The Sofia, Home of B Street Theatre — Attraction in Sacramento

B Street is a wonderful place to stage and see theater.

However, why would they even produce White Chip?

White Chip does not meet standards of what a play is: a play poses and answers a driving question, a play has actable moments, a play draws an audience in to do its own emotional work to join with the characters in some fundamental catharsis.

Nor is White Chip even a good story. In a good story, the teller must make every word deliberate to build his "so what?"

Maybe it's a sermon. After all, the main character tells us everything you need to see and do to find redemption.

Maybe the author does have a story to tell, but I suspect that he is still too close to recovery to get the needed distance to do more than regurgitate his AA story. Either he doesn't have the skill or the courage to really reveal anything more than the superficial about being a drunk. He never really grapples with the white chip really is all about.

And, structurally, why even bother with additional characters who have no more depth than stick puppets.

I worry that the production team gets hypnotized or falls in love with a particular issue or topic and forgets that the fundamentals must be in place for excellence. Get rigorous! Sacramento...

Beautiful new space. But... I went for a Mandy Harvey concert and when my husband called to see if there would be interpreters (the performer is deaf), the person on the phone had no idea and said "well we usually don't...". It wasn't until my husband said "but the performer is deaf so..." that the worker went to check. First off, any time you have accessibility features, advertise it! People won't go if you don't. Second, educate employees about access features so if people call, they're not immediately turned off by "idk but probably not".

When we arrived (for the concert with a deaf performer) they didn't have interpreters or other visual access. Instead people immediately started speaking to people entering. While there weren't many deaf attendees, this was a major turn off as I entered, especially given the "idk we probably won't have interpreters" my husband told me about from his phone conversation.

Then, the assistant director who welcomed the performer to the stage started talking before the interpreter was in place. This is always a bad practice but an even more egregious issue when the performer is deaf!

Educate employees and be sensitive to access needs and you'll get a lot more people willing to go to...

The new B st. theater is simply amazing. The stunning exterior is mirrored inside as well. The grand entrance gives way to the open expanses of the full bars seating area. Those of you who asked for larger restroom facilities have got your wish. There's even a place to check your coat or cape!

The new Sophia theater includes 2 theater stages. The 250 seat main stage reminiscent of the old B st. theater and the 365 seat Sutter theater for children. So far I've only been in the mainstage theater and it's even better than I imagined.

The maiden production, One Man, Two Guvnors, is hilariously funny and entertaining. This outstanding adapted production of Servant of Two Masters includes 13 of B st's great cast. It is an absolute must see and I highly recommend it. The company had extend this great play thru March 11th, because of popular demand.

The new Sophia is not quite finished, but it's well worth the five stars I gave it. I absolutely love the new theater and look forward to watching it grow.

TOPHATT

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