Marco Barricelli returns to ACT

Marco Barricelli returns to the American Conservatory Theater to appear with Olympia Dukakis in "The Vigil" by Morris Panych.

Not intended for kids

No songs about being under the sea. John Neumeier's "The Little Mermaid" ballet presents the mermaid as a tragic creature.

Looking at race, identity

Marcus Gardley's "... and Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi" is a provocative swirl of storytelling, music, spirituality and history.

2011 Marin Theatre lineup

A three-theater collaboration, world and West Coast premieres, and a rarely revived Edward Albee play highlight the 2010-11 season.

Theater companies go to war

In a familiar city, only two theater companies remain for one last supportable theater space. Watch as they battile it out.

Romeo and the 7 Juliets

If one Juliet seems tortured and tragic, what can seven heroines achieve? Find out in director Mark Jackson's "Juliet."

Brings the smiles

Guirgis' "Den of Thieves," at SF Playhouse, is a crime-caper comedy crossed with a 12-step program satire to often hilarious effect.

Reflects and refracts

Chinaka Hodge's "Mirrors in Every Corner" is an exciting first play by a writer with a distinctive voice and vision. Read more about Hodge.

A sexy puzzle

In Naomi Iizuka's scintillating "Concerning Strange Devices From the Distant West," every picture tells pieces of a thousand stories.

Provocative and funny

"Learn to Be Latina" is crude and rude in a manner that tickles ribs well beyond the comfort zone.

A merry morsel

Brenda Way's new "Waving Not Drowning" is partly about fashion and partly about "correct" behavior.

Unlock a museum of memories

"Among Us" is a bewildering, quasi-autobiographical essay that furnishes a platform for splendid performances.

A mesmerizing effect

Ronald K. Brown's "Dancing Spirit" fuses the deeply spiritual with the viscerally physical.

First-rate 'Wozzeck'

Budget opera in the Bay grew even fuller, as the new-music group Ensemble Parallèle unveiled its canny and musically first-rate production of Berg's "Wozzeck."

Splendid and loving

The Lamplighters' production of "Patience" boasts fine choral singing and well-chosen comic bits.