Curtain Calls: One of comedy’s most distinctive voices brings solo show to Berkeley Rep

Award-winning writer/performer Alex Edelman performs 90-minute solo show "Just for Us" at Berkeley Repertory Theatre Jan. 9-21.

Start 2024 with award-winning writer/performer Alex Edelman at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Directed by Adam Brace, Edelman brings his solo show “Just for Us” to Berkeley Jan. 9-21.

“There has never been a better or more important time to be in the presence of Alex Edelman,” said Berkeley Rep Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer. “His brilliantly clear-eyed, deeply personal examination of contemporary anti-Semitism somehow manages to be both edifying and hilarious. It takes a rare talent to walk that tightrope, and he does it with panache.”

Considered one of comedy’s most distinctive voices, Edelman put his physical well-being on the line when he confronted some of his harshest online critics by covertly attending a meeting of White Nationalists in Queens. The face-to-face confrontation form the basis of his startlingly relevant, totally hilarious stories that make up “Just for Us.”

For tickets to the 90-minute show that won a 2023 Obie Award, call 510-647-2949 or go to berkeleyrep.org.

Alameda: The Altarena Playhouse begins the year with David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Kimberly Akimbo.” Set in suburban New Jersey, the award-winning playwright takes you on a hilarious and heartrending tale of a teenager with a rare condition — her body ages much faster than it should.

When the young teen is forced to flee with her family under dubious circumstances, Kimberly finds herself reevaluating her life while also dealing with a hypochondriac mother, a rarely sober father, a scam-artist aunt, her own mortality and, most terrifying of all, the possibility of first love.

Dana Anderson directs a cast that includes Allison Gamlen, Pater Marietta, Caroline Schneider, Jamison Vaughn and Rowen Weeramantry.

“Kimberly Akimbo” runs Jan. 26-Feb. 25 at the Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St.. For tickets, call 510-523-1553 or go to altarena.org.

Berkeley: It’s the winter of 1996 in a frigid Pittsburgh when two co-eds discover their mutual love for R&B girl groups. But soon, the young Black students in a predominantly white college become each other’s sanctuary despite other tensions threatening to destroy it.

Playwright Deneen Reynolds-Knott describes “Babes in Ho-lland” as an “unabashed love story” that explores identity, sexuality and college in the ’90s.

Shotgun Players presents the world premiere of Reynolds-Knott’s play Jan. 13-Feb. 4 at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley.

“I saw so much of myself in this piece as a young, queer, Black femme who went to a predominantly white college where I learned Blackness is not monolithis,” said director Leigh Rondon-Davis. “’Babes’ is a joyful story about first love, all set to a bangin’ soundtrack of 90’s riot girl and R&B jams.”

In addition to live performances of the new work, Shotgun also presents live-stream showings Jan. 25 and Feb. 1 as well as a Haptic tour and audio-described performance for blind and low-vision patrons on Jan. 28.

For tickets, call 510-841-6500 or go to shotgunplayers.org.

Pittsburg: With Claudia Rankine’s “The White Card” so begins 2024 at Pittsburg Theatre Company. Scenes in this compelling one-act play explore what happens when people are willing to stay in the same room and deal with disagreements, stalemates and more.

As with previous work, Rankine deals with the root of racism in America as well as the invisibility of whiteness.

The play opens with a dinner party hosted by African art connoisseurs Virginia and Charles to introduce Charlotte, a successful Black artist. The couple’s intentions, however, spiral downward as the conversation is both informed and derailed by discussions of America’s on-going racial drama.

A year later, the second scene brings Charles to Charlotte’s studio, where the artist has shifted from focusing on Black suffering to making visible white people’s “ordinary complicity” in racial violence thus turning the table on a horrified Charles.

Performed as a staged reading and directed by Carlene Coury, “The White Card” will be presented Jan. 26-28 at Steeltown Coffee and Tea, 695 Railroad Ave., Pittsburg, as well as Feb. 3-11 at the Campbell Theater, 636 Ward St., Martinez.

Performances are free with donations accepted at the door. For more information, go to pittsburgcommunitytheatre.org/shows/whitecard.

Walnut Creek: California Symphony presents “Chopin in Paris” Feb. 4-5 at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive.

Romanian pianist Maria Radutu performs Chopin’s “Piano Concerto No. 1 (in E Minor, Op. 11). The concert also includes Joseph Bologne’s “L’amant anonyme” and Cesar Franck’s “Symphony in D minor.”

For tickets, go to lesherartscenter.org.

Lafayette: Town Hall Theatre begins spring classes in January with “Monsters, Musicals and More” for ages pre-K through adult. Go to townhalltheatre.com for information on the various classes offered.

Reach Sally Hogarty at sallyhogarty@gmail.com, and read more of her reviews online at eastbaytimes.com/author/sally-hogarty.