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“HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES” at La Jolla Playhouse

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Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 8/8/22 RUN DATES: 7/26/22 - 8/21/22 VENUE: La Jolla Playhouse Over the years, some people have wondered what normal, everyday citizens in Nazi strongholds were doing and thinking during the Holocaust. Especially when they were only miles, sometimes yards, away from the horrors of the concentration camps, where millions of people — Jews, homosexuals and Roma, in particular — were being obliterated, exterminated. Were they oblivious? Unconcerned? In denial? Complacent? Complicit? Decades ago, my sister was Read More →

“DIAL M FOR MURDER” at The Old Globe

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Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 8/3/22 RUN DATES: 7/21/22 - 8/21/22 VENUE: The Old Globe It’s Hatcher vs. Hitchcock in “Dial M for Murder.” My husband and I recently watched the suspense-master’s 1954 classic film, which was adapted by Frederick Knott from his own 1952 stage play. Now, The Old Globe has commissioned playwright Jeffrey Hatcher to modernize the piece — but not too much, since there still have to be dial phones in 1950s London. Result? The pace is quicker, the Read More →

“BLUE PERIOD” at OnStage Playhouse

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Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 7/16/22 RUN DATES: 7/15/22 - 8/7/22 VENUE: OnStage Playhouse They were two young men, age 19 and 20, friends from childhood. Fellow artists, traveling from Barcelona to experience the delirious whirlwind of Paris at the turn of the 20th century. Together, they lived in a Montmartre garret, drinking copious amounts of wine and absinthe, frequenting bordellos, bars, cafes and opium dens. Overindulging in everything. Hobnobbing with prostitutes, painters, collectors and art dealers. High on Read More →

“SOMETHING ROTTEN” at Moonlight Stage Productions

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Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 7/25/22 RUN DATES: 7/20/22 - 8/6/22 VENUE: Moonlight Stage Productions 1595, South London. The rebirth of Europe, known as, well, The Renaissance (which means rebirth). William Shakespeare (David Burnham) is a superstar. A condescending, posing, foppish twit. But also a prolific, word-inventing genius. And an inveterate thief of other people’s ideas. Nick Bottom (Cameron Bond-Sczempka), a marginal playwright, and his brother, Nigel (Bryan Banville), a promising poet, are trying to compete, but failing dismally. Their patron Read More →

“WITNESSES” from CCAE Theatricals

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Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 7/18/22 RUN DATES: 7/15/22 - 7/30/22 VENUE: California Center for the Arts Escondido You might think that Anne Frank was the only teen who kept a diary of her experiences during the Holocaust. Actually, there were hundreds of them saved and published, some recently fetching as much as $800 for a used copy. This I learned from Jordan Beck who, 14 years ago, encountered a book of Holocaust diary excerpts written by young people, Anne Frank Read More →

“THE TAMING OF THE SHREW” at The Old Globe

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Posted at TimesofSanDiego.com on 6/17/22 RUN DATES: 6/5/22 - 7/10/22 VENUE: The Old Globe Shana Cooper, director of The Old Globe’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” is right, of course. Despite the 430 years that have elapsed since William Shakespeare wrote the often-contentious play (one of his early efforts), we’re still living in a patriarchal, misogynistic society. While the term “shrew” may have fallen out of favor, it’s been replaced by “ho” or “be-atch” and a raft of others. Even Read More →