In the October 25th issue of The New Yorker, Our Lady of Art Deco Typeface delivers Tad Friend's dramatic account of one couple's struggle against the 200-mph menace that is threatening their pastoral lifestyle in Orinda, California - that tiny ("semirural"!) town eight miles North of Oakland where that one friend of yours might be from. Depending on how you feel about organic suburbanites, Sport Utility Vehicles, White Guilt, illegal immigrants and gas-powered garden tools in general, the piece (which includes the wonderful phrase "death metal sur l'herbe") is either a pleasure to read or just a caricature of some obnoxiously short-sighted Orindans. more ›

Probably like many of you, we've always liked the idea of A Midsummer Night's Dream (and the title) more than the play itself -- at least what we remembered understanding about it from reading it in high school and watching the 1999 film with Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christian Bale and Calista Flockhart. Whether it's the whole invisible faerie-people interacting with humans thing, or the spells being cast that change peoples' personalities thing, or the Elizabethan English thing, it's a play that needs to be directed well to keep everything clear and entertaining to a modern audience. Suffice it to say, if you even remotely like this play or have never seen it performed, CalShakes' latest production is the one to see. more ›

If you're a theater nerd, you might already know the most famous aspect of Samuel Beckett's two-person play Happy Days, which is currently being performed at the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda. This is the play with the woman buried up to her neck in dirt -- not to be confused with Endgame, which features two legless characters who live in trash cans -- and it's getting a rare and riveting staging here in the East Bay. Part dark-humored feminist allegory, part existentialist experiment, it takes balls to attack this play, both as director and performer. more ›

A play by Noel Coward is like a great champagne: bubbly and bright, leaving you intoxicated and laughing with a layered finish. Taking up the torch from Oscar Wilde, Coward was a master of snappy, witty dialogue and his plays chronicle the sexual politics and cynicism of post-WWI Londoners. To modern audiences, a play like Private Lives (written in 1930) might seem surprisingly libertine, centering on a divorced couple who run into each other on each of their second honeymoons, only to abandon their new spouses to sneak off with each other to Paris. But the dialogue has stood the test of time, and something about the clipped, jaded nature of the main characters, Elyot and Amanda, reminds one of contemporary examples like Paul Rudd's character in Role Models -- these are people who are too smart to be fooled by love, and too clever not to be annoyed by social customs and the world around them. more ›

The California Shakespeare Theater's opening production, Romeo & Juliet, is in its last three performances today and tomorrow. It's a lively and fun production directed by Jonathan Moscone, complete with contemporary music and Verona teenagers who smoke, drink Jack Daniels, and carry iPods and skateboards wherever they go. Because it's a play about teenagers in love, all these updates work to reinforce the age and temperament of the characters, and performances by Catherine Castellanos as the Nurse (pictured with the charming Sarah Nealis as Juliet) and Jud Williford as Mercutio deserve special shout-outs -- it's always the supporting characters in Shakespeare who steal the show. more ›

Not to be a total bummer this Monday Tuesday morning, but let's get this quick wrap-up over with.

• Two teens are being held in conjunction with the shooting death of a 13-year-old in East Oakland.
• A motorcyclist crashed and died after giving chase to the CHP in San Jose at 2 a.m. last night.
• Don't know if you heard about this terrible drunk driving crash over the weekend which killed a mother, her brother, and left two twin toddlers in critical condition.
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Joseph Loudon, 16, was found unconscious at an Orinda house party over the holiday weekend, ultimately dying from alcohol poisoning. In addition to being cute, white, God-fearing and popular at his high school, Loudon also played on the track/field and football teams. So, naturally, this was one of top stories on the morning news today -- but still, all things considered, a tragic story. Anyway, his 18-year-old buddy, Patrick Gabrielli, was arrested and charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors. That is to say, Gabrielli, who has since posted bail, bought Loudon the fatal liquor. more ›