Taking a look back at the best of 2015 theater, music and fine arts.
Even after the curtains fell, these plays played on in the imagination
The true magic of the theater has never been about bricks and mortar, and yet 2015 certainly has been a banner year for swanky new buildings on the Bay Area theater scene. American Conservatory Theater unveiled its hip new remodel of San Francisco’s historic Strand Theater, and Berkeley Rep christened its intimate third stage, the Osher Studio, joining the Shotgun Players and the Aurora Theatre, who had already opened brand new venues. All of those new spaces means there is more room than ever for adventure and innovation, as theater companies dare to do something bold and new.
Indeed, fearlessness is a hallmark of all of the finest shows this year, from Angela Lansbury’s gutsy star turn in “Blithe Spirit” and the incendiary politics of “Disgraced” and “Fire on the Mountain” to the whimsical immersion of “The Pirates of Penzance” and mind-blowing leaps of “Mr. Burns.” These are the kind of plays that live on in the imagination long after the curtain falls. Here’s my list of the best plays of 2015. Peruse it while you pop the bubbly.
1 “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play”: Don’t have a cow, man. Anne Washburn’s wildly brave and euphonically meta-theatrical Homeric odyssey might be steeped in the pop cultural folklore of “The Simpsons,” but it also palpably tapped into the bleak apocalyptic tenor of the zeitgeist today in its potent West Coast premiere at San Francisco’s American Conservatory
2 Theater. “Fire on the Mountain”: The genius of this piece, a 90-minute musical quilt, is that harrowing tales of Appalachian mining life — with its cave-ins, explosions and black lung disease — are expressed through the redemption of song. Nine actor-musicians conjured up the tragedy and grit of life on the Blue Ridge through hymns, ballads and blues lamentations in this unforgettable TheatreWorks Silicon Valley show.
3 “The Pirates of Penzance”: The Chicago-based Hypocrites troupe throws a raucous theatrical party, chockablock with beach balls, twinkly lights, rubber duckies and tiki torches. And an immersive scenic design invites half the theatergoers to sit wherever they please (ice chest, floor, etc.) in Berkeley Rep’s Osher Studio. This is one of the most gleefully subversive musicals to come to town in ages. This zany 85-minute “Pirates” was awash in irresistible absurdity (also booze). It’s playing through Dec. 20; www.berkeleyrep.org.
4 “Between Riverside and Crazy”: A bard of the street, Stephen Adly Guirgis hit pay dirt in the wonderfully outrageous “Crazy,” which won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for drama. In this richly nuanced and deeply raucous work, he conjures the curse of corruption, real estate and gentrification in the life of an old-school cop. The biting black comedy made its regional premiere at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater in a wild and witty ride starring Carl Lumbly.
5 “Talley’s Folly”: A graceful revival of Lanford Wilson’s gentle romantic comedy perfectly showcased the gifts of actors Rolf Saxon and Lauren English and the intimate power of the Aurora Theatre Company’s 49-seat second stage. Joy Carlin directed its wistful pas de deux with the delicacy and precision that are her trademarks.
6 “Disgraced”: Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, the most widely produced play in the country this year, spins around a swanky Upper East Side dinner party that descends into an explosive mix of Islamophobia and violence. Kimberly Senior directed this unsettling and, alas, all-too-timely West Coast premiere at Berkeley Rep. It’s playing through Dec. 27; www.berkeleyrep.org.
7 “Blithe Spirit”: Watching the legendary Angela Lansbury take a victory lap across the country was enough to make the audience burst into rapturous applause every time the 89-year-old trouper made an entrance as the eccentric clairvoyant Madame Arcati in the touring production of this Noël Coward farce, which came to San Francisco as part of the SHN Broadway series. Not only was Lansbury a comic jewel in her
Tony-winning performance but knowing it was her final tour made the whole production burn a bit brighter.
8 “Stupid (expletive) Bird”: Whether or not you worship at the shrine of the great Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, this postmodern remix of “The Seagull” was a (expletive) blast shot through with electric performances (El Beh, Carey Paff, Charles Shaw Robin--
son) and startlingly astute writing (Aaron Posner) at San Francisco Playhouse. Posner both completely reinvented the setting and tone of the Chekhov original and stayed completely true to its aching examination of mortality, love and loss.
9 “Detroit”: The ever-provocative Lisa D’Amour (“Airline Highway,” “Anna Bella Eema”) torches the fantasy of the American dream, that cozy realm of middleclass backyard barbecues cheered by friendly neighbors and cold beer, as the economy goes up in flames in the Pulitzer-nominated “Detroit.” Smoothly directed by Josh Costello in its regional premiere at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre, this blistering 100-minute social satire captured the way the fear of poverty eats away at our notions of decency, values and ethics until all that is left is need and greed. The Aurora production featured memorable turns by Luisa Frasconi and Amy Resnick.
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“Top Girls”: Caryl Churchill’s landmark feminist play spins around a time-traveling dinner party framed by the thorny issues of gender and class and power that still bedevil us today. Directed by Delia MacDougall, it was a thought-provoking and sensitive revival of an early work from the brainy British playwright (“Cloud Nine,” “A Number”) and the perfect launch for Berkeley’s Shotgun Players’ ambitious season showcasing female playwrights.