.Arts & Culture

Nightcrawling (Knopf), the debut novel by Oakland-based Leila Mottley, rises for many readers to that “forever book” stature. Named youth poet laureate of Oakland in 2018, Mottley’s first foray as a published novelist—she wrote her first, unpublished novel at age 14—has landed on Oprah’s Book Club list, was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022, and has garnered rave reviews in trade and popular publications and media.

The album has a larger-than-life sound, with bedrock rhythms complimented by washes of steel guitar and reverberating electric guitars that take up an immense sonic space.

By turns comic and camp, heart-rending, occasionally chiding and ultimately a nuanced, clear-eyed expression of what it means to be a trans artist and person of color in this cultural moment, In Mirrors has all the earmarks of a creative milestone—an achievement that is both now and timeless. Its latest manifestation is In Mirrors, a new EP from her band Pretty Frankenstein, now out on Spotify and Bandcamp.

A goddess’ birth can be a long process—but her emergence is glorious. Director/creator Saheem Ali, playwright Jocelyn Bioh and composer Michael Thurber have been midwifing the world-premiere musical 'Goddess,' which recently opened at Berkeley Rep, for years. The piece has gone through multiple iterations and four postponements, and has now stridden exuberantly onto the stage.

“‘Hella Feminist’ [highlights] the lesser-known elements of feminist histories—particularly the experiences of people of color—but also demonstrate[s] how mainstream feminism at times made harmful compromises that were exclusionary.”

Theater in the East Bay is back big time this fall, with diverse shows that demonstrate the provocative, exploratory missions of its sustaining companies and series—and also offering some just plain fun. There are world premieres, classics reimagined, international visitors and some very big wigs. Below, in alphabetical order by company, take a look at some of the season’s most enticing offerings at our East Bay theatres.

The annual visits to France and other locations in Europe provide similar fuel for the deeply researched novels she writes. ‘The Paris Showroom’ is set in Nazi-occupied Paris and begins in 1944, a little more than four years after the Germans invaded the city.