Haruki Murakami Explores the Dark Side of Curiosity by Mary Lou Herlihy “YOUR TIME IN THE READING ROOM HAS BEGUN” announces a cross-dressing maid/librarian (Chuck Lacson) with authority and a wink. Word for Word’s brilliant staging takes us on a wildly entertaining descent into a library’s inner sanctum. Parts Freudian dream, Dark Mirror, and…
Millennial Notes Dave Malloy Entices, Lures Us into Looming Fantasies by Corey Finnegan Ever wonder what it’s like to be a ghost? Composer Dave Malloy’s hallucinatory “Ghost Quartet” offers a peek into his version of the afterlife. Five talented musicians and singers take us tripping through a kaleidoscope of half-remembered, dream-like stories that tickle…
Michael Socrates Moran Touches Tony Kushner’s Epic with Genius by Barry David Horwitz When I saw the very first production of Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” back in 1991, at the old Eureka Theater in San Francisco, I walked out of the theater dazed and wondering. What had I just seen? It…
Star Finch Explores AI, Channeling the Genius of Black Women by Mary Lou Herlihy “Shipping and Handling” is voluble and experimental, bursting with humor and intrigue. Dr. Mother Mercy offers us a wildly imaginative future—complete with her brood of dancing “Black Robots.” Playwright Star Finch’s fantastical meditations on Black women’s creativity and power feel like…