Article by Erin Blackwell for San Francisco Frontiers

Best Revivals

They're almost all revivals, really, aren't they? But some plays we just need more than others or want more than others. Or can't believe we've never seen before. Jean Cocteau's Indiscretions (1938)--as directed by Amy Glazer on the intimate proscenium stage of the Marin Theatre Company--had everything: Parisian take on passion, a mother fixation verging on incest, well-plotted intrigue, a great set by Peter Crompton, fab rags by Fumiko Bielefeldt and a super ensemble. And then there was Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine (1979), one of the most brilliant plays ever written. After the first act sends up the British Empire's racist, sexist Victorian heyday, act two deals with the contemporary societal fall-out. The New Conservatory Theatre production, directed by Arturo Catricala, squeaked by on minimal sets and lots of oomph from a cast playing across genders and epochs. (Watch for excessive production values when Berkeley Rep revives the play next spring.) But then there was Loot (1966), the ferocious farce that put Joe Orton on the literary map. Somehow the Shotgun Players managed to get a coffin and a bed onto the postage-stamp stage downstairs at La Val's Pizza in Berkeley. The ceiling's so low, the undaunted cast under Reid Davis' savvy direction was sweating buckets by the end of this breakneck theatrical tantrum. And I nearly forgot Brave Smiles (1991), written and originally performed by the Five Lesbian Brothers, but given what one discerning viewer termed a better production under the auspices of Mother Wit Productions, at the soon-to-close il Teatro 450. A cast of considerable charm and talent, under Catricala's omnipresent baton, camped up a revised Mädchen in Uniform (act one) before hitting the skids à la Valley of the Dolls throughout act two. Haven't seen dyke drama this smart since F. Allen Sawyer's Whatever Happened to Sister George? (2000). More, please.

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