Ed Berkeley News

Dance Nation recently opened at San Francisco Playhouse and critics were in attendance! Find out what they had to say.

 In 2020, the Aspen Music Festival and School will launch the new Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS under the leadership of co-artistic directors Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers. The program provides a unique and premier-level opportunity for developing opera singers by combining performance with intensive individual instruction and mentorship with two of opera's leading performing professionals.

One of Shakespeare's least performed works, Measure for Measure, is also one of his best. With some of his most stunning verse alongside his bawdiest humor, it teeters on the razor edge between comedy and tragedy so delicately that it is considered one of his three "problem plays." This vibrant production at Marin Shakespeare elucidates much of the play's wit while not quite reaching the emotional heights of its soaring poetry.

San Francisco Playhouse announced casting for the Bay Area premiere of Dance Nation, Clare Barron's award-winning play about pre-teen competitive dancers. Becca Wolff will direct the Playhouse production, with choreography by Kimberly Richards.

Central Works 2018 season closing production, a tale of madness, alienation and moral responsibility - Chekhov's WARD 6, adapted by Gary Graves has been EXTENDED through Nov 18 (Originally scheduled to close Nov 11)!

Central Works 2018 season closes with a tale of madness, alienation and moral responsibility- Chekhov's WARD 6, adapted by Gary Graves opening Today Oct 13 running through Nov 11 (previews Oct 11 & 12) at the historic Berkeley City Club.

Central Works 2018 season closes with a tale of madness, alienation and moral responsibility- Chekhov's WARD 6, adapted by Gary Graves opening Today Oct 13 running through Nov 11 (previews Oct 11 & 12) at the historic Berkeley City Club.

Central Works 2018 season closes with a tale of madness, alienation and moral responsibility- Chekhov's WARD 6, adapted by Gary Graves opening Saturday Oct 13 running through Nov 11 (previews Oct 11 & 12) at the historic Berkeley City Club.

Central Works 2018 season closes with a tale of madness, alienation and moral responsibility- Chekhov's WARD 6, adapted by Gary Graves opening Saturday Oct 13 running through Nov 11 (previews Oct 11 & 12) at the historic Berkeley City Club.

Central Works 2018 season closes with a tale of madness, alienation and moral responsibility-  Chekhov's WARD 6, adapted by Gary Graves opening Saturday Oct 13 running through Nov 11 (previews Oct 11 & 12) at the historic Berkeley City Club.

Central Works 2018 season closes with a tale of madness, alienation and moral responsibility- Chekhov's WARD 6, adapted by Gary Graves opening Saturday Oct 13 running through Nov 11 (previews Oct 11 & 12) at the historic Berkeley City Club.

This spring Cutting Ball Theater welcomes the return of Founding Artistic Director Rob Melrose to direct Shakespeare's neglected classic, TIMON OF ATHENS, the final play of the Theater's 2017-18 Season. In the title role of Timon, Brennan Pickman-Thoon leads a cast that includes Ed Berkeley, Maria Ascension Leigh, Adam Niemann, Doug Nolan, Radhika Rao, David Sinaiko, John Steele Jr. and Courtney Walsh. Timon of Athens opens in previews on March 30 and runs through April 29. The press opening will take place Thursday, April 5 at 7 p.m. Opening night follows April 6 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $45, and may be purchased online at cuttingball.com/productions/timon-of-athens or by phone at 415-525-1205.

Cutting Ball Theater's 2017-18 Season continues next year with THE CUTTING BALL VARIETY PACK, a two-week festival featuring four short, fully staged experimental works, readings of two brand new plays by New York-based playwrights, and more. The Variety Pack runs February 2 13, 2018. Single event tickets are $15; a festival pass with admission to any three events is a bargain at $30; and all tickets include a complimentary drink. Tickets may be purchased online at cuttingball.com or by phone at 415-525-1205.

San Francisco Playhouse (Artistic Director Bill English; Producing Director Susi Damilano) announced casting for the third show of its 2017-18 Mainstage Season Born Yesterday. Written by Garson Kanin, the play premiered on Broadway in 1946. Susi Damilano will direct the San Francisco Playhouse revival.

The Central Works 2017 season concludes this Fall with Strange Ladies by Susan Sobeloff running Oct 14-Nov 12 (previews Oct 12 & 13) at the renowned Berkeley City Club.  

The Central Works 2017 season concludes this Fall with Strange Ladies by Susan Sobeloff opening with a press night on Saturday October 14 running through November 12 (previews Oct 12 & 13) at the renowned Berkeley City Club. Strange Ladies is a Central Works Method Musical inspired by the Suffrage movement. The production is told with music of the period under the musical direction of Milissa Carey. 1917: a diverse group of Suffragists are fighting to gain the vote for women as the US entered World War I. Torn between loyalty to their political cause and loyalty to the war effort, these women each struggle to make difficult choices in a time of tremendous social upheaval. The personal pits each against the political in Strange Ladies.

Berkeley Playhouse, the award-winning theater company for all ages, celebrates ten years of innovative and socially relevant performances, outreach initiatives, and youth curriculum through the Conservatory that are as diverse as the community it serves. As the tenth anniversary season kicks off this fall with the East Bay Premiere of the heavenly musical comedy, Sister Act (September 22-October 22, 2017), the leadership team-including founding Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy, Managing Director Gretchen Feyer,

The Central Works 2017 season concludes this Fall with Strange Ladies by Susan Sobeloff running Oct 14-Nov 12 (previews Oct 12 & 13) at the renowned Berkeley City Club.  

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) In his inaugural commission as Crowded Fire's Playwright-in-Residence, Christopher Chen tackles the power structures inherent in large corporations. Set in a parallel world, A TALE OF AUTUMN is a psychological rise-to-power fable.

In June, New Conservatory Theatre Center closes its 35th Anniversary celebration and 2016-17 Season with the world premiere of warplay by JC Lee (Luce at Lincoln Center Theater, ABC's How to Get Away with Murder), directed by NCTC Artistic Associate Ben Randle. Inspired by Homer's The Iliad and the epic tale of Achilles and Patroclus, warplay is a shockingly funny, poetic and radical reimagining of one of the oldest love stories in all of Western literature. Two young men. A battle rages in the distance. Game on.