not without its flaws. Based on the tried-and-true formula that many jukebox musicals follow, \u003cem>Hippest Trip\u003c/em> doesn’t break any new ground. Many elements of the blueprint are instantly recognizable, including problems introduced and solved with glaring rapidity. While songs like the Five Stairsteps’ “O-o-h Child” and Al Green’s “Tired of Being Alone” weave into the storyline, the majority of its big numbers, despite talent overflowing from the stage, are in the service of nostalgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amber Iman, as brilliant a musical theater performer as they come, plays a role that feels underdeveloped. And Angela Birchett, as the ill-fated Delores, seems as if she was given minimal stage directions which probably say something like, “stand here and sing sadly.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show finds more success when it barrels down and dives deeply into what made Cornelius the man he was, Darrington passionately channeling the weight of Cornelius on his powerful shoulders. Cornelius invokes figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Hampton, the Last Poets and the Black Arts Movement in too-brief passing mentions that nonetheless signify his place among them. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13934447\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1597\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13934447\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359.jpg 2400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HPT_359-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne and Alessandra Mello)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There are plenty of historical figures that come along and change the world, and Cornelius is on the short list of those who have. Coming out of the explosive images and harmful media depictions of Black people in the 1960s, it was Cornelius and his vision that put a people on his back in the 1970s and beyond, showcasing the beauty of Black culture and self-expression, providing agency and careers to massively talented artists. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The brilliant multi-hyphenate Gil Scott-Heron, who makes brief appearances in \u003cem>Hippest Trip\u003c/em>, was incorrect about one small detail – every Saturday morning for 35 years, the revolution of Don Cornelius was most certainly televised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical runs through Oct. 8, 2023, at the Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/2023-24-season/soul-train/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "10-jazz-and-classical-performances-to-catch-in-the-bay-area-this-summer",
"title": "10 Jazz and Classical Performances to Catch in the Bay Area This Summer",
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"content": "\u003cp>They say that jazz is best as a cool, late-night experience, and classical concerts are often a nighttime affair. But don’t let that notion get in the way of enjoying the season where both genres hang a little loose, and let their formal suit buttons out. Here’s a solid list of picks for the club, concert hall and outdoor setting this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929696\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929696\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/AndyBrick.GameOn.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/AndyBrick.GameOn.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/AndyBrick.GameOn-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/AndyBrick.GameOn-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Video game composer Andy Brock conducts ‘Game On!’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Andy Brick)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.symphonysanjose.org/season/\">Game On!\u003c/a>’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>May 26 and 27\u003cbr>\nSan Jose Center for the Performing Arts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like trap music or TikTok, video game music is a generational divider: younger people who came of age playing \u003cem>Super Mario Bros.\u003c/em> recognize it as high art, and a certain older generation dismisses it as commercial decoration. While not all video game scores rise to the brilliant level of, say, \u003cem>Final Fantasy VII\u003c/em>, there’s enough craft in the canon at this point that symphonic concerts of video game music have become frequent — and popular. In \u003cem>Game On!\u003c/em>, game composer Andy Brick conducts the San Jose Symphony in an evening of music from titles like \u003cem>World of Warcraft, Diablo, Assassin’s Creed, League of Legends, Until Dawn\u003c/em> and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929695\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929695\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Navaye Azadi Ensemble sings of the ‘women, life, freedom’ movement in Iran. \u003ccite>(SFIAF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfiaf.org/2023_navaye_azadi\">Navaye Azadi Ensemble\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 11\u003cbr>\nBrava Theater, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As inspiring as the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman,_Life,_Freedom\">Women, Life, Freedom\u003c/a> movement in Iran may be, it’s important to remember that the opposition of the country’s morality police is strong, deadly, and not waning. To keep the movement in the public eye, and to express the issues of women’s rights and democracy through song, the Navaya Azadi Ensemble sings contemporary texts in Farsi, accompanied by violin and piano. The concert is part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfiaf.org/\">San Francisco International Arts Festival\u003c/a>, itself a cornucopia of socially conscious performances over an 11-day span.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929694\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929694\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guadalupe Paz and Alfredo Daza in the San Diego Opera world premiere of ‘El ultimo sueño de Frida y Diego.’ \u003ccite>(Karli Cadel / San Diego Opera)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/operas/el-ultimo-sueno-de-frida-y-diego/\">El último sueño de Frida y Diego\u003c/a>’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 13–30\u003cbr>\nWar Memorial Opera House, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this summer’s most anticipated new work, the story of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s rollercoaster romance gets a creative treatment by Boonville-based composer Gabriela Lena Frank and librettist Nilo Cruz. Set three years after Kahlo’s death, and weeks before Rivera’s own, the opera imagines Rivera (Alfredo Daza) pining to see his wife Frida (Daniela Mack) one last time. Since it happens to be Día de los Muertos, his wish becomes an absorbing journey for both of them. With a relatively short run time of just over two hours, consider \u003cem>Frida y Diego\u003c/em> a perfect option for introducing first-timers to the opera.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10811128\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10811128\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2015/06/TerryDavid.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/06/TerryDavid.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/06/TerryDavid-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Terry Riley with the Kronos Quartet’s David Harrington at the SFJAZZ Center. \u003ccite>(Evan Neff)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://kronosquartet.org/kronos-festival-2023/\">Kronos Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 22–24\u003cbr>\nSFJAZZ Center, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Put the classical canon in an air fryer, send it 50 years into the future, and play it at 1.5x speed, and you’d get something close to the atmospheres created by the Kronos Quartet. The Bay Area institution’s annual festival is always thrilling, with guest performers and daring works. This year’s lineup includes pieces by West African singer Angélique Kidjo, Pulitzer winner Henry Threadgill, Bay Area composer Gullermo Galindo, jazz-thrash polyglot Trey Spruance, and even some reliable standbys like Terry Riley (above) and Philip Glass. With Aizuri Quartet, Attacca Quartet and Friction Quartet joining Kronos, check your preconceptions at the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929699\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929699\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/IsaiahCollier.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"519\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/IsaiahCollier.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/IsaiahCollier-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/IsaiahCollier-768x498.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Isaiah Collier. \u003ccite>(Tiffany Smith)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://blackcatsf.turntabletickets.com/\">Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 22–25\u003cbr>\nThe Black Cat, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever wanted to travel back in time to see John Coltrane recording his landmark album \u003cem>A Love Supreme\u003c/em>, Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few have a deal for you. For the saxophonist’s 2021 album \u003cem>Cosmic Transitions\u003c/em>, he brought his group to the same recording studio where \u003cem>A Love Supreme\u003c/em> was made, and on John Coltrane’s birthday, no less. This quaint anecdote could have ended there — if the results weren’t so vital and stunning. Live, Collier is always on his game, and in the classic confines of this Tenderloin basement club, his sets are bound to be a transporting experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929700\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 660px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929700\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/WillieColon.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/WillieColon.jpg 660w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/WillieColon-160x116.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Willie Colón. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.livenation.com/event/G5vYZ9Pb4EECE/cafe-con-leche-starring-willie-colon\">Willie Colón\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>July 15\u003cbr>\nShoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Willie Colón’s name is near-synonymous with the New York Salsa renaissance of the early 1970s. In a series of underworld-themed albums on the Fania label, the trombonist, vocalist and bandleader worked with Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades and many others. The Latin music legend headlines this package tour with Los Hermanos Rosario, Hector Acosta, Los Hermanos Flores and Fulanito. Pro tip: For a free concert of New York Latin music without the snarled traffic into and out of the parking lot, the Latin soul legend \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/joe-bataan_la-dona/\">Joe Bataan plays with Mission District favorite La Doña at Yerba Buena Gardens\u003c/a> on the same day, July 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929728\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929728\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra performs on stage in the United Kingdom in 2012. \u003ccite>(Gary Wolstenholme/Redferns via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/summer23/sun-ra-arkestra-adventure-into-outer-space/\">Sun Ra Arkestra\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>July 20–23\u003cbr>\nSFJAZZ Center, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The music and mystique of Sun Ra just keep growing, and while Ra himself left this Earth to travel the outer spaceways in 1993, his mission is, thankfully, kept alive by 99-year-old saxophonist and bandleader Marshall Allen. (Note: Allen, 99, is no longer performing on the road with the band, and will not appear at these shows.) Cunningly, the group’s residency is split in half: two nights of Ra’s more borderless, avant-garde music, and two nights of his singular take on big-band swing. Attendees are advised to be ready for a journey — no one who experiences the music of Sun Ra in a live setting leaves unchanged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929729\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929729\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Peter.Drake_-800x394.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Peter.Drake_-800x394.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Peter.Drake_-160x79.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Peter.Drake_-768x378.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Peter.Drake_.jpg 1015w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tchaikovsky and… Drake?\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2022-23/Hackman-Tchaikovsky-X-Drake\">Tchaikovsky x Drake\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>July 29\u003cbr>\nDavis Symphony Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dude, I don’t know either. The classical establishment is always looking for ways to make classical music more enticing to younger people, and this seems to be its latest attempt: a touring production that blends the symphonies of Tchaikovsky with the half-melodic melodies and incel-adjacent bars of the famous Canadian rapper Drake. For a more local spin on this experiment, San Francisco rap icon \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityboxoffice.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=2867\">Andre Nickatina hosts a “reimagining” of his music with a classical ensemble\u003c/a> just one block away from Davies on June 24. Attention, NBA Youngboy and Yo-Yo Ma: your move!\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929730\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone.jpg 1298w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahya Simone. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘\u003ca href=\"https://operaparallele.org/expansive/\">Expansive: A Showcase of Transgender and Non-Binary Classical Artists\u003c/a>’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 3 and 4\u003cbr>\nStrand Theater, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s first-of-its-kind Transgender District was founded in 2017, and in 2022, it partnered with Opera Parallèle to celebrate trans and nonbinary classical musicians. The series returns in a year that’s seen increased attacks on trans rights, both in distant state legislatures and on San Francisco’s own streets. Performing this year are singer Katherine Goforth, harpist Ahya Simone (above) and mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz. With host Afrika America, expect poignancy, humor and artistry of high order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929731\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen-800x494.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"494\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen-800x494.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen-1020x629.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen-768x474.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen.jpg 1332w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrice Rushen. \u003ccite>(San Jose Jazz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://summerfest.sanjosejazz.org/\">San Jose Jazz Summer Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 11-13\u003cbr>\nVarious venues, downtown San Jose\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s remarkably common for small festivals to lose their steam and peter out after a couple years. Rare is the festival, like San Jose Summerfest, that just gets bigger and better each year. This year’s fun comes in the form of headliners like bassist extraordinaire Marcus Miller, experimentalists The Bad Plus, Zambian rock band W.I.T.C.H., soulful vocalist Gregory Porter and jazz phenomenon Veronica Swift. Spread out over central San Jose, the festival offers the sublime opportunity to listen to Patrice Rushen (above) on a Sunday afternoon, laying on a blanket in Plaza de César Chávez. Does summertime get much better?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Correction:\u003c/strong> \u003c/em>\u003cem>This story previously stated that San Jose Jazz Summer Fest takes place Aug. 3 and 4. The correct dates are Aug. 11-13. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has also been updated to reflect that Marshall Allen is not performing with the Sun Ra Arkestra in Sam Francisco.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A Frida Kahlo opera, a salsa legend, an afrofuturist big band and, ahem, a mash-up between Tchaikovsky and Drake keep the jazz and classical scene lively this summer.",
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"title": "10 Jazz and Classical Performances to Catch in the Bay Area This Summer | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>They say that jazz is best as a cool, late-night experience, and classical concerts are often a nighttime affair. But don’t let that notion get in the way of enjoying the season where both genres hang a little loose, and let their formal suit buttons out. Here’s a solid list of picks for the club, concert hall and outdoor setting this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929696\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929696\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/AndyBrick.GameOn.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/AndyBrick.GameOn.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/AndyBrick.GameOn-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/AndyBrick.GameOn-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Video game composer Andy Brock conducts ‘Game On!’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Andy Brick)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.symphonysanjose.org/season/\">Game On!\u003c/a>’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>May 26 and 27\u003cbr>\nSan Jose Center for the Performing Arts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like trap music or TikTok, video game music is a generational divider: younger people who came of age playing \u003cem>Super Mario Bros.\u003c/em> recognize it as high art, and a certain older generation dismisses it as commercial decoration. While not all video game scores rise to the brilliant level of, say, \u003cem>Final Fantasy VII\u003c/em>, there’s enough craft in the canon at this point that symphonic concerts of video game music have become frequent — and popular. In \u003cem>Game On!\u003c/em>, game composer Andy Brick conducts the San Jose Symphony in an evening of music from titles like \u003cem>World of Warcraft, Diablo, Assassin’s Creed, League of Legends, Until Dawn\u003c/em> and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929695\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929695\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NavayeAzadiEnsemble.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Navaye Azadi Ensemble sings of the ‘women, life, freedom’ movement in Iran. \u003ccite>(SFIAF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfiaf.org/2023_navaye_azadi\">Navaye Azadi Ensemble\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 11\u003cbr>\nBrava Theater, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As inspiring as the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman,_Life,_Freedom\">Women, Life, Freedom\u003c/a> movement in Iran may be, it’s important to remember that the opposition of the country’s morality police is strong, deadly, and not waning. To keep the movement in the public eye, and to express the issues of women’s rights and democracy through song, the Navaya Azadi Ensemble sings contemporary texts in Farsi, accompanied by violin and piano. The concert is part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfiaf.org/\">San Francisco International Arts Festival\u003c/a>, itself a cornucopia of socially conscious performances over an 11-day span.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929694\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929694\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/FridaDiego.CRED_.CarliKadelSDOpera.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guadalupe Paz and Alfredo Daza in the San Diego Opera world premiere of ‘El ultimo sueño de Frida y Diego.’ \u003ccite>(Karli Cadel / San Diego Opera)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/operas/el-ultimo-sueno-de-frida-y-diego/\">El último sueño de Frida y Diego\u003c/a>’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 13–30\u003cbr>\nWar Memorial Opera House, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this summer’s most anticipated new work, the story of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s rollercoaster romance gets a creative treatment by Boonville-based composer Gabriela Lena Frank and librettist Nilo Cruz. Set three years after Kahlo’s death, and weeks before Rivera’s own, the opera imagines Rivera (Alfredo Daza) pining to see his wife Frida (Daniela Mack) one last time. Since it happens to be Día de los Muertos, his wish becomes an absorbing journey for both of them. With a relatively short run time of just over two hours, consider \u003cem>Frida y Diego\u003c/em> a perfect option for introducing first-timers to the opera.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10811128\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10811128\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2015/06/TerryDavid.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/06/TerryDavid.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/06/TerryDavid-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Terry Riley with the Kronos Quartet’s David Harrington at the SFJAZZ Center. \u003ccite>(Evan Neff)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://kronosquartet.org/kronos-festival-2023/\">Kronos Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 22–24\u003cbr>\nSFJAZZ Center, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Put the classical canon in an air fryer, send it 50 years into the future, and play it at 1.5x speed, and you’d get something close to the atmospheres created by the Kronos Quartet. The Bay Area institution’s annual festival is always thrilling, with guest performers and daring works. This year’s lineup includes pieces by West African singer Angélique Kidjo, Pulitzer winner Henry Threadgill, Bay Area composer Gullermo Galindo, jazz-thrash polyglot Trey Spruance, and even some reliable standbys like Terry Riley (above) and Philip Glass. With Aizuri Quartet, Attacca Quartet and Friction Quartet joining Kronos, check your preconceptions at the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929699\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929699\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/IsaiahCollier.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"519\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/IsaiahCollier.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/IsaiahCollier-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/IsaiahCollier-768x498.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Isaiah Collier. \u003ccite>(Tiffany Smith)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://blackcatsf.turntabletickets.com/\">Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 22–25\u003cbr>\nThe Black Cat, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever wanted to travel back in time to see John Coltrane recording his landmark album \u003cem>A Love Supreme\u003c/em>, Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few have a deal for you. For the saxophonist’s 2021 album \u003cem>Cosmic Transitions\u003c/em>, he brought his group to the same recording studio where \u003cem>A Love Supreme\u003c/em> was made, and on John Coltrane’s birthday, no less. This quaint anecdote could have ended there — if the results weren’t so vital and stunning. Live, Collier is always on his game, and in the classic confines of this Tenderloin basement club, his sets are bound to be a transporting experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929700\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 660px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929700\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/WillieColon.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/WillieColon.jpg 660w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/WillieColon-160x116.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Willie Colón. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.livenation.com/event/G5vYZ9Pb4EECE/cafe-con-leche-starring-willie-colon\">Willie Colón\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>July 15\u003cbr>\nShoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Willie Colón’s name is near-synonymous with the New York Salsa renaissance of the early 1970s. In a series of underworld-themed albums on the Fania label, the trombonist, vocalist and bandleader worked with Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades and many others. The Latin music legend headlines this package tour with Los Hermanos Rosario, Hector Acosta, Los Hermanos Flores and Fulanito. Pro tip: For a free concert of New York Latin music without the snarled traffic into and out of the parking lot, the Latin soul legend \u003ca href=\"https://ybgfestival.org/event/joe-bataan_la-dona/\">Joe Bataan plays with Mission District favorite La Doña at Yerba Buena Gardens\u003c/a> on the same day, July 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929728\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929728\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Marshall.Allen_.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra performs on stage in the United Kingdom in 2012. \u003ccite>(Gary Wolstenholme/Redferns via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/summer23/sun-ra-arkestra-adventure-into-outer-space/\">Sun Ra Arkestra\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>July 20–23\u003cbr>\nSFJAZZ Center, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The music and mystique of Sun Ra just keep growing, and while Ra himself left this Earth to travel the outer spaceways in 1993, his mission is, thankfully, kept alive by 99-year-old saxophonist and bandleader Marshall Allen. (Note: Allen, 99, is no longer performing on the road with the band, and will not appear at these shows.) Cunningly, the group’s residency is split in half: two nights of Ra’s more borderless, avant-garde music, and two nights of his singular take on big-band swing. Attendees are advised to be ready for a journey — no one who experiences the music of Sun Ra in a live setting leaves unchanged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929729\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929729\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Peter.Drake_-800x394.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Peter.Drake_-800x394.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Peter.Drake_-160x79.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Peter.Drake_-768x378.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Peter.Drake_.jpg 1015w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tchaikovsky and… Drake?\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2022-23/Hackman-Tchaikovsky-X-Drake\">Tchaikovsky x Drake\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>July 29\u003cbr>\nDavis Symphony Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dude, I don’t know either. The classical establishment is always looking for ways to make classical music more enticing to younger people, and this seems to be its latest attempt: a touring production that blends the symphonies of Tchaikovsky with the half-melodic melodies and incel-adjacent bars of the famous Canadian rapper Drake. For a more local spin on this experiment, San Francisco rap icon \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityboxoffice.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=2867\">Andre Nickatina hosts a “reimagining” of his music with a classical ensemble\u003c/a> just one block away from Davies on June 24. Attention, NBA Youngboy and Yo-Yo Ma: your move!\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929730\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Ahya.Simone.jpg 1298w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahya Simone. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘\u003ca href=\"https://operaparallele.org/expansive/\">Expansive: A Showcase of Transgender and Non-Binary Classical Artists\u003c/a>’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 3 and 4\u003cbr>\nStrand Theater, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s first-of-its-kind Transgender District was founded in 2017, and in 2022, it partnered with Opera Parallèle to celebrate trans and nonbinary classical musicians. The series returns in a year that’s seen increased attacks on trans rights, both in distant state legislatures and on San Francisco’s own streets. Performing this year are singer Katherine Goforth, harpist Ahya Simone (above) and mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz. With host Afrika America, expect poignancy, humor and artistry of high order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929731\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen-800x494.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"494\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen-800x494.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen-1020x629.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen-768x474.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Patrice-Rushen.jpg 1332w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrice Rushen. \u003ccite>(San Jose Jazz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://summerfest.sanjosejazz.org/\">San Jose Jazz Summer Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 11-13\u003cbr>\nVarious venues, downtown San Jose\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s remarkably common for small festivals to lose their steam and peter out after a couple years. Rare is the festival, like San Jose Summerfest, that just gets bigger and better each year. This year’s fun comes in the form of headliners like bassist extraordinaire Marcus Miller, experimentalists The Bad Plus, Zambian rock band W.I.T.C.H., soulful vocalist Gregory Porter and jazz phenomenon Veronica Swift. Spread out over central San Jose, the festival offers the sublime opportunity to listen to Patrice Rushen (above) on a Sunday afternoon, laying on a blanket in Plaza de César Chávez. Does summertime get much better?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Correction:\u003c/strong> \u003c/em>\u003cem>This story previously stated that San Jose Jazz Summer Fest takes place Aug. 3 and 4. The correct dates are Aug. 11-13. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has also been updated to reflect that Marshall Allen is not performing with the Sun Ra Arkestra in Sam Francisco.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "ACT’s ‘The Headlands’ Maps SF Through Fog, Flashbacks and a Cold Case",
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"content": "\u003cp>When Dashiell Hammett wrote his great San Francisco noir \u003cem>The Maltese Falcon\u003c/em>, he drew upon his deep knowledge of the City to imbue it with ruthless realism and site-specific detail. Even today you can walk in Hammett’s footsteps from the Tenderloin to downtown, and glimpse traces of the City as it was, a character as integral to the plot of the novel as Sam Spade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Christopher Chen’s new play \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/202223-season/the-headlands/\">\u003cem>The Headlands\u003c/em>\u003c/a> — a family drama with a murder mystery at its heart — San Francisco similarly plays a starring role. It is no mere backdrop to the narrative, but an active participant in it. [aside postid='arts_13923665']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A born-and-raised San Franciscan, Chen meticulously uncovers parts of the City little referenced in the guidebooks and travelogues. His protagonist Henry (Phil Wong), a self-described “amateur sleuth,” traverses a landscape hauntingly familiar to longtime residents: a childhood spent in a stucco-clad, single-family home in the Outer Sunset, followed by a tech job and condo on the Embarcadero (“I’m part of the problem,” Henry admits sheepishly). In flashbacks, his parents meet-cute on an overgrown overlook in Land’s End and canoodle at the base of Coit Tower. His father George (Johnny M. Wu) attempts to bond with a young Henry by taking him on hikes in the Marin Headlands, where they can look across the water and see the City basking in its own self-referential glow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just as San Francisco provides a picturesque container for Henry’s fonder memories, it also delivers the fog which obfuscates their uncomfortable truths. As an adult, Henry is only beginning to discover these truths, secrets contained within the low-voiced half conversations around the kitchen table: the quiet melancholy of his father looking out of the window at night. The abiding mystery of his death by gunshot, a violence that shocked their insular community. A mystery now decades-old — and no closer to being solved than it was on the first day his body was discovered. [aside postid='arts_13925249']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tautly directed by A.C.T.’s artistic director Pam MacKinnon, \u003cem>The Headlands\u003c/em> reveals itself sedately, bit by tantalizing bit. Alexander V. Nichols’ set is deceptively simple, an almost aggressively blank wall that cleverly morphs into the interiors and exteriors of a series of iconic San Francisco homes, streetscapes and hilltops, thanks to a few choice furnishings and a series of well-executed projections. This is a quintessential Christopher Chen play: an homage to Noir — but with fewer fedoras and more earnest heartache. It’s a labyrinth of unexpected twists and contradictory perspectives that keep you guessing until the very end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a satisfying demonstration of restraint, Chen’s characters say as much with their silences as most might with a loquacious monologue. In one scene, Henry and his girlfriend Jess (Sam Jackson) conduct a lengthy disagreement primarily through their nervous tics: a jiggling foot, an avoidance of eye contact, an anxious swallow of beer. In another, George stands silently at the aforementioned window, reduced to a shadow, trapped in what his wife, Leena, later describes as “despair.” He’s an unknowable cipher to his son, then and now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925297\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925297\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"three people on a stage, an Asian man, a Black woman and an older Asian woman, smiling at each other as they sit\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Phil Wong (Henry), Sam Jackson (Jess) and Keiko Shimosato Carreiro (Older Leena) in the West\u003cbr>Coast premiere of Christopher Chen’s ‘The Headlands.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s Leena — played younger by Erin Mei-Ling Stuart and older by Keiko Shimosato Carreiro — who provides the first essential clues for Henry’s quest to learn more about his father’s unexplained death. It may be his watchful, silent father at the window around which Henry builds his first vague hypotheses, but it’s the ellipses between his mother’s often quotidian conversations that conceal the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watching Stuart and Carreiro trade this role back and forth throughout the play is especially enjoyable. They both so skillfully bring complementary facets of Leena to life that she becomes by far the most fully-realized character in the play. It’s a characterization that deepens with every revelation, surfaced behind the mischievous grin of a young woman falling in love, the wounded eyes of a grieving mother, the offhand remark of a widow at dinner. [aside postid='arts_13925067']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Leena frequently wears her heart on her sleeve, Henry struggles to identify his own complicated emotions surrounding his family history and his place within it. As Henry, Wong vacillates between emulating the stillness of Wu’s father figure and Stuart’s ebullience — a delicate balance. As the mysterious Tom, A.C.T. regular Jomar Tagatac imbues his unpredictable role with the most menace. But no character is more menacing than the troubling void at the heart of this whodunit — a void that each character attempts to fill with their own particular spin, never quite landing on a unified version of the narrative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Theater-goers looking for the full genre experience of a ham-fisted, hard-boiled pulp fiction replete with fast cars, faster romance and impenetrable lingo may find the chilly environs of \u003cem>The Headlands\u003c/em> not quite to their taste. But for those of us who revel in our own secret San Franciscos — internal terrains of beloved sandwich shops, local breweries and breathtaking vistas — spending time investigating Christopher Chen’s through his precise playwriting is a pleasure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">‘The Headlands’ plays at A.C.T.\u003c/a> through March 5. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Dashiell Hammett wrote his great San Francisco noir \u003cem>The Maltese Falcon\u003c/em>, he drew upon his deep knowledge of the City to imbue it with ruthless realism and site-specific detail. Even today you can walk in Hammett’s footsteps from the Tenderloin to downtown, and glimpse traces of the City as it was, a character as integral to the plot of the novel as Sam Spade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Christopher Chen’s new play \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/202223-season/the-headlands/\">\u003cem>The Headlands\u003c/em>\u003c/a> — a family drama with a murder mystery at its heart — San Francisco similarly plays a starring role. It is no mere backdrop to the narrative, but an active participant in it. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A born-and-raised San Franciscan, Chen meticulously uncovers parts of the City little referenced in the guidebooks and travelogues. His protagonist Henry (Phil Wong), a self-described “amateur sleuth,” traverses a landscape hauntingly familiar to longtime residents: a childhood spent in a stucco-clad, single-family home in the Outer Sunset, followed by a tech job and condo on the Embarcadero (“I’m part of the problem,” Henry admits sheepishly). In flashbacks, his parents meet-cute on an overgrown overlook in Land’s End and canoodle at the base of Coit Tower. His father George (Johnny M. Wu) attempts to bond with a young Henry by taking him on hikes in the Marin Headlands, where they can look across the water and see the City basking in its own self-referential glow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just as San Francisco provides a picturesque container for Henry’s fonder memories, it also delivers the fog which obfuscates their uncomfortable truths. As an adult, Henry is only beginning to discover these truths, secrets contained within the low-voiced half conversations around the kitchen table: the quiet melancholy of his father looking out of the window at night. The abiding mystery of his death by gunshot, a violence that shocked their insular community. A mystery now decades-old — and no closer to being solved than it was on the first day his body was discovered. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tautly directed by A.C.T.’s artistic director Pam MacKinnon, \u003cem>The Headlands\u003c/em> reveals itself sedately, bit by tantalizing bit. Alexander V. Nichols’ set is deceptively simple, an almost aggressively blank wall that cleverly morphs into the interiors and exteriors of a series of iconic San Francisco homes, streetscapes and hilltops, thanks to a few choice furnishings and a series of well-executed projections. This is a quintessential Christopher Chen play: an homage to Noir — but with fewer fedoras and more earnest heartache. It’s a labyrinth of unexpected twists and contradictory perspectives that keep you guessing until the very end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a satisfying demonstration of restraint, Chen’s characters say as much with their silences as most might with a loquacious monologue. In one scene, Henry and his girlfriend Jess (Sam Jackson) conduct a lengthy disagreement primarily through their nervous tics: a jiggling foot, an avoidance of eye contact, an anxious swallow of beer. In another, George stands silently at the aforementioned window, reduced to a shadow, trapped in what his wife, Leena, later describes as “despair.” He’s an unknowable cipher to his son, then and now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925297\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925297\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"three people on a stage, an Asian man, a Black woman and an older Asian woman, smiling at each other as they sit\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/HED_052-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Phil Wong (Henry), Sam Jackson (Jess) and Keiko Shimosato Carreiro (Older Leena) in the West\u003cbr>Coast premiere of Christopher Chen’s ‘The Headlands.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s Leena — played younger by Erin Mei-Ling Stuart and older by Keiko Shimosato Carreiro — who provides the first essential clues for Henry’s quest to learn more about his father’s unexplained death. It may be his watchful, silent father at the window around which Henry builds his first vague hypotheses, but it’s the ellipses between his mother’s often quotidian conversations that conceal the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watching Stuart and Carreiro trade this role back and forth throughout the play is especially enjoyable. They both so skillfully bring complementary facets of Leena to life that she becomes by far the most fully-realized character in the play. It’s a characterization that deepens with every revelation, surfaced behind the mischievous grin of a young woman falling in love, the wounded eyes of a grieving mother, the offhand remark of a widow at dinner. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Leena frequently wears her heart on her sleeve, Henry struggles to identify his own complicated emotions surrounding his family history and his place within it. As Henry, Wong vacillates between emulating the stillness of Wu’s father figure and Stuart’s ebullience — a delicate balance. As the mysterious Tom, A.C.T. regular Jomar Tagatac imbues his unpredictable role with the most menace. But no character is more menacing than the troubling void at the heart of this whodunit — a void that each character attempts to fill with their own particular spin, never quite landing on a unified version of the narrative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Theater-goers looking for the full genre experience of a ham-fisted, hard-boiled pulp fiction replete with fast cars, faster romance and impenetrable lingo may find the chilly environs of \u003cem>The Headlands\u003c/em> not quite to their taste. But for those of us who revel in our own secret San Franciscos — internal terrains of beloved sandwich shops, local breweries and breathtaking vistas — spending time investigating Christopher Chen’s through his precise playwriting is a pleasure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">‘The Headlands’ plays at A.C.T.\u003c/a> through March 5. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Geary Theater Has a New Name: The Toni Rembe Theater",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco’s Geary Theater is getting a new name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The theater, built in 1910 as the Columbia Theater, will be renamed the Toni Rembe Theater, after the San Francisco philanthropist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), which operates the building, made the announcement on Monday. The renaming is “in recognition of a $35 million gift from an anonymous donor,” the largest single gift in A.C.T.’s history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The funds provided are transformational for the future of American Conservatory Theater and the impact of our programming throughout the San Francisco Bay Area,” A.C.T. Executive Director Jennifer Bielstein said in a statement. “Toni is a role model, and we are honored to recognize her in such a deserving and significant way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A.C.T. has made the theater at 415 Geary Street its home since 1967. In 1989, the theater suffered major damage from the Loma Prieta earthquake, requiring a $28.5 million restoration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13919301\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13919301\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/09/9e2af0cc-6f4a-0d8d-2869-55ff3e90f438.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"900\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Banners along the facade of the former Geary Theater announce the building’s new name. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne / A.C.T.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The renaming of the Geary Theater follows other high-profile venue name changes in San Francisco, such as the 2019 renaming of the Giants’ ballpark, previously known as AT&T Park, to Oracle Park. Other renamings are not so corporate, including a 2018 renaming of the Nourse Auditorium, home to City Arts & Lectures. That theater is now known as the Sydney Goldstein Theater, in honor of City Arts & Lectures’ late founder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pam MacKinnon, A.C.T.’s artistic director, said in a statement: “Toni Rembe has been central to the health and wellbeing of the Bay Area theater scene. Her wide-ranging artistic taste and appreciation of artists and the special act of audiences coming together for a story make her a true theater lover.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rembe, president of the van Lӧben Sels/Rembe Rock Foundation, has served on A.C.T.’s Board of Trustees for over 20 years. She is a past president and chair of A.C.T.’s board, a past president of the Commonwealth Club, and a a retired partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco’s Geary Theater is getting a new name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The theater, built in 1910 as the Columbia Theater, will be renamed the Toni Rembe Theater, after the San Francisco philanthropist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), which operates the building, made the announcement on Monday. The renaming is “in recognition of a $35 million gift from an anonymous donor,” the largest single gift in A.C.T.’s history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The funds provided are transformational for the future of American Conservatory Theater and the impact of our programming throughout the San Francisco Bay Area,” A.C.T. Executive Director Jennifer Bielstein said in a statement. “Toni is a role model, and we are honored to recognize her in such a deserving and significant way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A.C.T. has made the theater at 415 Geary Street its home since 1967. In 1989, the theater suffered major damage from the Loma Prieta earthquake, requiring a $28.5 million restoration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13919301\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13919301\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/09/9e2af0cc-6f4a-0d8d-2869-55ff3e90f438.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"900\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Banners along the facade of the former Geary Theater announce the building’s new name. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne / A.C.T.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The renaming of the Geary Theater follows other high-profile venue name changes in San Francisco, such as the 2019 renaming of the Giants’ ballpark, previously known as AT&T Park, to Oracle Park. Other renamings are not so corporate, including a 2018 renaming of the Nourse Auditorium, home to City Arts & Lectures. That theater is now known as the Sydney Goldstein Theater, in honor of City Arts & Lectures’ late founder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "With 'Fefu and Her Friends,' ACT Throws an Exhilarating, Challenging Affair",
"headTitle": "With ‘Fefu and Her Friends,’ ACT Throws an Exhilarating, Challenging Affair | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Parties can be quite challenging experiences depending on why you’re there and who else shows up. Some parties are emphatically casual affairs: loose assemblages of friends and acquaintances who gather periodically to reaffirm their connection over a few rounds. But some parties have higher stakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Fefu and Her Friends\u003c/em>, written in 1977 by María Irene Fornés, part of the experience is determining what kind of party you’ve inadvertently stumbled into, and what, eventually, you’ll gain by being there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13911730\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13911730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-1920x1278.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma (Cindy Goldfield) practices her fundraising speech for the ensemble as Fefu (Catherine Castellanos) looks on in ‘Fefu and Her Friends’ by María Irene Fornés. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In A.C.T.’s version, running through May 1 at the Strand Theater, and directed by Pam MacKinnon, the party is slow to build. Guests appear in staggered succession, wandering into Fefu’s lavishly appointed living room and helping themselves from her bar cart (scenic design by Tanya Orellana, props by Janice Garten). Fefu, played by Catherine Castellanos, busies herself with fidgety tasks, from arranging flowers to fixing her toilet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fefu is the kind of host who can make or break a party just by being herself. Her energy is at turns nervous and imperious. She keeps her guests on edge by acting unpredictably and dominating the conversation even as she confesses privately, in a moment of unexpected fragility, that she is in “constant pain.” Her outfit—a riot of clashing patterns designed by Sarita Fellow—underscores the unquiet machinery of her mind. She seems always two steps ahead of her guests, who scramble to keep up even as they might recoil from her methods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It takes breaking the audience and the ensemble up into smaller groups who literally disperse themselves throughout the building to break free from the magnetic pull of Fefu’s dominance. From the intimate confines of the top floor Rueff performance space to the ground floor lobby, the action and the audience travel from room to room, eavesdropping on the conversations that occur between Fefu’s guests when she’s out of earshot and cannot judge their words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13911729\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13911729\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_SaritaOcon_JenniferIkeda_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_SaritaOcon_JenniferIkeda_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_SaritaOcon_JenniferIkeda_photocredit_KevinBerne-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_SaritaOcon_JenniferIkeda_photocredit_KevinBerne-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_SaritaOcon_JenniferIkeda_photocredit_KevinBerne.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jennifer Ikeda and Sarita Ocón read quietly in the Rueff performance space during ‘Fefu and Her Friends’ at A.C.T. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Reading together in a quiet room, Cindy (Jennifer Ikeda) and Christina (Sarita Ocón) discuss the world’s dangers, of which Fefu is just one. In the kitchen, Paula (Stacy Ross) and Sue (Leontyne Mbele-Mbong) parse out an elaborate equation for failed love, a conversation unexpectedly disrupted by the entrance of Paula’s former lover Cecilia (Marga Gomez), all rakish charm and self-possession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, alone in a dim bedroom, Julia (Lisa Anne Porter) converses alone with the violent hallucinations that threaten her sanity. Visibly traumatized by her visions, she speaks ominously of the heaviness of her own entrails, and the impossible standards of womanhood as determined by men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of all the guests, Julia is both the biggest threat to Fefu’s need to control her environment, as well as the most affected. When Julia declares her hallucinations to be “contagious” Fefu unexpectedly agrees with her, and even appears to suffer a hallucination involving Julia on her own. If Castellanos as Fefu embodies the crackling energy of a “live wire,” Porter as Julia represents an actual hazard—both as a sufferer and as a conduit. In her solo scene she lies on her bed surrounded by a circle of watchful audience, as if on display. Resembling, in effect, a precious work of art—or a corpse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13911731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13911731 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_GardenScene_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_GardenScene_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_GardenScene_photocredit_KevinBerne-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_GardenScene_photocredit_KevinBerne-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_GardenScene_photocredit_KevinBerne.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The audience watches a scene from ‘Fefu and Her Friends.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Producing this little-staged classic of experimental theater gives A.C.T. a chance to stretch its artistic muscles in some exhilarating directions, interrogating the feminine experience directly through the entrails, the genitals, and all of the messy, complicated, “revolting” bits that would normally remain unnoticed or at least unremarked upon. At the same time, it’s a production that reveals the layers of artifice typical to the stage and lays them out in the open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an attempt at experiential theater goes, A.C.T.’s \u003cem>Fefu \u003c/em>is not without some stylistic missteps and dropped beats. But the overall ambience is very much that of a party full of big personalities impossible to tear your attention away from, even as you wait quietly in the corner to witness their inevitable meltdowns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A.C.T.’s \u003cem>Fefu and Her Friends\u003c/em> invites its audience to consider the intricacies of how society is mirrored through even the most banal social interactions—a reminder of the ways in which we live within a complex Venn diagram of overlapping worlds and contradictory norms. This won’t be the kind of party you walk away from with a new best friend, or even a plate of leftovers for the road. But with its powerhouse cast (and a superlative playlist compiled by sound designer Jake Rodriguez) it’s a party you won’t soon forget. Despite—or perhaps because of—the discomfort it provokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Fefu and Her Friends’ plays through May 1 at the Strand Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/20202122-season/fefu-and-her-friends/\">Details here.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Review: 'Fefu and Her Friends' at the Strand Theater is an Exhilarating, Challenging Affair | KQED",
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"headline": "With 'Fefu and Her Friends,' ACT Throws an Exhilarating, Challenging Affair",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Parties can be quite challenging experiences depending on why you’re there and who else shows up. Some parties are emphatically casual affairs: loose assemblages of friends and acquaintances who gather periodically to reaffirm their connection over a few rounds. But some parties have higher stakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Fefu and Her Friends\u003c/em>, written in 1977 by María Irene Fornés, part of the experience is determining what kind of party you’ve inadvertently stumbled into, and what, eventually, you’ll gain by being there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13911730\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13911730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne-1920x1278.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_LivingRoom_photocredit_KevinBerne.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma (Cindy Goldfield) practices her fundraising speech for the ensemble as Fefu (Catherine Castellanos) looks on in ‘Fefu and Her Friends’ by María Irene Fornés. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In A.C.T.’s version, running through May 1 at the Strand Theater, and directed by Pam MacKinnon, the party is slow to build. Guests appear in staggered succession, wandering into Fefu’s lavishly appointed living room and helping themselves from her bar cart (scenic design by Tanya Orellana, props by Janice Garten). Fefu, played by Catherine Castellanos, busies herself with fidgety tasks, from arranging flowers to fixing her toilet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fefu is the kind of host who can make or break a party just by being herself. Her energy is at turns nervous and imperious. She keeps her guests on edge by acting unpredictably and dominating the conversation even as she confesses privately, in a moment of unexpected fragility, that she is in “constant pain.” Her outfit—a riot of clashing patterns designed by Sarita Fellow—underscores the unquiet machinery of her mind. She seems always two steps ahead of her guests, who scramble to keep up even as they might recoil from her methods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It takes breaking the audience and the ensemble up into smaller groups who literally disperse themselves throughout the building to break free from the magnetic pull of Fefu’s dominance. From the intimate confines of the top floor Rueff performance space to the ground floor lobby, the action and the audience travel from room to room, eavesdropping on the conversations that occur between Fefu’s guests when she’s out of earshot and cannot judge their words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13911729\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13911729\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_SaritaOcon_JenniferIkeda_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_SaritaOcon_JenniferIkeda_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_SaritaOcon_JenniferIkeda_photocredit_KevinBerne-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_SaritaOcon_JenniferIkeda_photocredit_KevinBerne-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_SaritaOcon_JenniferIkeda_photocredit_KevinBerne.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jennifer Ikeda and Sarita Ocón read quietly in the Rueff performance space during ‘Fefu and Her Friends’ at A.C.T. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Reading together in a quiet room, Cindy (Jennifer Ikeda) and Christina (Sarita Ocón) discuss the world’s dangers, of which Fefu is just one. In the kitchen, Paula (Stacy Ross) and Sue (Leontyne Mbele-Mbong) parse out an elaborate equation for failed love, a conversation unexpectedly disrupted by the entrance of Paula’s former lover Cecilia (Marga Gomez), all rakish charm and self-possession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, alone in a dim bedroom, Julia (Lisa Anne Porter) converses alone with the violent hallucinations that threaten her sanity. Visibly traumatized by her visions, she speaks ominously of the heaviness of her own entrails, and the impossible standards of womanhood as determined by men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of all the guests, Julia is both the biggest threat to Fefu’s need to control her environment, as well as the most affected. When Julia declares her hallucinations to be “contagious” Fefu unexpectedly agrees with her, and even appears to suffer a hallucination involving Julia on her own. If Castellanos as Fefu embodies the crackling energy of a “live wire,” Porter as Julia represents an actual hazard—both as a sufferer and as a conduit. In her solo scene she lies on her bed surrounded by a circle of watchful audience, as if on display. Resembling, in effect, a precious work of art—or a corpse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13911731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13911731 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_GardenScene_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_GardenScene_photocredit_KevinBerne-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_GardenScene_photocredit_KevinBerne-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_GardenScene_photocredit_KevinBerne-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/FefuAndHerFriends_GardenScene_photocredit_KevinBerne.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The audience watches a scene from ‘Fefu and Her Friends.’ \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Producing this little-staged classic of experimental theater gives A.C.T. a chance to stretch its artistic muscles in some exhilarating directions, interrogating the feminine experience directly through the entrails, the genitals, and all of the messy, complicated, “revolting” bits that would normally remain unnoticed or at least unremarked upon. At the same time, it’s a production that reveals the layers of artifice typical to the stage and lays them out in the open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an attempt at experiential theater goes, A.C.T.’s \u003cem>Fefu \u003c/em>is not without some stylistic missteps and dropped beats. But the overall ambience is very much that of a party full of big personalities impossible to tear your attention away from, even as you wait quietly in the corner to witness their inevitable meltdowns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A.C.T.’s \u003cem>Fefu and Her Friends\u003c/em> invites its audience to consider the intricacies of how society is mirrored through even the most banal social interactions—a reminder of the ways in which we live within a complex Venn diagram of overlapping worlds and contradictory norms. This won’t be the kind of party you walk away from with a new best friend, or even a plate of leftovers for the road. But with its powerhouse cast (and a superlative playlist compiled by sound designer Jake Rodriguez) it’s a party you won’t soon forget. Despite—or perhaps because of—the discomfort it provokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Fefu and Her Friends’ plays through May 1 at the Strand Theater in San Francisco. \u003ca href=\"https://www.act-sf.org/whats-on/20202122-season/fefu-and-her-friends/\">Details here.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"masters-of-scale": {
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},
"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"morning-edition": {
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"onourwatch": {
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"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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},
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},
"perspectives": {
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"order": 14
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
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