.Theater

The Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre is revving back into action in 2023 with a full season of live performances. After the pandemic shutdown halted theater activity across the country for nearly two years, managing director Tom Parrish says cultural workers are the nation’s second responders.

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.

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.

West Edge Opera explores the life of Dolores Huerta Dolores Huerta’s life could certainly be described as “operatic.” At age 91, the co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America is still an activist, still fighting for just...

Dinner and a show with California Shakespeare Theater Canvasing the Bay Area for an optimal come-out-of-Covid date night, one option shouts for attention: California Shakespeare Theater’s “Season of Shared Light” that in 2021 flings open the venue’s sweeping...

Patrons mill around a buzzing lobby, holding drinks and cookies. They file into the darkened theater and settle into their seats. This used to be a familiar scene in the East Bay’s world-renowned theaters, but during the...