Martinez: If only today\u2019s soldiers carried chocolate rather than ammunition, the world might be a lot safer. Possibly obese but safer.<\/p>\n
Just such a soldier exists in B8 Theater\u2019s production of George Bernard Shaw\u2019s \u201cArms and the Man,\u201d which plays through March 22 at the Campbell Theater on 636 Ward St. in Martinez.<\/p>\n
Shaw\u2019s witty dialogue, verging on melodrama, satirizes social conventions and the absurdity of war through a young girl\u2019s romantic illusions and a professional soldier\u2019s realism.<\/p>\n
![\"Seated](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/BRN-L-CC-COL-0313-2.jpg\")
Seated from left, Helen Kim and Samira Sheehan, then standing from left Jason Berner and John Mosa’ati in Bernard Shaw’s satire “Arms and the Man” at Campbell Theater through March 22. (Photo courtesy of Judy Potter)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Set at the end of the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian war, Shaw\u2019s plot follows Raina Petkoff (Samira Sheahan), a young Bulgarian with idealized notions of war. When the realistic Swiss mercenary Captain Bluntschli (Mitchell VanLandingham) hides in her bedroom with his pockets full of chocolate, she begins to question her romantic ideals.<\/p>\n
B8 Theater Company and Director Becky Potter allowed me to attend the company\u2019s dress rehearsal last week. While Shaw\u2019s topics still ring true, his over-the-top prose can cause problems for actors. Jason Berner as Raina\u2019s father and John Mosa\u2019ati as Raina\u2019s fianc\u00e9, however, found the right amount of posturing and comedic timing to make their characters effective.<\/p>\n
Other actors included Avery Burnap (soldier), Helen Kim (Raina\u2019s silly mother), Addam Ledamyen (the wisecracking servant) and Kayla McConnell (the feisty maid).<\/p>\n
Costumer Ta\u015ba Gleason added to the fun with colorful period outfits.<\/p>\n
For tickets, go to campbelltheater.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n More in Berkeley: Playwright Patricia Milton packs her latest work \u201cAfter Happy\u201d with a pleasing mix of comedy and serious environmental concerns for an entertaining 70 minutes of entertainment. Receiving its world premiere at Berkeley\u2019s Central Works, \u201cAfter Happy\u201d runs through March 29.<\/p>\n The play takes place shortly after Hurricane Happy devastated parts of Lake Charles, Louisiana leaving residents anything but happy. It is also time for the annual Pirate Festival and Brenda Barrow (Jan Zvaifler) vows to make the festival so successful people will forget the devastation as well as her own oil company\u2019s contribution to climate change.<\/p>\n As Brenda attempts to find a woman to play the Pirate Queen, her niece Kat (Lauren Dunagan) appears with her colleague Steph (Rezan Asfaw). Supposedly returning to help Brenda, both young women are part of the Climate Commandos dedicated to eradicating oil companies just like Barrow\u2019s.<\/p>\n Gary Graves directs the three accomplished performers with Dunagan and Asfaw bringing a powerful intensity to their roles while Zvaifler\u2019s character adds comic relief that sometimes feels too over-the-top.<\/p>\n For tickets, call 510-558-1381 or go to centralworks.org\/after-happy<\/a>. Performances take place at Berkeley City Club on 2315 Durant Ave.<\/p>\n Also in Berkeley: \u201cOnce,\u201d which is receiving a stellar projection at Berkeley Playhouse, 2640 College Ave., has extended the run of the popular piece through March 29.<\/p>\n For tickets, go to berkeleyplayhouse.org\/event\/once<\/a>.<\/p>\n Point Richmond: Masquers Playhouse dives into the controversial waters of abortion with Leanna Keyes\u2019 \u201cDr. Voynich and Her Children.\u201d Running Friday through March 22, the show follows Dr. Voynich and her apprentice, Fade, as they travel the American heartland dispensing herbal medications and covertly performing abortions.<\/p>\n Directed by Kari Warfield, the cast includes Sarah Mooney, Jules Hensley, Kristin Brewer, Natalie Tichenor and Liliana Serpa.<\/p>\n For tickets, go to masquers.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hayward: \u201cAvenue Q\u201d brings its zany comedy to Chabot College on 25555 Hesperian Blvd. on March 18-29.<\/p>\n The Tony Award-winning musical features both puppets and human performers. For tickets to this fun, racy, adult parody of Sesame Street, go to chabotcollege.edu\/academics\/arts-media-communications\/theater-arts\/upcoming-shows.php<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reach Sally Hogarty at sallyhogarty@gmail.com<\/a>, and read more of her reviews online at eastbaytimes.com\/author\/sally-hogarty<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Director David Mendizabal\u2019s thoughtful production of Arthur Miller\u2019s \u201cAll My Sons\u201d at Berkeley Rep feels just as relevant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2245,97275,19489,32184,2226,2232,19487,97276,2248,2241,1472,2246,2242,967,60387,81719,2240,143,145,144,2244,2239,31638,2247,2243,1058,60391],"class_list":["post-211538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-acting","tag-b8-theater","tag-berkeley-city-club","tag-berkeley-playhouse","tag-berkeley-rep","tag-campbell-theater","tag-central-works","tag-chabot-college","tag-choreography","tag-comedy","tag-dance","tag-directing","tag-drama","tag-entertainment","tag-jimmy-smits","tag-masquers-playhouse","tag-musicals","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-on-stage","tag-performing-arts","tag-roda-theatre","tag-screenwriting","tag-singing","tag-theater","tag-wanda-de-jesus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}