When local playwright Tanya Shaffer first imagined “The Fourth Messenger,” a musical world premiere opening in previews today in Berkeley, she was on a meditation retreat. She found herself thinking of the moment centuries ago when, according to legend, Siddhartha Gautama sat under the bodhi tree and refused to get up until he was enlightened. Various forces tried to lure him away, a scene Shaffer suddenly pictured as a highly theatrical song and dance of the temptations. Read More