Jean Schiffman

1 month ago | localnewsmatters.org | Jean Schiffman

For those who have seen later works by lauded playwright Lynn Nottage—such as her devastating Pulitzer Prize-winner “Ruin” about the plight of women during the civil war in Congo—an early one from 1995 might seem surprisingly mild: a family drama with humor set in 1950.  But “Crumbs from the Table of Joy,” now in a beautifully etched production at Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, is devastating in its own, subtle way, albeit with a hopeful ending.

1 month ago | piedmontexedra.com | Jean Schiffman

Just five days before the April 30 opening of the San Francisco International Arts Festival, founder-director Andrew Wood was at his desk filling out sound permits for the Mission District venues housing this year’s event. This is the third year that the festival, founded in 2002, is swooping into the Mission District, after many years at Fort Mason.  Its multicultural performances—dance, music, theater, circus and spoken word—will be onstage at a larger-than-ever number of nontraditional venues.

1 month ago | localnewsmatters.org | Jean Schiffman

Just five days before the April 30 opening of the San Francisco International Arts Festival, founder-director Andrew Wood was at his desk filling out sound permits for the Mission District venues housing this year’s event.  This is the third year that the festival, founded in 2002, is swooping into the Mission District, after many years at Fort Mason.  Its multicultural performances—dance, music, theater, circus and spoken word—will be onstage at a larger-than-ever number of nontraditional venues.

1 month ago | localnewsmatters.org | Jean Schiffman

Though the title “The Last of the Love Letters” could mean anything, the subtitle of Ngozi Anyanwu’s play-of-sorts is more specific: “A Meditation on Loneliness.”  It is now in a Crowded Fire Theater West Coast premiere that showcases the talents of actors and director. Through two successive monologues, in which two apparently unrelated characters express their deepest thoughts and feelings about life and love, the playwright does indeed explore the many facets of loneliness.

1 month ago | piedmontexedra.com | Jean Schiffman

As Shakespeare wrote it, there are 16 characters in his wacky, mistaken-identities “The Comedy of Errors.”In The Acting Company’s national touring production currently at American Conservatory Theater, nine intrepid actors play all the roles. Playwright Christina Anderson wrote this modern-English “translation” of the play according to the precepts of Play On Shakespeare.