4 Snouts Up for Blue Door at Berkeley Rep

(:)(:)(:)(:) for Blue Door at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. A few hours before I discovered new high quality professional theater right here in Sacramento, I reserved seats for last Saturday's performance of Blue Door written by Tanya Barfield and directed by Delroy Lindo.

I liked it very much--the two-man play is well-acted, well-staged (a beautiful yet spare set) and covers an important subject matter in a way which is accessible, occasionally funny and not at all didactic.

I don't like to recount plotlines, so here's the official Berkeley blurb:

When he refuses to attend the Million Man March, an African-American professor finds his personal and professional lives thrown into turmoil. Unable to sleep in the bed abandoned by his [sara's note: white] wife, Lewis is visited by his ancestors—men who fought to be free, to vote, to obtain justice. Two exceptional actors embody three generations in this powerful new play from a promising young writer. Blue Door is a searing examination of family and identity that will resonate with anyone who has ever struggled to live with—or escape—the past.

Not surprisingly, the subject matter attracted a slightly more diverse audience than the typical white over 50 throng--"is that Loni Hancock*?" "No, that's Loni Hancock."

*Berkeley assemblymember Loni Hancock looks just like 50% of the Berkeley Rep season ticket holders.