Cardona, Collins Expose Exploitation on the Street by Robert M. Gardner In “American Jornalero,” director Tioni Collins takes a harsh and revealing look at the lives of four day- laborers who gather on a bleak street to look for work. Only a cell phone and a graffiti-covered pay phone connect them to the world. …
Tom Jones Remembers the Time of Our Youth by Robert M. Gardner The opening lines of “The Fantasticks” run: “Try to remember the time in September / When life was slow and oh so mellow…”–setting the mood for this stunningly popular musical. The dashing baritone El Gallo (impressive Phillip Percy Williams) opens with the…
Marcus Gardley: Poet of Dysfunctional Love by Robert M. Gardner Marcus (talented Michael Curry) recites poetry as he fumbles through puberty and on to adulthood, the mediator for his fractured family. Ubuntu Theater’s “Dance of the Holy Ghosts” by Marcus Gardley uses the talents of an all-Black cast to tell a powerful Oakland story…
Viñas, Sakata, Tracys’ Heroes Inspire by Robert M. Gardner TheatreFIRST steps out boldly in its premier production of “Between Us,” Part B–with three solo plays by Bay Area artists. Part B forcefully tells the stories of three neglected U.S. historical figures. These remarkable politically charged works question U.S. imperial politics, and sound the alert….