This week, we’re looking back on the best art, music, food, movies and more from the year. See our entire Best of 2025 guide here.

In 2025, Bay Area theater was loaded with innovative artists producing great shows, coupled with a hope that the local scene will soon see healthier days.

During a spate of theater closures, funding challenges and diminished audiences, there’s been no shortage of ideas from the Bay Area’s top theater brass as to how Bay Area theater can survive. There were also plenty of victories to be had on our region’s stages in 2025.

Below, theater critics and regular KQED contributors Nicole Gluckstern and David John Chávez share their most significant Bay Area theater happenings of 2025.

Syrian-Armenian-American artist Sona Tatoyan talks about her friend, Turkish political activist Osman Kavala, as renowned oud player Ara Dinkjian accompanies her in ‘AZAD,’ at Golden Thread.
(David Allen Studio)

The beautiful spectacle of ‘AZAD’ at Golden Thread

Written and performed by Sona Tatoyan, a Syrian Armenian American theatre-maker and Storyteller, AZAD defied categorization in its April premiere at Golden Thread. With its compelling personal narrative, it presented like a solo show but relied on a taut ensemble of puppeteers, centenarian Karagöz puppets and a live musician to create an expansive, visionary performance.

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AZAD excavated painful, rigorously researched histories that rarely see the spotlight, putting the audience and performer through an intense emotional wringer that never relied on cliché or manipulation to elicit a response. With atmospheric projections designed by Camilla Tassi, and meticulous scenic design by Marcelo Martínez García, this Jared Mezzocchi-directed piece was a visual and virtuosic standout. —Nicole Gluckstern

Mona (Lauren Marcus, left) and waitress Edna Louise (Ashley Cowl, center) get reacquainted with Joanne (Shakina) in the musical ‘Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical’ at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.
(Kevin Berne)

‘Jimmy Dean’ came back to Mountain View

It is insanely hard to write a new hit musical. Just take a peek at the constant stream of revivals that have hit theaters in recent years. That’s what made TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical such an achievement. A darling of the company’s 2024 New Works Festival, the show premiered this past summer, featuring every component of what makes a musical unforgettable.

Start with the insightful book from Ashley Robinson, the playful, fierce music from Dan Gillespie Sells and unbeatable lyrics by Shakina. Add a terrific creative team led by director Giovanna Sardelli, and you’ve got a magical show. As an added bonus, it was thrilling to see an unapologetic transgender narrative, with Shakina stunning as a vision in white. —David John Chávez

Juicy (Devin A. Cunningham) stares down the ghost of Pap (Ron Chapman) in ‘Fat Ham’ at SF Playhouse.
(Jessica Palopoli)

The Pulitzer-winning ‘Fat Ham’ astounded at SF Playhouse

A singular upside of the COVID lockdown was the rare chance to stream innovative performances from around the world. One such toothsome treat was the world premiere of the Pulitzer-winning Fat Ham, by James Ijames, staged as a digital production by Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater. This first taste whetted my appetite for more. At SF Playhouse, Fat Ham brought a deeply humorous, deeply human reimagining of Hamlet, in which a grieving Juicy (Devin Cunningham) contemplated mortality and morality as his mother (Jenn Stephens) and new stepfather-uncle (Ron Chapman) celebrated their hasty nuptials with a backyard barbeque.

Deftly directed by Margo Hall, the actors pushed each punchline and outrageous misfortune to its absolute limit, flipping the existential dread of Denmark’s saddest prince into a flamboyant embrace of life’s possibilities. —Nicole Gluckstern

Tshembe (Jeuneé Simon) faces guard Eric (Monique Crawford) as Madame Nielsen (Jacinta Kaumbulu) sits and looks on in Oakland Theater Project’s production of ‘Les Blancs.’
(Ben Krantz Studio)

A powerful Lorraine Hansberry revival in Oakland

If there’s any Bay Area company outgrowing their britches faster than a teenager on a growth spurt, it’s Oakland Theater Project. In their charming space at the Flax Art & Design building, their current production of Cabaret is sold out for the entire run weeks before closing. Ideally, they’d be able to move into a permanent space worthy of their fierce, bold reputation.

Take their fantastic production of Les Blancs. Though it lacks the name recognition of A Raisin in the Sun, it carries major weight in the theater world as Lorraine Hansberry’s final work, adapted by her ex-husband Robert Nemiroff. The story is also the only one of Hansberry’s to be set in Africa, using beats, rhythms and dance to signify Black and African cultures. Presenting a clash between white colonialism and Black liberation, the story and production were both memorable and explosive. —David John Chávez

Marga Gomez in ‘The Search for Signs
of Intelligent Life in the Universe,’ the last production at famed Berkeley institution Aurora Theatre before the company ceased operations.
(Kevin Berne)

Marga Gomez helped bid goodnight to Aurora Theatre

The first play I bought as a teenage theatre nerd, Jane Wagner’s inventive The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life In the Universe was written to showcase the versatile talents of her wife, Lily Tomlin — a tough act to follow in any era. Thankfully, Aurora Theatre made the inspired move to cast Bay Area powerhouse Marga Gomez in its 2025 revival.

A comedian, MC, actor and seasoned solo show creator/performer, Gomez switches seamlessly between characters, scenarios and timelines without elaborate props or costume changes — making her a stellar choice to fill Tomlin’s cosmic shoes. Adding to the pressure of the performance was the concurrent announcement that Aurora Theatre would cease operations for the foreseeable future. At least Gomez ensured they went out with a (big) bang. —Nicole Gluckstern

Theoretical physicist Marianne (Vivienne Truong) and beekeeper Roland (George Alexander K.), one of three couples with the same names and dialogue in ‘Constellations’ at the Pear Theatre in Mountain View.
(Reed Flores)

‘Constellations’ offered a terrific way forward

On the surface, there was nothing terribly flashy about Nick Payne’s Constellations at the Pear Theatre in Palo Alto. A group of actors — George Alexander K., Raven Douglas, Thomas Nguyen, Sahil Singh, Elana Swartz and Vivienne Truong — enter an open space, pair off and begin spilling their guts. The pairings were different at each performance, and at the end of the show, the audience got to make decisions for the next audience coming in the following night.

You’d be forgiven in thinking this sounds gimmicky. But under the direction of Reed Flores, it proved that theater need not have bells and whistles, just a great story and fantastic performances that grip the audience. If Bay Area theater is going to survive, phenomenal shows like this one will need to be at its forefront. —David John Chávez

Katherine Park, Elana Swartz, Carl Lucania and Alejandra Wahl took their ‘Tempest’ to the ocean with Berkeley Shakespeare Company.
(Sara Nicole Mindful)

Fabulous backdrops that reinvigorated the classics

Theatre-makers love a copyright-free classic, but some productions really push their source material to exciting extremes. This year, standouts included Nate Currier’s first-time adaptation of The Epic of Gilgamesh at Marin Shakespeare Company, and a site-expansive production of The Tempest at the windswept Point Montara Lighthouse and Hostel.

Currier’s Gilgamesh combined action-hero vigor with bare-bones physical staging, honoring the poetry of the 4,000-year-old original with a modern vernacular — somewhat reminiscent of Maria Dahvana Headley’s “bro”-tinged Beowulf. Meanwhile, Stuart Bousel’s Tempest, produced by Berkeley Shakespeare Company, utilized its proximity to the ocean and uniquely intimate interiors to create a truly magical realm for its artists and audiences alike. —Nicole Gluckstern

(L–R) Outgoing American Conservatory Theater artistic director Pam MacKinnon and incoming Golden Thread Productions artistic director Nabra Nelson. (ACT / Golden Thread)

Seismic comings and goings in San Francisco

Two theater companies are going into the new year with big shifts at the top. Sahar Assaf, who’s made Golden Thread Productions her artistic home for the past four years, is turning over the reins as artistic director to Nabra Nelson, who has a wealth of experience in arts administration. Nelson is a multi-hyphenate artist, having delved into playwriting, dramaturgy, consultant, director and community engagement, among other roles.

Meanwhile, Pam MacKinnon concludes her eight years leading American Conservatory Theater at the end of the 2025-2026 season. Soon returning to New York City, she plans to rekindle her freelance directing career. Succeeding longtime A.C.T. leader Carey Perloff, MacKinnon dove deeply into commissions with big names, and oversaw some tough times for the company, including the COVID shutdown and the closure of A.C.T.’s highly regarded MFA program. —David John Chávez

Joan Baez joined the circus and starred in ‘The Soiled Dove’ in Alameda. (Philip Pavliger / Vau de Vire Society)

‘The Soiled Dove’ flew high in Alameda

Is there anything more synonymous with the Bay Area performing arts than circuses and sin? I hope not, because I’m here for all of it. The Vau de Vire Society’s wicked and wonderful Barbary Coast dinner theatre extravaganza, The Soiled Dove, has been a perennial crowd-pleaser for over 10 years.

This year’s Alameda revival prominently featured legendary singer-songwriter and social activist Joan Baez — whose six-decade career continues to flourish — while the seasoned circus and cabaret performers who make up Vau de Vire’s core company soared. Viva, Vau de Vire! —Nicole Gluckstern

Magic Theatre’s artistic director Sean San José made a return to the Fort Mason stage in ‘Aztlan’ by Luis Alfaro.
(Jay Yamada)

Life after prison in the poetic ‘Aztlán’

Anytime transcendent poet and playwright Luis Alfaro collaborates with the Magic Theatre, it’s a massive win. This past summer, their pairing yielded the powerful Aztlán, rooted in Alfaro’s intimate knowledge of the Central Valley. With imagery from Mayan and Mexica folklore, the story of a parolee trying to reinvent his life outside of prison walls was aided by David Arevalo’s costume design, Alejandro Acosta’s sharp lighting design, and dazzling scenic design by Tanya Orellana.

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Beautifully directed by El Teatro Campesino’s Kinan Valdez, Alfaro’s story featured a great cast of Magic regulars. An added bonus? Sean San José’s thrilling return to the stage as an evil-minded deity. —David John Chávez

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