Theater Review: "In the Wake" at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre

As she did with her award-winning play, Well, the profoundly talented playwright Lisa Kron continues her exploration of the blind spots of the middle class. With In the Wake, she presents Ellen (the superb Heidi Schreck), a thirtysomething white, well-spoken liberal in a bubble of her own demographic — like many folks in the Bay Area. Set during the disputed Bush/Gore election of 2000 and through the start of the Iraq war — an "incomprehensible time," in Ellen's view — we meet a woman in intellectual and emotional crisis as chinks in her armor start to appear. She can see everyone else's weaknesses, but struggles to spot her own flaws. Kron writes all sides thoroughly and brilliantly; she has no political agenda except perhaps to show that interconnectedness is the key to understanding our experience. This play is a powerful statement that we must question everything and everyone — including ourselves.