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Beyond the Stage - Bay Area

Bay Area stages enter a new era of transformation and accessibility

Audio Description services are coming to Berkeley Rep, private lives are on display at A.C.T., and Cal Shakes returns.

Bay Area stages enter a new era of transformation and accessibility
Berkeley Rep introduces new audio description services. | Photo courtesy of Berkeley Rep
This first edition of Beyond the Stage opens with news of an exciting new venture from Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Inclusivity and accessibility are the stars of the show, and we love to see it.

Berkeley Rep Launches New Accessibility Options for Theatregoers

Get ready for an even more inclusive theatre experience at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Starting this October, Berkeley Rep is introducing Audio Description (AD) services to make their performances accessible to patrons who are blind or have low vision. This exciting initiative will be available for the last Saturday matinee of each mainstage production during the 2024/25 season.

Thanks to Gravity Access Services, AD will provide live verbal descriptions of everything happening on stage—action, costumes, settings, facial expressions, and more—through wireless headsets. This means everyone can fully enjoy the magic of theatre...

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On the Stage

Forget the odd couple—meet the divorced couple. Noël Coward’s Private Lives turns their fiery dynamic into something just as hilarious. It’s “saucy, brassy, and rude,” where the bickering is as intense as the romance.

Private Lives

Theatre | American Conservatory Theater
Now through October 6 | Tickets

Bay Area favorite KJ Sanchez reimagines and directs Noël Coward’s hysterical classic tale of the tempestuous dance that is marriage.

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Next Line

This week it’s all about fresh perspectives and revitalization from arts organizations across the Bay Area.

  • Get your facts straight before going to see Berkeley Rep’s Mexodus. Co-creators Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson have a history lesson to share with you.
  • Cal Shakes is back with As You Like It. After a two-year hiatus, you can catch the company in a performance that Berkeleyside says “has audiences laughing at merry Shakespearian mix-ups.” Show your support by attending the 50th anniversary season in the beautiful Bruns Amphitheater.
  • The search is over, the San Francisco Ballet has found its new executive director in Branislav Henselmann. The San Francisco Chronicle dives into the man that Alison Hall Mauzé says is “high energy” and “a new generation and that's exactly what we need right now.”
That’s it for this week. We encourage you to go see that show you’ve been thinking about but haven’t quite bought tickets for yet. Hey, there’s no audience without you.

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