Free Will Astrology, Feb. 5-11

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): The world’s largest mirror isn’t an actual mirror. It’s Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni salt flat, a vast area that’s almost perfectly flat. After a rain, a thin layer of calm water transforms the surface into a perfect reflector that can be used to calibrate observation satellites. In these conditions, it may be almost impossible to tell where the Earth begins and the sky ends. I foresee metaphorically similar developments for you during the coming weeks. Boundaries between different aspects of your world—professional and personal, spiritual and practical—might blur in interesting ways. A temporary dissolution of the usual limits may offer you surprising insights and unexpected opportunities for realignment. Be alert for helpful clues about how to adjust the way you see things.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): From day to day, glaciers appear static. But they are actually slow-moving rivers of ice that have tremendous creative power. They can make or reshape valleys, moving tons of dirt and rock. They pulverize, grind and topple trees, hills and even mountains. New lakes may emerge in the course of their activity. I invite you to imagine yourself as a glacier in the coming months, Taurus. Exult in your steady transformative power. Notice and keep track of your slow but sure progress. Trust that your persistence will ultimately accomplish wonders and marvels.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In recent weeks, have you stirred up any dynamic fantasies about exotic sanctuaries or faraway places or mercurial wild cards? Have you delivered enticing messages to inspiring beauties or brave freedom-fighters or vibrant networkers? Have you been monitoring the activities of longshots or future helpers or unification adepts who might be useful to you sooner than you imagine? Finally, Gemini, have you noticed I’m suggesting that everything important will arise in threes—except when they come in twos, in which case you should hunt for the missing third? P.S.: When the wild things call to you, respond promptly.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Archaeologists found two 43,000-year-old flutes in Germany. Constructed of mammoth ivory and bird bone, they still produce clear notes with perfect pitch. They were located in a cave that contains ancient examples of figurative art. Some genius way back then regarded art and music as a pleasurable pairing. I propose we make these instruments your power symbols for the coming weeks, Cancerian. May they inspire you to resuscitate the value of your past accomplishments. May you call on the help of melodies and memories that still resonate—and that can inspire your future adventures. Your words of power are regeneration, revival and reanimation.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): It’s your unbirthday season, Leo—the holiday that’s halfway between your last birthday and your next. During this interlude, you could benefit from clarifying what you don’t want, don’t believe and don’t like. You may generate good fortune for yourself by going on a quest to discover rich potentials and stirring possibilities that are as-yet hidden or unexpressed. I hope you will be bold enough to scan the frontiers for sources of beauty and truth that you have been missing. During your unbirthday season, you will be wise to gather the rest of the information you will need to make a smart gamble or daring change.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Austrian playwright Elfriede Jelinek won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004, and Romanian-German author Herta Müller earned it in 2009. But garnering the world’s most prestigious award for writers did not provide a big boost to their book sales. In some markets, their famous works are now out of print. In 2025, I hope you Virgos do in your own spheres what they only half-accomplished in theirs. I would love for you to gather more appreciation and attention while simultaneously raising your income. According to my reading of the astrological omens, this is a reasonable expectation. 

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): By day, Libra-born Forrest Bess (1911-1977) worked as a commercial fisher in Texas. By night, he created visionary paintings inspired by symbols that appeared to him in states between sleeping and waking. Other influences in his art came from alchemy, the psychological philosophy of Carl Jung and Indigenous Australian rituals. His life was living proof that mystical exploration and mundane work could coexist. I’m hoping he might serve you as an inspirational role model. You are in a phase when you have the power to blend and synergize seemingly opposing aspects of your world. You would be wise to meditate on how to find common ground between practical necessity and spiritual aspiration. Are there ways you can unite the desires of your head and heart? Of your need for safety and your longing for adventure? Of your craving for beauty and your fondness for usefulness?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, arranged for himself to be buried after death with an army of 8,000 soldiers made from terracotta, which is a clay ceramic. Joining the gang below the Earth’s surface were 770 horses and 130 chariots. For more than 2,000 years, this assemblage was lost and forgotten. But in 1974, farmers digging a new well found it accidentally. In this spirit, I am predicting that sometime in the next five months, you will make interesting discoveries while looking for something other than what you find. They won’t be as spectacular as the terracotta army, but I bet they will be fun and life changing.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Author Zora Neale Hurston said, “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” I will adjust that counsel for your use, Sagittarius. According to my astrological analysis, the first half of 2025 will ask questions, and the second half will answer them. For best results, I invite you to gather and polish your best questions in the next five months, carefully defining and refining them. When July begins, tell life you are ready to receive replies to your carefully wrought inquiries.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Hemoglobin is an iron-bearing protein that’s crucial to most life. It enables the transportation of oxygen in the blood. But one species, the icefish of the Antarctic seas, lacks hemoglobin. They evolved other ways to obtain and circulate enough oxygen in the frozen depths, including larger hearts and blood vessels. The system they’ve developed works well. So they are examples of how to adjust to an apparent problem in ways that lead to fine evolutionary innovations. I suspect you’re now in the midst of your own personal version of a comparable adaptation. Keep up the good work.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Born under the sign of Aquarius, Clyde Tombaugh discovered the heavenly body known as Pluto in 1930. This was years before he earned advanced degrees in astronomy. His early education was primarily self-directed. The telescopes he used to learn the sky were built from tractor parts and old car components from his father’s farm. During the coming months, I surmise there will be elements of your life resembling Tombaugh’s story. Your intuition and instincts will bring you insights that may seem unearned or premature. (They’re not.) You will garner breakthroughs that seem to be arriving from the future.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): One of the world’s deepest caves is Veryovkina in the nation of Georgia. At its lowest, it’s 7,257 feet down. There are creatures living there that are found nowhere else on Earth. I propose we make it your symbolic power spot for now. In my astrological opinion, you will be wise to dive further into the unknown depths than you have in quite some time. Fascinating mysteries and useful secrets await you. Your motto: “Go deeper and deeper and deeper.”

Your Letters, 2/5

Praise for the ‘Graze’ Story

I want to applaud the well written and balanced article by Cole Hersey (“Given, Then Taken,” Jan. 29). In the town hall meeting with Jared Huffman referenced, there was a huge amount of outrage, sadness and disappointment at the outcome delivered. It was refreshing to hear that the Pacific Sun reminds its readers that the ranchers had a choice and took the money, just like they did in the early ’60s. 

Interesting that for all the misdirected anger and cataclysmic changes ahead, ranchers didn’t do just one thing. If the employees, way of life and multi-generational traditions are so important to them, saying so was within their choices. “No” is a complete sentence last time I checked, and some lessees so stated.

Joseph Brooke
Point Reyes Station

Generic but Gendered

Regarding Buck Moon’s “Dumbass Debate” Jan. 22 letter to the editor that objected to me concluding that the play POTUS, etc. or Behind Every Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive is misandrist as it’s only hateful of Donald Trump: Please advise him that before he calls someone a “dumbass,” he might want to do his homework, as the play, which opened in 2022, does not show the president. He is treated as a generic man whose name is never spoken.

Joe Manthey
Petaluma

Culture Crush, 2/6

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Petaluma

Old School Photo Ops

Photo conservator Gawain Weaver unravels the mysteries of early California portraiture in an upcoming workshop offering a deep dive into 19th- and early 20th-century photography. Hosted by the Petaluma Regional Library at the Petaluma Arts Center, the workshop explores how these portraits were made, how to interpret them and what they reveal about the era. “This is an opportunity to place yourself and your family in local history and improve your understanding of the artifacts in your homes and local museums,” said Connie Williams, the history room librarian at the Petaluma Regional Library. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own family portraits for discussion and can even scan them for digital preservation. 10am-noon, Saturday, Feb. 22, at Petaluma Arts Center, 230 Lakeville St.

Santa Rosa

Paws for Love

What happens when shelter pets become painters? The result is a Wine Country winter gala. Paws for Love features original art created by homeless animals, plus live and silent auctions benefiting sick, injured and abused pets. Now in its 26th year, this event raises funds to support animal welfare all year long. The gala runs from 5-9pm, Thursday, Feb. 8, at Finley Center, 2060 W. College Ave., Santa Rosa. Tickets: $50 donation in advance, $60 at the door. More info at pawsforlove.info.

Mill Valley

Wedding Expo

One may say “I do” to the ultimate event-planning experience. Whether they’re part of an engaged couple, planning a milestone celebration or an event pro seeking inspiration, the Marin Wedding & Event Expo is a one-stop shop for all things weddings and special events. At the event, one can meet vendors, explore the latest trends and discover everything from décor to gourmet catering—all under one roof. Plus, an RSVP entitles one to the chance to win raffle prizes. 1-4pm, Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto. Free admission. RSVP on Eventbrite online at bit.ly/mv-wedding-25.

San Rafael

Galentine’s Crafts

It’s almost time to get that craft on with those best gals (and pals) this Valentine’s Day. The Galentine’s Open Crafting Event is the chance to unleash creativity, celebrate friendship and make something—no crafting experience required. One may bring their own supplies or use what’s provided, and explore a variety of DIY stations. The event is open to all, regardless of gender. 4-6pm, Friday, Feb. 14, at 1033 C St., San Rafael. Ages 18+. Tickets are $47.73 on Eventbrite and available at bit.ly/galentines-craft.

Meet Kimi Barbosa, Director of Positive Images

I met Kimi Barbosa (they/he/she), executive director of Positive Images, during lunch hour at their art-decorated rainbow clubhouse. I entered their spot in step with their door-dasher. Lunch was politely deferred, and we had a friendly chat. 

As Barbosa talked and I listened, I came to see that their cozy and somewhat cramped clubhouse reflected the origins of Positive Images—that of a safe meeting place for queers founded in the darkest years of the AIDS crisis. 

The non-profit’s services now reflect its present moment: resource navigation, youth and adult support groups, an LGBTQI+ therapy fund, workplace sensitivity training, public presentations, school clubs, public events, parade contingents, partnerships and public policy. 

Their progressed mission was the bridge between past and present—an effort to turn all of the North Bay into a safe space for LGBTQI+ people—because a single room, no matter how large and colorfully decorated, is too much like a closet.

CH: Kimi, what is your message for your LGBTQI+ community in these times?

KB: It is a scary time. It feels like the world is against us because, frankly, the world is against us. Many of Trump’s executive orders directly target our community. This is the time—more than ever—to find the light in each other. Support each other. Be the rock for each other. Community care needs to be held very closely for the next four years.

CH: And Kimi, what is your message to the broader community?

KB: We aren’t going to be scared back into the closet or kept from living our truth in our authentic identities. But we need allies. Now more than ever. We need our allies to show up and stand in solidarity with us—visibly, in public, out loud. We can’t do this alone. The CDC has reported that anti-LGBT hate crimes were on the rise even before Trump took office.

Learn more. Visit posimages.org for a complete list of services, history and video introductions with their incredibly stylish staff. Barbosa warns that the Trump administration is cutting off Federal dollars to LGBTQI+ non-profits like Positive Images, so they encourage donations. 

If one feels that their workplace would benefit from queer and trans sensitivity training, Barbosa invites a booking with Positive Images.

Trump 2.0, the Next Narrative

Americans have long been subjected to political and corporate sleight-of-hand, the creation of a narrative that says it is doing one thing while behind the scenes doing another. 

America’s corporate tyrants work with our elected officials to claim they are keeping us safe and secure in our continental cocoon of North America as they spend $1 trillion a year preparing for and engaging in war across the globe. 

This false narrative is part of the long-standing military-industrial complex narrative. It propagates fear so that Americans open their national treasury and allow it to be drained of hard-earned tax dollars to purchase weapon systems that do not work, empty inventories of ammunition on unarmed populations and create endless wars when diplomacy would have resolved the issue. 

Let us not create a moral equivalency between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party or between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, but rather let us highlight to Americans that they now have another narrative containing some truth, some falsehoods and some hysteria, all being aimed their way so they will not object to or attempt to prevent corporate theft abroad or here at home. 

The point is not to obsess about Trump but rather to obsess about the entire American political system. Outrage at Trump must be channeled to the broader system that allows Trump and other elected officials, Democrat and Republican, to commit war crimes, gut our national treasury and benefit their corporate donors, all while pointing the finger at the malevolent character on the other side of the political aisle, or the evil foreigner on the other side of the globe. 

It is time to reject these narratives. The truth of corporate tyranny is outrageous enough. Let us stay focused on that. Brad Wolf is director of Peace Action Network and co-coördinates the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal.

Love, Sex and Lit: Cupid Aims for Marin Readers

It’s a bird. It’s a plane… No, wait—it’s Cupid with his bow, arrows and a personal agenda to spread love, lust and everything in between.

In other words, Valentine’s Day is nearly here, and that can mean just about anything from love to lust to loneliness to the irresistible urge to frolic solo through a field, celebrating the liberating freedom of being single.

Whether one is young, single or taken, in the honeymoon stage, or grieving heartbreak, love and its loss are part of a shared universal experience called being human. But just because love is a common affliction doesn’t mean it isn’t complicated. Romantic love is simultaneously the easiest thing in the world and the easiest thing to get wrong and explode spectacularly.

Luckily, the literary canon covers three aspects of the human condition more than others: war, religion and love. Since the current news cycle reports a lot of the former two and not much of the latter, now is the best time to have a candid conversation about love to balance the scales a bit.

So, what is love? Is it as simple as “Oh, baby, don’t hurt me,” or is there more to unpack than Haddaway’s hit song may lead us to believe? Well, let’s look at the past and present literature to help navigate the minefield filled with those amorous darts Eros loves to throw our way.

Let’s start with one of the most notable romance writers of old, Francis Petrarch (circa the 1300s). Petrarch is famous for his sonnets of love, which paved the way for writers such as William Shakespeare. This may sound a bit droll, but Petrarch’s struggles with love are far more relatable than one would expect.

You see, over the course of his life, Petrarch wrote a grand total of 366 poems declaring his passionate love for a woman named Laura. Petrarch was smitten with her, even though the two never had a relationship and may or may not have met. Why, one may ask? Well, Petrarch liked that Laura was naturally demure, very mindful…and blonde.

One line from a sonnet of Petrarch’s goes, “I ask that those who suffer by Love’s dart may pardon me, and pity me my worst.”

The current translation of that would be a mopey “Vaguebook” post saying, “Pity me, love sucks (if you know, you know).”

Another Italian writer that most people know is Dante Alighieri, who famously authored The Divine Comedy, aka Dante’s Inferno (plus Purgatorio and Paradiso). But Dante didn’t begin his writing career talking about heaven, hell and everything in between. No, Dante began with La Vita Nuova, which was all about courtly love…plus, The Divine Comedy is, at its heart, a love story in which Dante is just trying to get to his boo, Beatrice.

Moving on to a more contemporary era is Shakespeare, with iconic romantic literary works like Romeo and Juliet. This play famously shows just how disastrously stupid two youths in love can be. While most modern couples don’t fake their deaths and accidentally die in the process, it’s safe to say the drama and miscommunication of early dating is a shared experience regardless of the era.

Back to the here and now of romantic books: Literature on love and all its highs and lows, from smut to how-tos, is available with just one quick trip to a local bookshop. Book Passage, for example, has four upcoming author talks from those who have not only loved and/or lost but also logged their experiences for people to read, enjoy and even learn from.

So, what sorts of modern literary resources does Marin County have on the horizon to help lovelorn souls glean some answers on the topic of love?

Well, at 11am on Saturday, Feb. 8, Book Passage is hosting an author talk all about Leah Fisher’s novel, My Marriage Sabbatical: A Memoir of Solo Travel and Lasting Love. In an era where “gray divorce” is increasingly common, Fisher and her husband found a way to navigate their opposing desires and life paths. Fisher wanted to travel the world, but her husband did not, so they embarked on a journey of splitting up physically without splitting up permanently.

Then, at 1pm on the same day, Book Passage will celebrate Corinne Farago’s The Turned-On Couple: Your Path to Lasting Love, Passion and Pleasure, a work that gives its readers 65 lessons that can prevent or even renew a relationship’s passion. Farago’s book may hold the wisdom one seeks for those who desire more desire in a long-term relationship.

Skipping ahead to 4pm on Saturday, Feb. 15, Book Passage highlights the newly released How to Be Dateable: The Essential Guide to Finding Your Person and Falling in Love by authors Julie Krafchick and Yue Xu in conversation with Marie Thouin. This book compares love to a maze and offers readers a way out of the confusing landscape of the modern age of dating…which, despite its modern roots, sounds a whole lot like Lady Mary Wroth’s 17th-century poem which asks, “In this strange labyrinth how shall I turn?”

Lastly, but certainly not least-ly, at 6pm on Tuesday, Feb. 18, Book Passage welcomes Jennifer Finney Boylan’s new book, Cleavage: Men, Women and the Space Between Us. In this literary work, the author takes readers on an intimate exploration of gender identity through her own experience as a transgender American. Cleavage takes its audience through Boylan’s personal history, the lessons she learned, and, ultimately, the power of love through it all.

The power of love naturally brings us back to Valentine’s Day, a dichotomous holiday that throws one’s personal relationship with romance, love and partnership into sharp relief, highlighting happiness and satisfaction or more “woe is me” vibes.

No matter what this Valentine’s Day brings one’s way, books on love, gender identity and dating/courting are there to help remind one that they are far from alone (no matter what genre of love story they’re currently experiencing). The literary greats of old and modern eras alike are always there to offer words of wisdom, encouragement and a uniquely human way to celebrate the upcoming holiday. 

Author talks, modern and classic literature and so much more can be found at local bookshops like Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. To learn more, visit bookpassage.com.

‘I’m Still Here,’ a Portrait of Quiet Bravery Against Injustice

In the opening frames of Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here, we’re introduced to the Paiva family of Rio de Janeiro through a montage of scenes of ordinary life in that fabled tropical city. 

Kids playing futebol and volleyball on the beach, families picnicking, the discovery of a lost puppy, and some fun-loving teenagers smoking a joint and taking videos out the window of their car as they roll down the street—a portrait of carefree people in a warm country.

But before that reassuring sequence, back at the very beginning, the first camera shot foretells a different story. Eunice Paiva (played by Fernanda Torres), mother of five school-age children, is swimming in the gentle surf of Copacabana Beach when a noisy military helicopter flies over. The sight of it stirs a worried reaction on Eunice’s face. Rio de Janeiro in 1970 is under a military dictatorship.

At home, Eunice’s kids enjoy the rising expectations that go along with life in a comfortable middle-class family. The eldest daughter, Veroca (Valentina Herszage), is on her way to stay with friends in England. She and her younger teenage sisters all share a European outlook—keeping their passports current and listening to Serge Gainsbourg records. Even after Veroca and her friends get rousted one night by a police roadblock (searching for leftist students?), there’s the sense that these children essentially have the freedom to do what they want.

Their father, Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), a former member of Congress now working as an engineer, is another story entirely. Much to the chagrin of his wife, soft-spoken Rubens maintains clandestine connections with people under government suspicion. Late-night phone calls are made, and envelopes are slipped under the door.

Storm clouds are gathering. Politically aware audience members will begin bracing themselves for the worst. The worst indeed happens, and Eunice bears the weight of events for her sheltered family.

As the grim government investigation unfolds, Eunice is put through the same drill that other Brazilian families are being subjected to—in common with residents of Argentina and Chile during the age of rightwing Latin American dictatorships in the 1970s. 

At first, she’s questioned about communists and forced to study a large volume of mug shots of suspected subversives. On one of the pages she finds her husband’s photo. And then she finds her own. Later, Eunice and her daughter, Eliana, are taken away and temporarily imprisoned. When mother and daughter are finally released, Eunice is denied access to the family’s bank account.

I’m Still Here is not an action-packed thriller. Eunice does not join an underground resistance cell or run for office as an opponent of the regime. Her response to the threats against her family is non-violent, yet eventually effective. Quietly fighting on the home front, she starts a letter campaign and rouses public resistance to the government’s assault on her family’s civil liberties. I’m Still Here is essentially a true story. Paiva earned a law degree and became a human rights activist before her death in 2018.

Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage, one of the German leftist playwright’s most provocative dramas, could make a fitting brand name for Eunice as well, despite the differences between Brecht’s emblematic anti-heroine—a war scavenger—and the righteous survivor Eunice. Actor Torres has the face and demeanor of a true Mother Courage.

‘I’m Still Here’ is playing at the Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 4th St., San Rafael. For times and tickets, visit rafaelfilm.cafilm.org.

Bring a Tissue to ‘The Spitfire Grill’ at Ross Valley Players

The Spitfire Grill is open at The Barn in the Marin Art & Garden Center, courtesy of the Ross Valley Players. The show, an intimate musical by James Valcq (music and book) and Fred Alley (lyrics) and based on the 1996 movie, runs through Feb. 23. 

Newly freed jailbird Percy (Kyra Lynn Kozlenko) lands in the small town of Gilead, Wisconsin. The Spitfire’s owner, Hannah (Kelly Ground), takes her in. Hannah has been trying to sell the diner for a decade. Though the townsfolk are initially suspicious, Percy, Hannah and helper Shelby (Julianne Bretan) devise a plan to raffle off the diner, unintentionally saving the town. 

Helping/hindering the plan are town gossip Effy (Jane Harrington), Sheriff Joe (Kyle Stoner), Hannah’s nephew Caleb (Brad Parks) and the Visitor (Bradley Markwick). The plot may seem simple, but what’s important are the concepts of connection, hope, compassion and forgiveness.

There are good performances here. Ground’s Hannah has an energy that never wavers, and Bretan’s Shelby is outstanding. Her choices are so in tune with the character and the flow of the play that every time she’s onstage the scene benefits. Bretan’s chemistry with Kozlenko is phenomenal. Director Jay Manley is to be commended for his casting choices. 

Sadly, RVP has chosen not to mic the actors, even though there’s a very good three-piece band onstage under the musical direction of Nick Brown. This wasn’t an issue for those with stronger voices, but it was evident some actors were not trained to sing over music sans amplification. It was hard to hear Kozlenko and even harder to hear Stoner. The staging didn’t help. Having the actors on the extremes of the stage doesn’t work if the actors aren’t projecting. 

The set by Ron Kremetz is a piece of art, maybe a bit too beautiful for a diner in a dying town. As for Michele Samuels’ lights, it was hard to tell if the set or the equipment limited them. For a show with a song titled “Shine,” the lights should do more than just illuminate.

Overall, this is a good play. However, there are more important things here. There was no way to know how needed connection and hope would be when Spitfire first opened in New York four days before 9/11. 

Similarly, it seems prescient of RVP to choose this play now, when expressions of compassion and empathy have become controversial. 

‘The Spitfire Grill’ runs through Feb. 23 at the Barn Theatre in the Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross. Thursday through Saturday, 7:30pm; Sun., 2pm. $29–$40. 415.456.9555. rossvalleyplayers.com.

Coward’s Tale? ‘Present Laughter’ staged in Novato

For audiences who didn’t get their fill of Noël Coward with the recent Ross Valley Players production of Blithe Spirit, the Novato Theater Company is offering a second helping of Coward comedy with their production of Present Laughter. The show runs in Novato through Feb. 16. 

But Coward purists beware. Audiences expecting a traditional production of the 1940’s three-act farce may be taken aback as director Carl Jordan leans into a revival version mounted in 2019 that made significant changes to some of the characters. 

While the core of Coward is still there (even with the original three acts reduced to two), Jordan moves the period piece into the present day, adds bits of awkward choreography, and utilizes a modern soundtrack to highlight moments or cover scene changes. (I could have done without hearing Toto’s “Africa” in a Noël Coward show.)

Most jarringly, the revival version converted—for lack of a better word—some of the various conflict-creating heterosexual couplings that go on in the show to same-sex ones. What in Coward’s original was a wife cheating on her husband becomes a husband cheating on his wife… with a man. 

That man would be actor Garry Essendine (David Abrams), England’s leading stage star, who is facing down middle age while looking up to an African tour. The tour can’t begin soon enough, as Garry finds himself having to deal with a one-night stand (Tina Traboulsi), a very strange aspiring playwright (Thomas Petersen), his philandering manager (Kevin Allen), his producer (Ashey Kennedy) and her philandering husband (Nic Moore). 

This is all under the watchful and somewhat amused eyes of his estranged wife (Kathryn Schott), his housekeeper (Shirley Nilsen Hall), his valet (Jamie Montellato) and his put-upon secretary (Heather Shepardson).

Abrams gives a full-throated performance as the vainglorious Garry. The character is clearly written as an old-school matinee idol, which is why it seems so out of place in the present day. 

The beautiful art deco set design by Electric Bill Weinberg and lighting by Frank Sarubbi also harken back to the show’s original period, and script specifics often play anachronistically. Who travels by steerage these days?

There’s a lot of good work done by the show’s talented ensemble, but they’re all battling against a director’s flawed vision.

Bottom line: Even with the changes in characters’ orientations, this Present would play better in the past.

‘Present Laughter’ runs through Feb. 16 at the Novato Theater Company, 5420 Nave Dr., Ste. C, Novato. Fri & Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm., $25–$35. 415.883.4498. novatotheatercompany.org.

Your Letters, 1/29

Flash Back

In the 1930s, the U.S. couldn’t figure out that Hitler’s Germany was taking a hard right turn toward dictatorship. However, in 2025, Germany’s diplomatic corps clearly sees what it calls America’s “maximum concentration of power with the president at the expense of Congress and the states.” (“Leaked memo reveals alarming German warnings over Trump,” Politico, Jan. 19, 2025.) America’s intellectual and constitutional downturn started long before 2015 and before the steep decline in SAT scores in the 1960s. 

It essentially started with the authoritarian veer of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s but was checked to a degree and rolled out more slowly here. After defeating Hitler’s Germany in World War II, America has been braying about world dominance so loud and for so long that we stepped into the same hot mess Germany did nearly a hundred years earlier. How sad for us and the world.

Kimball Shinkoskey
Sonoma County

Insurrection Day

I have been informed that a new national holiday will be created in honor of the new administration: National Insurrection Day. The date would be January 6.

Gary Sciford
Santa Rosa

S-S-Snake Cover

The Year of the Snake, huh? (Bohemian, Jan. 15, 2025.)  Perfect! Look what just slithered into The White House!

Bob Canning
Petaluma

Free Will Astrology, Feb. 5-11

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The world’s largest mirror isn’t an actual mirror. It’s Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni salt flat, a vast area that’s almost perfectly flat. After a rain, a thin layer of calm water transforms the surface into a perfect reflector that can be used to calibrate observation satellites. In these conditions, it may be almost impossible to...

Your Letters, 2/5

Praise for the ‘Graze’ Story I want to applaud the well written and balanced article by Cole Hersey (“Given, Then Taken,” Jan. 29). In the town hall meeting with Jared Huffman referenced, there was a huge amount of outrage, sadness and disappointment at the outcome delivered. It was refreshing to hear that the Pacific Sun reminds its readers that the...

Culture Crush, 2/6

Petaluma Old School Photo Ops Photo conservator Gawain Weaver unravels the mysteries of early California portraiture in an upcoming workshop offering a deep dive into 19th- and early 20th-century photography. Hosted by the Petaluma Regional Library at the Petaluma Arts Center, the workshop explores how these portraits were made, how to interpret them and what they reveal about the era. “This...

Meet Kimi Barbosa, Director of Positive Images

I met Kimi Barbosa (they/he/she), executive director of Positive Images, during lunch hour at their art-decorated rainbow clubhouse. I entered their spot in step with their door-dasher. Lunch was politely deferred, and we had a friendly chat.  As Barbosa talked and I listened, I came to see that their cozy and somewhat cramped clubhouse reflected the origins of Positive Images—that...

Trump 2.0, the Next Narrative

Americans have long been subjected to political and corporate sleight-of-hand, the creation of a narrative that says it is doing one thing while behind the scenes doing another.  America’s corporate tyrants work with our elected officials to claim they are keeping us safe and secure in our continental cocoon of North America as they spend $1 trillion a year preparing...

Love, Sex and Lit: Cupid Aims for Marin Readers

It’s a bird. It’s a plane… No, wait—it’s Cupid with his bow, arrows and a personal agenda to spread love, lust and everything in between. In other words, Valentine’s Day is nearly here, and that can mean just about anything from love to lust to loneliness to the irresistible urge to frolic solo through a field, celebrating the liberating freedom...

‘I’m Still Here,’ a Portrait of Quiet Bravery Against Injustice

In the opening frames of Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here, we’re introduced to the Paiva family of Rio de Janeiro through a montage of scenes of ordinary life in that fabled tropical city.  Kids playing futebol and volleyball on the beach, families picnicking, the discovery of a lost puppy, and some fun-loving teenagers smoking a joint and taking videos out...

Bring a Tissue to ‘The Spitfire Grill’ at Ross Valley Players

The Spitfire Grill is open at The Barn in the Marin Art & Garden Center, courtesy of the Ross Valley Players. The show, an intimate musical by James Valcq (music and book) and Fred Alley (lyrics) and based on the 1996 movie, runs through Feb. 23.  Newly freed jailbird Percy (Kyra Lynn Kozlenko) lands in the small town of Gilead,...

Coward’s Tale? ‘Present Laughter’ staged in Novato

For audiences who didn’t get their fill of Noël Coward with the recent Ross Valley Players production of Blithe Spirit, the Novato Theater Company is offering a second helping of Coward comedy with their production of Present Laughter. The show runs in Novato through Feb. 16.  But Coward purists beware. Audiences expecting a traditional production of the 1940’s three-act farce...

Your Letters, 1/29

Flash Back In the 1930s, the U.S. couldn’t figure out that Hitler’s Germany was taking a hard right turn toward dictatorship. However, in 2025, Germany’s diplomatic corps clearly sees what it calls America’s “maximum concentration of power with the president at the expense of Congress and the states.” (“Leaked memo reveals alarming German warnings over Trump,” Politico, Jan. 19, 2025.)...
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