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Eight Plays in 80 Minutes
Sudden mood swings and short attention spans capture the stage at the Eight Tens @ Eight Festival.

Cinderella Syndrome
Shakespeare Santa Cruz's resurrected production of the children's classic is magical but flawed.

Keeping the Weird Rolling
Ukulele Dick and an assembled cast of oddballs keep the surreal alive in Santa Cruz.

Altared States
Shakespeare Santa Cruz serves up a perfect Victorian confection with William S. Gilbert's 'Engaged.'

Shadow Play
There's darkness beneath the surface of 'Twelfth Night' in P.J. Paparelli's production of this much-loved comedy.

Ship of Fools
Why is a shipwreck in the middle of the redwoods? Blame it on Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

Program Notes
'Hard Times' delivers a skillfully bleak view of the Industrial Car Cultureolution.

Mature Contents
Diastole, dykes and dystopia are all featured in Margaret Cho's latest comedic offering.

Dramatic Moments
This summer will be dramatic--on a stage near you.

I Wrote a Letter to My Love
Real-life lovers bring A.R. Gurney's two-person 'Love Letters' alive.

Real Time With Bill Maher
Bill Maher slaughters sacred cows, but stands up for the ethical treatment of cattle.

Loud Mouth, Soft UnderBelly
Marga Gomez targets Hollywood's sacred cows.

Power Surge
Erica Lann-Clark goes shopping for God and--oops--finds the goddess, instead.

Copy Cast
Word for Word breathes new life into lit--and the art of performing it--with its literal-minded delivery.

Sweet 'Pea'
Ted the Bear is yet another memorable animal act for SSC's holiday tradition in enchanting 'Princess.'

Jestering Wildly
Now more than ever--and especially in this year's local holiday productions--the fool reigns supreme.

Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves
Whatever John Fletcher's motives, 'The Tamer Tamed' makes for great comic theater.

The Taming of the Shrill
SSC whips Shakespeare's most crassly dated play into shape.

Union Busting
Edward Albee intended the personal to be extremely political in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' Shakespeare Santa Cruz obliges.

For Pete's Sake
The Pacific Players delve deep into Townshend's meaning and method for their production of 'Tommy.'

Turn of the 'Shrew'
Danny Scheie returns with Fletcher's Shakespeare-twisting 'The Tamer Tamed.'

The Framing of the Shrewd
SSC director Tim Ocel doesn't so much tackle a Shakespeare play as attack it from every possible angle--scouring every version he can get his hands on--to make it connect with new audiences.

Critical 'Stage'
MCT's latest production isn't among their best, but it could be a turning point in the company's fight to survive.

Weill, You Were Seeping
'Street Scene' captures Kurt Weill's talent for bleeding American musical styles into classical opera.

Good Whale 'Hunting'
Strong writing keeps 'Hunting for Moby Dick' from being harpooned by design flaws.

Scene and Unseen
This year's Eight Tens @ Eight are linked by an unspoken theme.

Not Necessarily the Nut
Tandy Beal's spirited 'New Nut!' turns out to be more new than nut.

Hot Funderpants
SSC's holiday show makes sharp and poignant funny business out of new 'Clothes.'

That What Is Nut
Tandy Beal revolutionized 'The Nutcracker' 20 years ago--and now she's at it again with 'The New Nut!'

The Naked Truth
SSC's holiday show 'The Emperor's New Clothes' is suddenly more relevant than even the man who wrote it could have predicted.

Slut: The Musical
Santa Cruz 'Rocky Horror' emphasizes all the things that make it fun to be a freak for Dr. Frank.

'House' Arresting
Western Stage gets all dolled up for Ibsen.

No Butts About It
Ralph Peduto bares the awful truth in 'Butt-Naked in Tinseltown.'

Fast Times at Castle Elsinore
SSC's 'Hamlet' is both weirdly retro and daringly ultramodern.

Apocalypse Noel
The battle of the sexes goes nuclear in Shakespeare Santa Cruz's lively production of Noel Coward's 'Private Lives.'

The 'Errors' of Our Ways
SSC sets the famous Shakespeare farce right here in Santa Cruz for a brilliant opener.

Swimming With Sharks
An insider reveals how this year's production is a longtime fantasy finally realized for him--and for Cabrillo Stage.

Bone Machine: In the Metro Santa Cruz Summer Guide, we look at how the unheralded heroes behind the scenes make Shakespeare Santa Cruz's 'Hamlet' happen.

Culture Jam
The Starr Spectacular is here to lure the masses away from their TV sets with circus and vaudeville.

All Thrills, No Frills
'Cooking Up Your Real Self' strips down the theater experience with up-close-and-personal storytelling and music.

The Car Cultureolution Will Not Be Verbalized: Best known as the man who brought hip-hop to Shakespeare, choreographer Rennie Harris takes evasive action in an interview about his newest multimedia work, 'Facing Mekka.'

Rio Grande
How do the people behind the Rio Theatre keep their unpredictable happenings so hip? They just ask: 'What would Joan Jett do?'

'Merchant' of Menace
Gareth Armstrong delves into the controversy around Shakespeare's most hot-button creation in 'Shylock.'

See Dick Play
It's been a long, flaccid road to success for the limber warriors of wang behind 'Puppetry of the Penis.'

'Suit' and Timing
After 25 years, Luis Valdez brings his acclaimed 'Zoot Suit' home for a hit run at El Teatro Campesino.

Shake and Bake
'Gretel and Hansel' wins by being more grin than Grimm.

Variété Pack
Local acts take the art of entertainment back from the Hollywood whores for the SC Vaudeville Review.