Email Author Chris Jensen

2011 Stories by Chris Jensen

• Dan Hoyle Gets Real on the Road

  published December 14, 2011

  Self-absorbed coastal types have never been particularly good at understanding rural America, but the last decade seems to have intensified our... More >>

• Meditation on Losing Oneself

  published December 14, 2011

  If you're looking for a little more humanity and a little less apocalypse on the subject of endings, Geoff Hoyle's Geezer is a very... More >>

• "The Road to Hades": Unfunny Combo of Greek Drama and Fart Jokes

  published August 24, 2011

  According to the Greek war god Ares (John Mercer), "Gods don't make fart jokes." Maybe he should rethink that one. The current state of the... More >>

• "Tigers Be Still": Hilarious Comedy Tinged with the Ache of Grief

  published August 10, 2011

  After she catches her fiancé sleeping with a podiatrist, Grace (Rebecca Schweitzer) spends her days cradling a bottle of Jack Daniel's... More >>

• "The Verona Project": Major Rewrite Actually Improves Shakespeare

  published July 27, 2011

  Shakespeare wrote some weak endings in his time, but none so weak as what you'll find in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Considered by some... More >>

• "2012 — The Musical!": S.F. Mime Troupe Big on Idealogy, Short on Entertainment

  published July 13, 2011

  In medieval England, townspeople would gather on festival days to see local guildsmen perform pageants based on stories from the Bible. These... More >>

• Billy Elliot at the Orpheum Theatre Delivers the Brassy Broadway Goods

  published Jul 08, 2011

  Billy Elliot Through September 17 at Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market (at Hyde), S.F. Tickets are $35-$200; visit www.shnsf.com. When I first saw the film version of Billy Elliot back in 2000, I found i... More >>

• "Tales of the City": Musical Version of Maupin Is a Very Mixed Bag

  published June 22, 2011

  28 Barbary Lane just got a little bit gayer. At the beginning of June, American Conservatory Theater premiered a new musical based on Armistead... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  TheatreWorks' [Title of Show] Is Intelligent, Heartfelt, and Really Funny

  published Jun 20, 2011

  Yes, it's superclever and endlessly self-referential. But it's not off-putting -- in fact, it's kind of sweet. You might even call it inspiring. [title of show], now making its regional premiere at T... More >>

• Tiny Alice at Marin Theatre Company Feels Like the Edgiest Production of 1964

  published Jun 17, 2011

  Tiny Alice Through June 26 at Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller (at La Goma), Mill Valley. Tickets are $33-$53; call 415-388-5208 or visit www.marintheatre.org. From a historical perspective, Marin T... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Cal Shakespeare's Titus Has a Barbaric Kick

  published Jun 08, 2011

  Titus Andronicus Through June 26 at Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Way, Orinda. Tickets are $35-$66; call 510-809-3290 or visit www.calshakes.org. Titus Andronicus is the work of a v... More >>

• "Care of Trees": Reimagining an Ancient Myth as Modern-Day Tragedy

  published June 8, 2011

  As told in Ovid's Metamorphoses, the story of Daphne can seem a little puzzling to the modern reader. In broad outline, it goes like... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Tales of the City at A.C.T.: A Fitfully Entertaining Love Letter to Yesteryear's Bohemians and Sodomites

  published Jun 02, 2011

  Tales of the City Through July 10 at American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary (at Mason), S.F. Tickets are $40-$127; call 749-2228 or visit www.act-sf.org. NOTE: A full-length version of this revie... More >>

• More Theater Reviews

  published June 1, 2011

  Reborning. It seems wrong to describe a play that hinges on trauma, suffering, and creepily realistic infant dolls as hilarious, but... More >>

• "Disassembly": Pitch Black Comedy Leaves You Wanting More

  published May 25, 2011

  In the fable of the fox and the crow, first credited to the ancient Greek storyteller Aesop, you'll learn why you shouldn't speak with your... More >>

• More Theater Reviews

  published May 25, 2011

  Vice Palace. Combine Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" with Fellini's La Dolce Vita, persuade most of your actors to show off... More >>

• More Theater Reviews

  published May 18, 2011

  Three Sisters. "She's a piece of work," says Masha (Natalia Payne) of Natasha (Emily Kitchens). That may not sound like Chekhov —... More >>

• Vintage Debauchery

  published April 27, 2011

  Combine Poe's The Masque of the Red Death with Fellini's La Dolce Vita, persuade most of your actors to show off their peens, then... More >>

• "Three Sisters": Theater Review

  published May 11, 2011

  "She's a piece of work," says Masha (Natalia Payne) of Natasha (Emily Kitchens). That may not sound like Chekhov — or at least it doesn't... More >>

• "Vice Palace": Theater Review

  published May 11, 2011

  Combine Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" with Fellini's La Dolce Vita, persuade most of your actors to show off their peens, then... More >>

• "The Lily's Revenge": Five Hour-Long Play Is Five Hours Too Long

  published May 11, 2011

  This play is long, we're told from the get-go. That's no joke. Clocking in at more than four hours, with five acts and three intermissions,... More >>

• Meditation on Losing Oneself

  published April 27, 2011

  If you're looking for a little more humanity and a little less apocalypse on the subject of endings, Geoff Hoyle's Geezer is a very... More >>

• Showing U.S. Character Through Characters

  published April 27, 2011

  Self-absorbed coastal types have never been particularly good at understanding rural America, but the last decade seems to have intensified our... More >>

• A.C.T.'s No Exit Is No Gem

  published Apr 20, 2011

  After staging exceptional productions of Clybourne Park and The Homecoming, it was about time for A.C.T. to lay an egg. No Exit, a self-serious multimedia interpretation of Jean-Paul Sartre's much-per... More >>

• "Into the Clear Blue Sky" and "Geezer": Mediations on Losing Dad

  published April 20, 2011

  Think you've got abandonment issues? Imagine that the Earth is in the final throes of a global-warming apocalypse, with entire continents... More >>