Theater review roundup: Oct. 23-29
Reviews are by Donald Munro; NR = not reviewed. For performance information, see calendar listings on Pages 17-19.
OPENING
ART: The Curtain 5 TheatreGROUP and the Fresno Art Museum presents Yasmina Reza’s wry commentary on contemporary art as a museum fundraiser. (Opens Friday, Oct. 23)
Janka: Direct from New York, Janice Noga reprises her one-woman show about a Holocaust survivor in a fundraiser at the 2nd Space Theatre. (Opens Saturday, Oct. 24)
Night of the Living Dead: Playhouse Merced tells the story you recognize but with a slight comedic twist. (Opens Friday, Oct. 23)
Steel Magnolias: The Selma Arts Center presents the tale of the bond a group of women share in a small-town Southern community. (Opens Thursday, Oct. 22)
ONGOING
Dracula: College of the Sequoias’ Chris Mangels adapts and directs a production based on the Bram Stoker novel. Closes Saturday, Oct. 24. (NR)
Dracula: The Musical: Porterville’s Barn Theatre communes with everyone’s favorite vampire. Closes Sunday, Oct. 25. (NR)
Rocky Horror Show: Visalia Players at the Ice House Theatre serves up the Time Warp. (NR)
Shenandoah: Good Company Players travels back to the Civil War era for a musical based on the 1965 film about a Virginia widower and his large family. Mark Norwood gives a gruff and heartfelt performance in the leading role in this little-seen and tender production, which spins into a meditation on the nature of war and the difficulties in taking a pacifist stand when violence is exploding around you. Director Laurie Pessano gives the show a homespun gloss and a warm ensemble feel.
Wait Until Dark: Reedley’s River City Theatre Company presents a thriller about a blind woman terrorized by two men who break into her apartment. (NR)
NEXT WEEK’S OPENINGS
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Fresno State presents the Shakespeare comedy with an infusion of contemporary culture in the form of vampirelike and undead characterizations. (Opens Friday, Oct. 30)
This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Theater review roundup: Oct. 23-29."