There’s a new Hamlet striding the stage at the California Shakespeare Theater, and he’s a powerhouse. In the title role of Shakespeare’s monumental tragedy, actor LeRoy McClain is the vital, eloquent center of Liesl Tommy’s gripping new production. Read More

Misunderstandings are everywhere in “Chinglish,” David Henry Hwang’s very funny play about an American sign manufacturer trying to do business in China. It’s not that people in this giddy cross-cultural mashup don’t mean what they say. It’s just that no one’s sure how to say it in another language. So much is lost in translation, and those signs, shown in the first scene’s slide show, are just the beginning: “Watch your step” becomes “Slip and fall down carefully.” And don’t even ask what “Don’t forget to carry your thing” might mean. Read More

The Lamplighters turn 60 this year, and the group is celebrating the occasion with a revival of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera, “The Mikado.”That’s an ideal choice for The City’s own Gilbert and Sullivan specialists, who have gained a worldwide reputation for productions of the Savoy duo’s works.Last week’s witty, colorful opening-night performance at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek demonstrated why the company has endured through the years. Repeat performances are scheduled through Aug. 26 in Napa, Mountain View, San Francisco and Livermore. Read More

No one gets girl power quite like Eve Ensler. The Tony Award-winning playwright, activist, performer and author of “The Vagina Monologues” has spent much of her career writing about, advocating for, and celebrating the lives of women.Yet “Emotional Creature,” her latest theater piece, registers mostly as a miss. Written by Ensler and directed by Jo Bonney, the show, now making its world premiere in a Berkeley Repertory Theatre production, never makes the deep, indelible impact of the playwright’s groundbreaking early works. Read More

There’s magic, onstage and off, in the new California Shakespeare Theater production of “The Tempest.” Shakespeare’s late-life romance takes place on an enchanted island, and it feels right at home in the Orinda theater’s beautiful outdoor setting. On opening night, the shipwreck that sets the play in motion was accompanied by chilly winds and a waxing moon. Throughout the play, chirping birds and mooing cows contributed to the island sounds. The surrounding hills give the production, which opens Cal Shakes’ 2012 season, a glorious golden backdrop. Read More

The laughs come early and often in American Conservatory Theater’s new double bill of “Endgame” and “Play” by Samuel Beckett. There’s pain, and considerable humor, in these endlessly engaging one-acts by the great Irish playwright. That may come as a surprise to theatergoers who think of Beckett — whose full-length “Waiting for Godot” is a 20th-century masterpiece — as bleak and humorless. These productions, staged by ACT artistic director Carey Perloff, delve into the depths of human experience in ways that are both profound and laugh-out-loud funny. Read More

For many San Franciscans, the Tenderloin is a place to pass through on the way to other neighborhoods. In “Tenderloin,” audiences have the opportunity for an extended visit.This new play by writer-director Annie Elias, which made its world premiere at the Cutting Ball Theater last week, is derived from dozens of interviews with Tenderloin residents. Their words yield a raw and often riveting evening of documentary theater.Featuring a six-person cast (who conducted the interviews and play multiple roles), the show doesn’t shy away from the Tenderloin’s problems. Read More