New TheatreFIRST production gives Tom Stoppard his due. By Rachel Swan You don't have to know Hamlet to understand the sense of doom that pervades Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. It's there in the title, after all. But it does help to know a bit of the...
by Robert Avila Tom Stoppard's sensational first play will probably never have the impact it had in 1966—partly because it proved so influential—but TheatreFIRST's generally sturdy production wades in enthusiastically and the results remain ultimately, if more quietly, contagious. In a cheeky, knowing meld of Beckett...
By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet Thursday January 28, 2010 The beginning of the winter-spring theatre season hit last weekend, more concentrated a downpour than the storm. And a few shows that opened earlier are still running, too, including Oleg Liptsin’s unique, brilliant iPhone-era take on...
By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet Thursday October 22, 2009 On a mostly-bare set—a couple of chairs at skewed angles across the stage, a cabinet with a broadbrimmed hat and a cap on the shelves and clothing on hangers at the sides—two men pose, seeming to...
Two Black-box theatre companies use their resources wisely (excerpt) By Rachel Swan October 21, 2009 Oakland's similarly small-scale, equally ambitious group TheatreFIRST began its season last week with Stones in His Pockets, Marie Jones' comedy about two extras working on a Hollywood film set in Ireland. Stones is partly...
By Angela Woodall October 20, 2009 The first few minutes of "Stones in His Pockets," a dark comedy that runs through Nov. 8 at the new TheatreFIRST playhouse in downtown Oakland, can be a bit disconcerting. That is because two male actors morph into 15 characters between them...
“Once again,...
"An exhilarating, enlightening, one-of-a-kind experience." — Leslie Katz, The Examiner...
"Magnetic performances… subtle and artful…" — Robert Avila, SF Bay Guardian...
"Mesmerizing intensity, beautifully detailed performances, the kind of thing the company does best...