Playwright Luis Alfaro honors a community of hard-working people in “This Golden State, Part One: Delano,” being given its world premiere by Magic Theatre.

This Kern County agricultural community has a largely Hispanic population, many of them field workers. The people that Alfaro honors are members of a Pentecostal Church whose longtime pastor has died.

Another pastor, Elias (Sean San José), from a San Diego church has returned to his hometown after seven years to preside over the pastor’s funeral and to help the church with the inevitable changes. With him is his new wife, Esther (Sarah Nina Hayon), who has never been to Delano and has no intention of staying.

During the course of the 90-minute play (no intermission), all of the main characters undergo transformations rooted in their faith, not just religious faith but a larger sense of caring for and helping one another.

Besides Elias and Esther, those characters include Hermana Cantu (Wilma Bonet), the late pastor’s widow; Moises (Armando Rodriguez), a young man whose marriage is dissolving; and Brother Abel (Rod Gnapp), the only outsider and non-Hispanic.

The Oregon resident has been sent by the Association of Pentecostal/Apostolic Churches to help with its transition. The fear is that he might recommend merging this Delano church with some neighboring churches.

One other character, Romie (Carla Gallardo),  is seen in flashbacks with Elias before he left Delano.

The play opens with a memorial service presided over by Elias, who tells how the late pastor saved his soul and treated him like son after his parents had died. It’s a scene with Elias in his preacher mode along with shouts of  “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.” It also introduces the other main characters, seated in the audience, as they give testimony.

One recurring reference in the play is California’s drought, now in its fourth year. The people’s reaction to it is one reason why the hard-boiled Brother Abel decides the church can remain independent.

In a speech that summarizes the play’s theme,  he says to Esther that the people “are loyal to a fault. … This town is drying up … but they’ve all stayed.  A real community. Four years of drought that is going to make the Joads look like a bunch of crybabies and no one leaves. They are going to endure this hell together. That’s California — in the face of adversity they grow a garden … They band together and hold on, which is why this church doesn’t waver.”

Artistic director Loretta Greco directs with a sure hand. Although everyone in this ensemble cast does well, Hayon deserves special mention as Esther undergoes one of the more interesting transformations in the play.

The church set by Andrew Boyce includes pews in the front rows and allows for easy transition between scenes. Lighting by Solomon Weisbard helps to differentiate between present scenes and Elias’s memories. Costumes are by Alex Jaeger with sound by Jake Rodriguez.

Adding to the sense of church are two songs for the audience (congregation), with music and words provided in the program for the late pastor’s service. Christopher Winslow serves as musical director.

“This Golden State, Part One: Delano” is the first installment of a trilogy co-commissioned by the Magic and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where Alfaro is playwright in residence.

At first the play ran nearly two hours, but Alfaro cut about 30 minutes. There might be spots for a few more cuts, especially in the opening scene and in the tamale-making scenes with Esther, Hermana and Moises.

Nevertheless, it’s an engrossing, uplifting play because of the humanity and resilience of its characters.

It will run through June 14 at Magic Theatre, Building D, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. For tickets and information, call (415) 441-8822 or visit www.magictheatre.org.

Director Christopher Liam Moore has chosen a nearly all-female cast to portray the pranksters and mixed-up lovers in William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” at California Shakespeare Theater.

Except for Ted Deasy, who plays Feste the fool and some minor men, the rest of the eight-member cast is all women, most of them longtime favorites of Bay Area audiences.

Set in Illyria, the story goes like this:  Olivia (Julie Eccles) is mourning the recent deaths of her father and brother and wants nothing to do with men such as Duke Orsino (Rami Margron), who ardently pursues her.

About that time, Viola (Lisa Anne Porter) washes ashore after surviving a shipwreck that she believes killed her twin brother, Sebastian (also Porter). Until she can get the lay of the land, she disguises herself as a eunuch named Cesario and offers to serve the duke. She’s strongly attracted to him, but he sends his new aide off to woo Olivia for him.

Olivia finds herself attracted to Cesario. Thus the mismatching begins.

In the meantime, Olivia’s roisterous uncle, Sir Toby Belch (Catherine Castellanos), drunkenly cavorts with his cohort, the foppish Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Margo Hall), and Olivia’s maid, Maria (Domenique Lozano). They plot to make a fool of Olivia’s pompous steward, Malvolio (Stacy Ross), by making him think Olivia loves him and wants him to act and dress in a certain way.

And, unknown to  Viola, her twin, Sebastian, arrives safely from the shipwreck. Soon there are hilarious mistaken identities as one twin is taken for the other.

All turns out well with lovers properly matched, but the trickery against Malvolio goes too far, leaving him bereft.

Since men and boys played all roles in Shakespeare’s day, using a mostly female cast here works well today, especially with such accomplished performers in an ensemble cast.

Costume designer Meg Neville outfits everyone in traditional Elizabethan garb. However, there are some anachronistic props, mainly the smart phone used by Feste to cue in music (sound by Andre Pluess) and by Maria to take pictures of Malvolio when he’s ridiculously garbed.

Symbolizing the mourning that sets the initial mood, a coffin remains onstage in Nina Ball’s stark but striking set design (lit by Burke Brown). Feste rises from it at first, but later it’s used to store props like beer bottles and to imprison Malvolio.

Although all of the actors deserve praise, special mention goes to Ross as Malvolio in the comical gulling scene that ends the first act.

Moore’s direction keeps the action flowing crisply and allows for plenty of laughs. Credit goes to movement consultant Erika Chong Shuch for some brief dance scenes and to fight director Dave Maier for the fight scenes.

Taken as a whole, this 2 1/2-hour (one intermission) production is a great way to open Cal Shakes’ 2015 season with its often chilly temperatures that require warm clothing and blankets.

“Twelfth Night” will continue through June 21 at Bruns Memorial Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way(off Hwy. 24), Orinda. For tickets and information, call (510) 548-9666 or visit www.calshakes.org.

Joseph Alsop was perhaps the most influential political columnist in the country for many years, but his power gradually declined.

David Auburn’s 2012 “The Columnist,”presented by Dragon Theatre in its Bay Area premiere, chronicles that decline in a fascinating glimpse at recent American history.

While he was professionally well known, Joseph, called Joe, had a secret life that’s revealed to the audience in the opening scene,  set in 1954.  Joe (Randy Hurst) has just had an afternoon tryst in a Moscow hotel room with Andrei (Casey Robbins), who was working for the KGB — unknown to Joe at the time.

Before that decline, which came more than a decade later, the aristocratic Joe moved in the nation’s most powerful political circles. For example, President John F. Kennedy went to his house after his inauguration in 1961.

Joe, whose column was widely syndicated, admired JFK and ardently supported the war in Vietnam as a way to halt the spread of communism. He was so convinced that the U.S. was winning that war that he tried to get younger reporters like David Halberstam (Drew Reitz) removed from their Vietnam posts because they were reporting otherwise.

After JFK’s assassination in 1963, Joe continued to support the war and its leaders like President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. However, Joe failed to recognize the social upheaval wrought by the war as protestors and hippies took to the streets.

Although these events serve as backdrops to the play, the focus is more personal, stressing Joe’s family life. He was close to his younger brother, Stewart (Gary Mosher), with whom he co-wrote his column from 1945 to 1958.

He was married to Susan Mary Jay (Mary Price Moore) for several years. Even though she knew he was gay, they were good friends, so she agreed to the marriage. He also was fond of her teenage daughter, Abigail (Camille Brown).

Running about two hours with one intermission, the play ends in Washington in 1968 when Joe and Andrei happen to meet again while watching a demonstration on the Washington Mall.

Director Brandon Jackson paces the episodic action well.  Scene changes are punctuated by songs of the time in the sound design by Michael St. Clair.

It’s generally well acted, especially by Moore as Susan,  Mosher as Stewart and Brown as Abigail. Hurst as Joe holds the stage well and conveys his growing egotism and social unawareness well, but he frequently muffed his lines on opening night.

Set designer/technical director Rory Strahan-Mauk has created a utilitarian set with lighting by Jeff  Swan. Katherine Halcrow’s costumes, especially for Abigail, reflect the changing times.

It’s an interesting play offering insights to and bringing up memories of turbulent times as seen through one man’s experiences.

“The Columnist” will continue through June 21 at Dragon Productions Theatre, 2120 Broadway St., Redwood City. For tickets and information, call (650) 493-2006 or visit www.dragonproductions.net.

The genius of composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim is on display in American Conservatory Theater’s production of  “A Little Night Music.”

Based on an Ingmar Bergman film, “Smiles of a Summer Night,” this 1973 Tony Award-winning musical is set during a Swedish summer at the turn of the 20th century.

During this time when the sun rarely sets,  love is arranged and rearranged among lovers young and older.

Sondheim wrote virtually the entire musical in 3/4 time, but the best known song is “Send in the Clowns,” which has been sung by the likes of Judy Collins, Barbra Streisand and others.

In the context of the show, however, it takes on deep poignancy as one of the older lovers, Desiree Armfeldt (Karen Ziemba), an actress, sings it to her former lover, Fredrik Egerman (Patrick Cassidy), to express their dilemma:  She’s ready to settle down after years of touring and of taking on various lovers, while he’s married.

And even though his 18-year-old wife, Anne (Laurie Veldheer), is still a virgin after 11 months of marriage, he’s reluctant to leave this woman who’s young enough to be his daughter. In fact, she’s close in age to his son, Henrik (Justin Scott Brown), a gloomy seminary student who’s worried about sin and who’s secretly in love with her.

Another of the older lovers is Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (Paolo Montalban), a handsome but egotistical and pea-brained dragoon who has been involved with Desiree despite being married to Charlotte (Emily Skinner).

Everything comes together one weekend when everyone gathers at the country home of Desiree’s mother, Madame Armfeldt (Dana Ivey), who’s known her share of lovers. They’re joined by Desiree’s teenage daughter, Fredrika (Brigid O’Brien); the Egermans’ maid,  Petra (Marissa McGowan); and Frid (Michael McIntire), Madame Armfeldt’s servant.

There’s lots of foolish behavior, but various triangles are resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.

Director Mark Lamos weaves everything together thanks to a fine cast, especially among the older characters. Ziemba as the bemused Desiree and Skinner as the wronged Charlotte have impeccable timing as they react to the goings-on, and both sing well.

Except for Veldheer’s piercing upper notes as Anne, all of the principals sing well.

The show has five other named characters who serve more as a Greek chorus. They aren’t seen by the other characters, but they introduce scenes and, in Lamos’s staging, move set pieces on Riccardo Hernandez’s set. Traditionally the three women and two men are older, but Lamos has chosen to make them younger and far more sensual, as indicated by their behavior and the underclothing they wear in the opening scene. It’s not an entirely effective approach. Moreover, they don’t blend well vocally.

The elegant period costumes for the main characters are by Candice Donnelly. Lighting by Robert Wierzel captures the almost perpetual twilight of that time in Sweden.

Orchestrations and musical direction are by Wayne Barker, while the sound is by Kevin Kennedy. Choreography, mostly waltzes, is by Val Caniparoli.

Taken as a whole, this ACT production is first rate, thanks in large part to Sondheim’s intricate music and lyrics and some outstanding performances, especially by Ziemba and Skinner.

“A Little Night Music” will continue through June 24 at ACT’s Geary Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco. For tickets and information, call (415) 749-2228 or visit www.act-sf.org.

Audiences for Center REPertory Company’s production of Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” are in for a real treat.

Artistic director Michael Butler, who directs, has assembled a stellar group of performers and designers, resulting in a thoroughly entertaining show from start to finish.

The indisputable star is Molly Bell as Reno Sweeney, a role originated by Ethel Merman in the 1934 Broadway production. While Merman put her own inimitable stamp on the role, Bell has a different style that’s equally effective. She’s a triple-threat dynamo who can sing, dance and act with equal ease.

Reno is a brash nightclub “evangelist” who’s the featured entertainer on a passenger ship sailing from New York City to London.  She’s romantically interested in Billy Crocker (Joshua Hollister), who works for a Wall Street investor. Billy, though, has his heart set on Hope Harcourt (Brittany Danielle).

However, she’s engaged to a wealthy English nobleman, Sir Evelyn Oakley (Jeffrey Draper), a good-natured but naive sort who’s fascinated by American expressions.

With Billy as a stowaway, they all wind up on the S.S. American along with an assortment of other passengers and crew. Complications arise, but all get sorted out.

Porter’s music and lyrics have made this show a classic of the American musical theater. The long list of memorable songs includes such treasures as “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “Friendship” “It’s De-Lovely,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” and of course the title song. Closing the first act, it showcases the versatile choreography of Amanda Folena, artistic director ofRedwood City’s Broadway By the Bay, with a tap extravaganza.

As Billy, Hollister sings the show’s most difficult song, “All Through the Night,” better than almost everyone else I’ve heard in the role.

In addition to great singing and dancing, this production provides ample laughs, many of them triggered by Colin Thomson as Moonface Martin, a gangster of sorts, and by Lizzie O’Hara as Erma, his gal pal. She can sing and dance, too.

The show is a visual feast thanks to costumes by Victoria Livingston-Hall, who has given the women one delectable outfit after another.

The serviceable set by Michael Locher (lit by Kurt Landisman) places the 11-member orchestra (including musical director Brandon Adams on piano) on the top deck. If there’s one drawback in the show, it’s that the sound design by Jeff Mockus sometimes can’t compete with the orchestra.

Everyone in the 23-member cast does an outstanding job no matter how small the role. However, the one who makes this production especially memorable is Bell. She’s the top.

Running about two and a half hours with one intermission, “Anything Goes” will continue through June 27 at Center REPertory Company, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. For tickets and information, call (925) 943-7469 or visit www.centerREP.org.