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Bay Area theatre reviews with KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky,.Older posts include theatre interviews recorded pre-pandemic. LINK TO ASSORTED LOCAL THEATER & BOOK VENUES2026KPFA 312700 Ciencia Política Política y Gobierno
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  • Review: “The Monsters” at Berkeley Rep Peets Theatre

    Review: “The Monsters” at Berkeley Rep Peets Theatre
    Apr 15 2026
    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “The Monsters” by Ngozi Anyanwu at Berkeley Rep’s Peets Theatre through May 3, 2026. West Coast Premiere. TEXT OF REVIEW: (minor differences between the text and the recorded review). Putting aside solo performances, the heart of the theatrical experience usually lies in the interaction between two characters, no matter the size of the cast. Obviously, several characters in plays can interact with each other at once, but the most intense scenes are usually one on on. When these interchanges work well, we talk about the chemistry between actors. When they don’t, it becomes obvious. One actor is listening and responding, the other pretending, and the audience knows it. Here’s the thing, though. None of it quite works the same way in film or TV. There are multiple takes, cross-cutting. Confrontations might even be recorded separately and put together in post-production. It feels real, but too often it isn’t. Only in live theatre, happening in real time, can we see the the meeting in real time, in front of us. And that’s the key to why The Monsters by Ngozi Anyanwu, now at Berkeley Rep’s Peets Theatre through May 3rd works so well. Big is a fighter in the world of Mixed Martial Arts, which has grown into a major sports competition and combines various disciplines which can, at times, seem almost balletic. Lil, whose real name is Josephine, shows up after one of his bouts, and after some back and forth, reveals she’s the younger half-sister he abandoned in his late teens to go out in the world and find himself. It’s awkward. They’d been close when she was at the start of her middle childhood, and then he was gone. Gradually, he will now feel the pull of family, as will she. But it will take time, and effort on both their parts. This is a play about siblings, about the restrictions inherent upon black people growing up in mixed and broken families, with the physicality of the competition serving as metaphor for their growing relationship, as attitudes and situations shift between the two. The playwright herself, Ngozi Anyanwu plays Lil, spunky, irreverent, and Sullivan Jones more than matches her as Big, in both his physicality and his emotional truthfulness. Their interplay, their moments of quiet, of fun, of anger, and of confrontation, can only reach its apex in live theatre. The playwright notes that quote here are big political things happening in the world, I think the way to engage politically is by humanizing people, and that starts at home. I’m always trying to make sure people feel seen. In The Monsters, both through the play’s script, through the direction of Tamilla Woodward, and through the often raw and honest acting, these characters and their need for connection is clearly and satisfyingly seen. The Monsters by Ngozi Anyanwu plays at Berkeley Rep’s Peets Theatre through May 3rd. For more information you can go to Berkeley.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area Theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “The Monsters” at Berkeley Rep Peets Theatre appeared first on KPFA.
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  • Review: “Flex” at San Francisco Playhouse

    Review: “Flex” at San Francisco Playhouse
    Apr 8 2026
    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “Flex” by Candice Jones, at San Francisco Playhouse through May 2, 2026. TEXT OF REVIEW: Film and TV audiences love sports stories, groups of disparate people thrown together striving to work as one to achieve their goal, usually to win the big game. From Major League to Ted Lasso to The Sandlot, we are entranced by how the characters grow and mature, and hopefully, in the end, they will become heroes. Sports stories in live theatre are few and far between, most likely because you can’t really show the games. And sports stories about girls, black girls in particular? They’re nowhere to be found, except in the play Flex by Candice Jones, having its West Coast premiere at San Francisco Playhouse through May 2nd. Flex tries the impossible: to actually show the game, or at least some facsimile. The stage has basketball hoops at both ends, the one stage right in a playground, and stage left at a gym. We’re in a small town in Arkansas in 1998, a team of five high school girls, all black, as is their coach, are just good enough to win a regional championship. We zero in on Starra Jones, played with hip-hop swagger by Santeon Brown, the best athlete on the stage. In the opening sequence, all five are pregnant, only they’re not. It’s a test to see how they would play with big bellies because small town girls always become pregnant and are forced to leave the team. But we soon learn one of them, April, actually is pregnant. She wants to play, but the coach says no. The championship is important because scouts will be there, there will be scholarships available and who knows, maybe the newly founded WNBA could be in someone’s future, and Starra, willing to stretch ethics to get ahead, wants to be the one they see. But maybe it’s Sidney who’s the best on the team, and maybe Starra needs to figure out a way to take the spotlight. April, for her part, isn’t sure she wants to keep the baby. The religious Cherisse meanwhile, is uncomfortable with her sexuality. Each girl has her own secrets. Flex – named after the team’s signature five-person shoot around play – is set on basketball courts, and much of the play occurs on the court. This works in conception, but not always in practice. The bouncing ball muffles the dialogue, and the road to the championship becomes a McGuffin only the girls care about. It’s in the non-basketball scenes that the play really comes alive, and where the actors really shine, and its those scenes that makes Flex worth seeing. Flex by Candrice Jones, directed by Margo Hall, plays at San Francisco Playhouse through May 2nd. For more information, you can go to SFPlayhouse.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area Theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “Flex” at San Francisco Playhouse appeared first on KPFA.
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  • Review: “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” at Shotgun Players Ashby Stage

    Review: “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” at Shotgun Players Ashby Stage
    Mar 31 2026
    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews :”The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” by Edward Albee at Shotgun Players Ashby Stage through April 28, 2026. TEXT OF REVIEW: (some wording is different in the recording) Edward Albee’s reputation beyond theatre junkies mostly rests on one play, his masterpiece, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. While that play shows off his caustic wit to great effect, it’s perhaps one of the least absurdist of his plays. And Edward Albee, over all, is one of the greatest of absurdist playwrights, in plays ranging from his early masterpiece, The Zoo Story, to Tiny Alice and Seascape. The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? , which won the Tony Award for Best New Play in 2002, excels in both strains. Absurdist and deeply weird, it also contains some of Albee’s most cutting wit, all elements in full display in Shotgun Players current production, which runs through April 28th at the Ashby Stage. In this production, directed by Kevin Clarke, the play opens on a bare stage. Later we will learn where we are. That separation from reality, while likely guided by financial concerns, also separates us somewhat from the reality the characters are facing, in a way accentuating the strange events to follow. A happily married couple with a gay teen aged son they adore, Martin and his wife Stevie are preparing themselves for a TV interview, conducted by Martin’s best friend. Martin, though, is having memory issues. It’s his fiftieth birthday, and no, he doesn’t have early onset alzheimers. We will learn soon enough that he is severely distracted by something, and we will also learn, soon enough, why. 

Albee himself stated that The play is about love, and loss, the limits of our tolerance and who, indeed, we really are.” As with so many of Albee’s plays, It’s hard to put a finger on what this play is: comedy, tragedy, an experiment in believability? Is it Albee’s response to the homophobia he experienced throughout his life? On another level, all that hardly matters in a production that is utterly riveting from start to finish. Erin Mei-Ling Stuart is pitch perfect as Stevie. Granted, she’s the one with the best lines, but she takes it to the max. It’s hard to imagine a better performance in the role, on Broadway or elsewhere. William Giammona, as Martin has a tougher task, onstage at almost every moment, he must make every comment real, every response real, and happily he’s up to the task. The two other members of the cast, Joel Ochoa as their son Billy and Kevin Singer as Martin’s friend Ross, help make every scene compelling. All in all, it’s an exhilarating night in the theatre. The Goat, or Where Is Sylvia plays at Shotgun Players Ashby Stage through April 28th . For more information you can go to shotgunplayers.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” at Shotgun Players Ashby Stage appeared first on KPFA.
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