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KPFA - Bay Area Theater

KPFA - Bay Area Theater

By: KPFA
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 Bay Area theatre reviews with KPFA theatre critic Richard Wolinsky, plus interviews with local Artistic Directors, actors and directors. Older posts include interviews witth former associate KPFA theatre critic C.S. Soong. Dates when reviews airs can be found at http://bookwaves.homestead.com/Theatre_Reviews.html2025KPFA 312700 Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Review: “A Driving Beat: at TheatreWorks Mountain View

    Review: “A Driving Beat: at TheatreWorks Mountain View
    Nov 6 2025
    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “A Driving Beat” by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, directed by Jeffrey Lo, at TheatreWorks Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts through November 23, 2025. The post Review: “A Driving Beat: at TheatreWorks Mountain View appeared first on KPFA.
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    6 mins
  • Review: “Stereophonic” at the Curran Theatre

    Review: “Stereophonic” at the Curran Theatre
    Nov 3 2025
    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews the national tour of “Stereophonic” at Broadway SF Curran Theatre through November 23, 2025. The post Review: “Stereophonic” at the Curran Theatre appeared first on KPFA.
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    6 mins
  • Review: “Suffs” at the BroadwaySF Orpheum Theatre

    Review: “Suffs” at the BroadwaySF Orpheum Theatre
    Oct 29 2025
    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews the national touring company of “Suffs,” now at BroadwaySF Orpheum Theatre through November 9,, 2025. REVIEW TEXT: Imagine a political movement that seems to be on the ropes. Demonstrations aren’t doing it, talks with political leaders fall on deaf ears. There’s no elected way forward, and the only thing going is hope and perseverance. Sound familiar. But we’re talking here about women’s suffrage, and the movement that led to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote – and which is dramatized in the national tour of the musical Suffs, now at the Orpheum Theatre through November 9th. The play opens at a 1913 rally in which suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, in her mid-fifties and a leader of the movement for thirty years is accosted by the young firebrand Alice Paul, tired of the slow and tedious path forward. Alice wants direct action, and she wants it now. From here, Suffs focuses on Alice and her group of activists who will do what it takes to get the nineteenth amendment passed, including marches, vigils, hunger strikes, and of course, playing the political game. Despite some lovely music and hummable tunes — Shaina Taub’s score and librettos won a pair of Tonys, Suffs only lasted nine months on Broadway. Perhaps it was the times, or perhaps it’s that Suffs sometimes feels more like a docudrama than a play. While honing in specifically on Alice Paul, a superb Maya Kelleher in the touring production) and a handful of other characters, it only sporadically takes us into their hearts. The audience is kept at a distance as anthems too often replace feelings. Still, Suffs is a triumph as a history lesson made real – and is not afraid to delve into the overt racism of the white women’s suffrage movement. With Ida B. Wells, the great black journalist, as more than just a walk-on. The show also asks an important question, perhaps more important than when it first premiered three short years ago: how do you handle what seems to be a lost cause? Do you go slowly, compromise until there’s a way forward, or do you simply fight with all you’ve got, ignoring possible blowback. Was it Alice or Carrie who won the vote, was it both? And what does that say about today? From acting to production values, this is Broadway at its finest, and while Suffs comes just short of being a classic, it’s still a major serious musical, and worth seeing. The national touring company of Suffs plays at the Orpheum Theatre through November 9th. For more information, you can go to broadwaysf.com. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area Theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “Suffs” at the BroadwaySF Orpheum Theatre appeared first on KPFA.
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    6 mins
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