Actors Ensemble of Berkeley

The best selection of plays in the bay area. These folks choose serious plays that are funny, insightful, brilliant, and do not pander to the lowest common denominator. Back home in rural NY, I saw a similar local theater company cave in to such pandering. One season every single play was about cats and/​or lonely older women pondering the meaning of life while struggling with their relationship with their children. But I digress. I nearly fell over when I looked at the history of plays they’ve put on at AE-​of-​B. Its of a higher quality than the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln center! Just what I’d hope for in a city as educated and erudite as Berkeley.
…So I give it 3 stars…
That’s 5 stars for the choice of plays, 4 for the venue, and 1 star for the acting. It may be unfair to blame Berkeley (or the Bay Area in general) for the fact that anyone truly pursuing acting will leave for LA, NY, or London. But I just cannot sit through a play when the actors haven’t mastered the basics of acting. I’ve mentioned this before regarding other well-​loved East Bay theater groups — one of them confuses yelling with acting, one of them uses the same set of characters no matter what the play is. My complaint about the actors’ ensemble is that some of the cast had not mastered their diction. We were in a 24-​seat theater and I still couldn’t make out what was being said! As strong as the weakest link! Sigh.