The late Molly Ivins was a syndicated newspaper columnist who had little patience for stupidity, incompetence, pomposity or dishonesty, especially in politicians.

Instead of vitriol, though, she skewered them with her homegrown Texas humor, as seen in “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins.” Kathleen Turner brings her to life in a one-woman play by twin sisters Margaret and Allison Engel and presented by Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Wearing a blue denim work shirt, jeans and red cowboy boots (costume by Elizabeth Hope Clancy), Turner strides around the newsroom that houses her utilitarian desk with its manual typewriter and a preserved armadillo.

She’s ostensibly trying to write a column about her father, with whom she apparently had a love-hate relationship and whom she called “the General.” He was a conservative, she a liberal.

She’s occasionally interrupted by bulletins coming over the Associated Press wire machine — a staple of newsrooms before computers — and delivered to her by a silent copy boy (Michael Barrett Austin).

Along the way, she talks about her life, career and the people she’s met She tells how she started out in journalism when most newsrooms were all-male and when most journalists were hard drinkers, a situation that apparently led to her own problems with alcohol.

Her numerous anecdotes are peppered with references to her mentors and to famous people, mostly conservative politicians, most of whom she held in low regard. She’s the one who dubbed George W. Bush “Shrub.” She had little use for coziness between “guvmint” and “big bidness,” terms that don’t crop up in the play but that she often used in her columns.

Directed by David Esbjornson, Turner employs her famously sultry voice and assured stage presence to personify Ivins. She easily transitions from astute and often salty humor to more serious issues. The latter include the deaths of two boyfriends, one in a motorcycle accident and one in the Vietnam war, which Ivins steadfastly opposed. She says that both it and the Iraq war were predicated on lies.

The newsroom set by John Arnone is enhanced by Daniel Ionazzi’s lighting and by photo projections designed by Maya Ciarrocchi. The sound design and cowboy-themed music are by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen.

The play concludes with her plea for people to stand up for their rights and to oppose wrongdoing. Ironically, this came during opening night as people across the country, including Berkeley and Oakland, were protesting a grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer accused of killing a black teenager in Ferguson, Mo.

When Ivins died of breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 62, she left a void that has yet to be filled at newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle and hundreds of others across the country. She was a Texas original.

Running about 80 minutes without intermission, the play is both insightful and funny — highly enjoyable.

“Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins” will continue through Jan. 4 in Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. For tickets and information, call (510) 647-2949 or visit www.berkeleyrep.org.

Dementia takes a terrible toll not only on the victim and family but also on society in general. Sharr White’s “The Other Place” shows how dementia affects one woman and her family.

In the Dragon Theatre production directed by Kimberly Mohne Hill, Judith Ann Miller plays Juliana Smithton. She’s a 52-year-old neurologist who has developed what appears to be a breakthrough product to treat dementia and, presumably, Alzheimer’s disease, although that term is never used.

Pitching it to a group of doctors at a seminar in the Virgin Islands, she becomes distracted by what she says is a young woman wearing a yellow bikini and sitting in the back. She becomes so distracted that she can’t continue.

Shorty thereafter, her husband, Ian (Mark Drumm), an oncologist, refers her to a neurobiologist colleague, Dr. Cindy Teller (Maureen O’Neill, called The Woman in the program), for an evaluation.

Juliana is hostile, accusing Cindy and Ian of having an affair and saying that he wants to divorce her. Ian denies her accusations.

Juliana also insists that she has been in touch with their daughter, Laurel (O’Neill), who disappeared 10 years ago at the age of 15. The Smithtons never knew what happened to her. She might have run off with Juliana’s research assistant, Richard Sillner (Paul Stout, called The Man in the program), or she might have been abducted after running away.

The play’s title refers to the family’s former weekend cottage on Cape Cod. In her delusional state, Juliana goes there. Instead she encounters the owner, a woman (O’Neill) who — after first being angry — kindly appeases her.

Despite the play’s tragic topic, it has its humorous moments. It also has moments of hope.

Miller skillfully navigates Juliana’s emotional journey through personality changes and intellectual decline. Because so much of what she says may or may not be true, the audience must depend on Drumm’s Ian for the truth. O’Neill does well in the other female roles, especially the woman in the cottage. Stout does well in his limited role as The Man.

Brian Corral’s set, lit by Jeff Swan, is relatively bare bones but allows for shifting scenes. Costumes by Heidi Kobara are appropriate for the characters, but the sound by Rory Strahan-Mauk can become too loud between scenes.

Running 80 minutes without intermission, “The Other Place” is an absorbing look at the effects of dementia. Since it’s so prevalent throughout society, many in the audience will no doubt recall their own experience with an afflicted family member or friend.

“The Other Place” will continue at Dragon Theatre, 2120 Broadway St., Redwood City, through Dec. 14. For tickets and information, call (650) 493-2006 or visit www.dragonproductions.net.