Helen Mirren is spectacular (no surprise there). What did surprise me is how human she made the Queen, far more than she did in THE QUEEN. I’m not particularly interested in the monarchy––I don’t rush out to buy PEOPLE when Kate’s on the cover––but this really did offer such a unique and ...

On Sunday, I saw the last performance of THE VISIT with Chita Rivera (82 years old). A moment of theater history, complete with her standing ovation (which must have lasted for 3 minutes) the moment she walked on stage. And then endless applause at the line “I’m unkillable.” And then anot...

Mary Zimmerman is really in a league all her own. METAMORPHASIS  was the play of hers that first really blew my mind –– and I’ve loved others since –– and today I saw WHITE SNAKE at Berkeley Rep and it was predictably astonishing. It had the two hallmarks of her work I love: Unbelievably imaginative ...

Belle woke me at 6 am –– after I’d stayed up until 2 am working on the new script –– and so I “went with it” and continued structuring the new play while it was still dark until I felt semi-spent again. There’s a particular quality of sleep that happens when ...