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David John Chávez

David John Chávez

KQED Contributor

Based in San José, David is a theater critic and reporter who serves as Executive Chair of the American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association, as well as a regular theater contributor to The Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, American Theatre Magazine and KQED, among other publications. He is a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (’22-’23) and a 2020 fellow of the Eugene O'Neill National Critics Institute.

@davidjchavez
By David John Chávez
A woman and man sit on a couch, amid a very cluttered room, actively in conversation

Sorting Through the Wreckage of an Immigrant Father’s Death

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A young man srtiking a cupid-like pose in a suspended hoop hands a rose to a young attractive woman sitting on the floor of a stage

The 11 Best Plays and Musicals to See This Summer in the Bay Area

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A man in blue and a woman with a flower crown look upward

A Shakespeare Story in Need of Brushing Up

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Two men look off to the left, dramatically, in white clothing and questionable haircuts

Sex With a Goat? It's a Thing (In This Play)

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A white woman in a dress and large hat sits on a stone wall, looking to the right at a Black man in a blue suit, sitting on a swing

‘The Cherry Orchard’ Is a Captivating Portrait of Family Delusion

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An organ player in a suit sits at his instrument in a dark theater.

Meet Jerry Nagano, One of the Bay Area’s Last Great Theater Organists

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The Best Bay Area Theater We Saw in 2025

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A slim white woman places her hands on the cheeks of a white man, who leans into her, with a recording studio console in the background.

Tony-Winning ‘Stereophonic’ Finally Comes Home to the Bay Area

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An Escape from Conversion Therapy in ‘Limp Wrist on the Lever’

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