TUESDAY, MARCH 6 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit the Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll learn about the water cycle, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Documentaries by Lebanese Women including “Here and Perhaps Elsewhere” at 7 p.m. at the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $6-$8. 415-564-1100. www.aff.org 

Civil Rights Tales with Stagebridge Theater at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

“Universal Health Care: What are the next steps?” with Richard Quint, MD, MPH, at noon at the Albany Library, at Marin and Masonic Aves, Albany. Brown Bag Luncheon Series of the League of Women Voters. Bring your lunch, hot drinks provided. 843-8824. 

“A Short Trip to Italy” multi-media presentation by Countess Alessandra Ranghiasci on her family's 150 room ancestral palace in Gubbio, Italy's best preserved medieval village, at 6 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Cost is $15. 848-7800.  

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 2 to 3 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Free Legal Assistance the first Tues. of the month at 6 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. Advance registration required. 526-3720, ext. 5. 

Discussion Salon on Schools and Gangs at 7 p.m. at JCC, 1414 Walnut.  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7 

Walking Tour of UC Berkeley Campus with retired East Bay Regional Park District Naturalist Alan Kaplan. Meet at 10 a.m. at the campus entrance gate at Euclid and Hearst for this moderately paced, 2-hour walk. Dress in layers and wear comfortable shoes. 526-7609. www.berkeleypaths.org  

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll learn about the water cycle, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Teach-In and Vigil Against American Torture every Wed. at noon at Boalt Hall, Bancroft Way at College Ave.  

“Torture, Human Rights and Terrorism” a panel discussion in conjunction with the exhbition of paintings of Abu Graib by Frenando Botero, at 4 p.m. at Booth Auditorium, Boalt Hall, UC Campus. 

Walk, Talk, Buck the Fence What’s at stake in the Ecology of Berkeley’s Strawberry Canyon A walk at 5 p.m. every Wed. with guests to discuss what is at stake in the next proposed steps for the filling of the Canyon by the UC-LBL Rad-Labs, and now British Petroleum. http://canyonwalks.blogspot.com  

“Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic” Chalmers Johnson in conversation with Gray Brechin at 7:30 p.m. at King Middle School auditorium, 1781 Rose St.Tickets are $12-$15. 848-6767, ext. 609. 

“Black Gold” a documentary expose of the coffee-industry at 6 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Oakland. Free. 238-2200. 

New to DVD: “L’Enfant” at 7 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St. Discussion follows. 848-0237. 

Beyond the Ivory Tower: Alternative Careers for Asia Specialists, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Flr. RSVP required. 642-2809.  

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Oreintation from 10 a.m. to noon at 6230 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 594-5165. 

Accessible Telephones, for those with vision, hearing, speaking and memory loss, on display from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Lomi Lomi Hawaiian form of bodywork, at 7 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

WriterCoach Connection seeks volunteers to help students improve their writing and thinking skills. Commit to 1-2 hours per week during the school day and work one-on-one with students in their English classes. Training from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 8 

Holocaust Remembrance Day 2nd Planning Meeting at 4 p.m. at 2180 Milvia St. 5th Floor Redbud Room. 981-7170.  

“Unseen and Unheard: Finding Bats in the Night Sky” with Dr. Joe Szewczak, from Humboldt State Univ., at the East Bay Scence Cafe, at 7 p.m. at Spud's Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. 558-0881.  

The Natural History of the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Proposed New Berkeley/ 

Albany Ferry Terminal Public Meeting to discuss the possible locations, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. For information see www.watertranist.org 

Activism in the Americas for International Women’s Day and the LGBT comunity with speakers Alejandra Sarda and Marcela Rios Tobar at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Sliding scale donation $5-$20. Benefits NACLA Report on the Americas. 849-2568.  

Documentaries by Lebanese Women including “Lebanon/War” at 7 p.m. at the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $6-$8. 415-564-1100. www.aff.org 

Movies and Speakers on the Anti-G8 Movement at 6:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. 540-0751. 

Free Diabetes Screening from 8 a.m. to noon at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Do not eat or drink anything for 8 hours beforehand. 981-5332. 

“The Care Crisis: The Problem That Has No Name” with Prof. Ruth Rosen at noon at Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center St. 981-2884. 

Family Story Time for children ages 3-7 at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, North Branch, 1170 The Alameda, at Hopkins. 981-6107. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755.  

FRIDAY, MARCH 9 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Spreck Rosekrans on “Hetch Hetchy” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

Help Restore Native Oysters Volunteers are needed from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Marina and at other sites in the Bay Area to help Save the Bay gather information about our native oyster population. For information call 452-9261 ext. 109. http://www.savesfbay.org/ 

bayevents 

“Quality Education through Arts Learning” Workshops, panels and resources from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and Sat. from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Mills College Concert Hall, Oakland. Tickets are $35-$45. Register online at www.artseducation.org 

“The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation of $5 accepted. www.HumanistHall.net 

“Reconnecting with the Root” Spiritual health and empowerment workshop, with MamaCoatl and chihuatl Tonali from 3 to 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 10 

Tibetan Flag Raising Ceremony at 9 a.m. at Berkeley City Hall, 2180 Milvia St. March for Tibetan Freedom continues at 11 a.m. at Justin Herman Plaza, S.F. www.freetibetmarch.org 

Let Worms Eat Your Garbage A free worm compost workshop to learn an amazing way to recycle fruit and vegetable scraps. From 10 a.m. to noon at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class “Hearty Homestyle Italian Cuisine” from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Cost is $45, plus 435 for food and materials. Registration required. 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com  

Bird House Gourd Crafting Learn the natural history of gourds and how to make a bird house out of one, from noon to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $20-$29. Registration required. 636-1684. 

“Art in the Garden” a drawing class with Karen LeGault from 1 to 4 p.m. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. COst is $25-$35. Registration required. 643-2755. 

Help “Save The Bay” Plant Natives Volunteers will restore some of the last remaining wetland habitat in the East Bay at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland from 9 a.m. to noon. RSVP to 452-9261 ext. 109. www.savesfbay.org 

“Facing the Mountain” Armenians and Turks share their stories at 8 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Tickets are $10. For reservations call 642-9460. 

“The Fight Against Capital Punishment: From Baghdad to San Quentin” with Barbara Cottman Becnel, advocate for the late Stanley “Tookie” Williams at 7 p.m. at The Home of Truth, 1300 Grand St., Alameda. Donations accepted. www.alamedaforum.org 

“If Women Ruled the World: Waging Peace in the U.S. and the Middle East” at 12:30 p.m. at Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center St. 981-2884. 

NAACP Berkeley Branch meets at 1 p.m. at 2108 Russell St. All are welcome. 845-7416. 

African American Basketball Pioneers Panel Discussion and exhibition at 2 p.m. at the African American Museum and Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. 238-6713. 

Haiti Action Committee with Haitian activist and former political prisoner So An at 7 p.m. at The Uptown, 401 26th St., Oakland. Donation $5-$50. 483-7481.  

Burma Human Rights Day Benefit with documentary “Inside the Secret City,” speakers and dinner, at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. Cost is $15. RSVP to 220-1323. www.badasf.org  

East Bay Atheists meet at 1:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Main Library, 3rd Floor Meeting Room 2090 Kittredge St. Burt Bogardus will speak on “The Teachings of Jesus Christ.” 222-7580. 

Hopalong Animal Rescue Come meet your furry new best friend from noon to 3 p.m. at 2940 College Ave. 267-1915, ext. 500. www.hopalong.org  

Luna Kid Dance 15th Anniversary Celebration at 10 a.m. at Haas Pavillion, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. www.lunakidsdance.org 

Dramatically Speaking Toastmasters Club meets at 9 a.m. at 1950 Franklin St., Room 2F. RSVP required, ID needed to get into building. 581-8675. 

Petite Pooches Playgroup for small dogs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., one block north of Solano on Ensenada at Talbot. 524-2459. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 11 

“Open Garden” Join the Little Farm gardener for composting, planting, watering and reaping the rewards of our work, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cancelled only by heavy rain. 525-2233. www.ebparks.org 

Clouds and You Learn the names of clouds and their families on a short hike, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Herstory of the Bay Celebrate Women’s History Month on a five mile walk honoring women who have made a difference in our community. From 2 to 5 p.m. at Point Isabel. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Meeting to Plan the People’s Park Anniversary Folks interested in helping with this year’s celebration (to be held April 22) are welome to come to the planning meeting at the Park’s Stage at 4:30 p.m., at Cafe Med if it is raining. 658-9178. 

Community Party for KPFA from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship, corner of Cedar and Bonita. Food donations appreciated. 525-3583. 

St. Patrick’s Day at the Kensington Farmer’s Market with Irish music, soaps, soda bread, marmalade and more from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kensington Farmers’ Market, 303 Arlington Ave. 684-6502. 

Summer Programs for Children Information Fair Learn about all types of camps and day programs for sports, music, drama, computers and more, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. www.aauw-op.com 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

“Sacrifice and Blood: Biblical Images and Their Relevance Today” with Beth Glick-Rieman at 9:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jack Petranker on “Opening to Light” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 12 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com (code UCB) 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

Tax Help at the Berkeley Public Library Sat. from 11:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the South Branch. Call for appointment. 981-6260. Also every Tues. and Thurs. at the West Branch from 12:15 to 3:15 p.m. Call for appointment. 981-6270. 

Berkeley Winter Campaign for Cats We are providing free trapping assistance and spay/neuter to feral and homeless cats in Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville and Piedmont, through March 2007. The cats will be spayed/neutered, vaccinated, treated for fleas and returned safely back to their neighborhoods. To report a neighborhood in need or to volunteer, please call 908-0709. 

Medical Care for Your Pet at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society low-cost veterinary clinic. 2700 Ninth St. For appointments call 845-3633. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

CITY MEETINGS 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., March 7, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550. 

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wed., March 7, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Tasha Tervelon, 981-5190.  

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission meets Wed., March 7, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7487. 

Community Health Commission meets Thurs., March 8, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Kristin Tehrani, 981-5356.  

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., March 8, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Angellique De Cloud, 981-5428. 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., March 8, at 7 p.m., at the West Berkeley Senior Center. Iris Starr, 981-7520.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., March 8, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410.

TUESDAY, MARCH 6 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Dream Landscapes” works by Billana Stremska opens with a reception at 6 p.m. at at the Claremont Hotel Club Gallery, 41 Tunnel Rd. RSVP to Katy Yong at 549-8512.  

FILM 

Alternative Visions: “Nicky Hamlyn: Film Art Phenomena” with Nicky Hamlyn in person, at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Arab Film Festival Documentaries by Lebanese Women including “Here and Perhaps Elsewhere” at 7 p.m. at the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $6-$8. 415-564-1100. www.aff.org 

“Little Miss Potentiality Returns” a film by Thalia Drori, at 9:15 at the Parkway Speakeasy Theater, Oakland. thaliadrori.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Eric Dyson discusses “Debating Race” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Donation $10. 848-3696.  

“A Short Trip to Italy” multi-media presentation by Countess Alessandra Ranghiasci on her family’s 150 room ancestral palace in Gubbio, Italy's best preserved medieval village, at 6 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Cost is $15. 848-7800.  

Daniel Mason reads from his new novel “A Far Country” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Art IS Education Performances and Art Show by students of the Emery Unified School District at 4 p.m. on the steps of Emeryville City Hall, 1333 Park Ave.  

Sauce Piquante at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun/Zydeco dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Ellen Hoffman and Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Jenny Ferris and Laura Klein, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Sean Jones at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$12. 238-9200.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7 

FILM 

Film 50: “The Conversation” with a lecture by Marilyn Fabe, at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

Independent Lens “Black Gold” an expose of the coffee-industry at 6 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Oakland. Free. 238-2200. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Chalmers Johnson discusses his new book “Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic” with Gray Brechin at 7:30 p.m. at King Middle School, 1781 Rose St. Tickets are $12-$15 at Cody’s. 559-9500. 

Joe Conason discusses why “It Can Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Whiskey Brothers Old Time and Bluegrass at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Terrie Odabi Quartet with guest Steve Turre, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $15. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Wadi Gad and Junior P, reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Orquestra Universal at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Birds & Batteries at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Joshua Eden at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SF Jazz High School All Stars at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, MARCH 8 

EXHIBITIONS 

“A Rose Has No Teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960s” Guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808 

FILM 

Women’s HerStory Film Series “Unbought and Unbossed” at noon at 4 p.m. at Laney College Forum, 900 Fallon St. http://laney.peralta.edu/womensherstorymonth 

Arab Film Festival Documentaries by Lebanese Women including “Lebanon/War” at 7 p.m. at the California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. Tickets are $6-$8. 415-564-1100. www.aff.org 

Women of Color Film Festival “Gathering Strands” with filmmakers in person at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Speaking Fierce” in honor of International Women’s Day, with Eli PaintedCrow and Anuradha Bhagwati, veterans, Kaylah Marin, Aimee Susara and others at 6:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2501 Harison St., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$15 sliding scale. 444-2700. 

“Documenting Oakland” with Erica Mailman, author of “Oakland’s Neighborhoods,” Jeff Norman, author of “Temescal Legacies” and Vietnemense poets from the Vietnamese Artist Collective at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, 125 14th St. 238-3271. 

Nora Gallagher introduces her first work of fiction, “Changing Light,” a love story set in the summer of 1945 in the shadow of Los Alamos and the making of the first atomic bomb at 7:30 p.m. in the Tucson Common Room, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 2451 Ridge Rd. 204-0710. 

Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz on their new book “Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815–1848” at 1 p.m. at Oakland Museum Lecture Hall, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. 238-2200. 

Spoken Word Swap Meet at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

T Cooper, Michelle Tea and Katia Noyes tell stories at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Stephen Davenport reads from “Saving Miss Oliver’s: A Novel of Leadership, Loyalty and Change” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera presents a free noontime concert at the Central Berkeley Public Library, 5th Floor, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. 

Jewish Music Festival “Musical Fortunes” with Dan Cantrell, Kitka, Michael Alpert at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $20-$25. 800-838-3006. www.jewishmusicfestival.org 

JGB featuring Melvin Seals with Rainmaker at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $17-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Muireann NicAmhlaoibh at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jim Grantham Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Edo Castro and Jeff Schmidt at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

And a Few to Break, The Attachments, Timothy Rabbit at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Headnodic & Raashan Ahmad at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

Stanley Clarke at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $24-$28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, MARCH 9 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” Fri and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 1409 High St., Alameda, through April 1. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Aurora Theatre Company “The Birthday Party” Wed. - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through March 11. Tickets are $38. 843-4822 

Berkeley Rep “The Pillowman” at 8 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through March 11. Tickets are $33-$61. 647-2949. 

Berkeley Rep “To the Lighthouse” at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. and runs through March 25. Tickets are $45-$61. 647-2917. 

Central Works Theater Ensemble “Lola Montez” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. through March 25. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Impact Theatre “Cartoon” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, through March 10. Tickets are $10-$15. www.impacttheatre.com 

“Triumph” A one woman show by Vanessa McDaniel at 3 p.m. at Black Repertory Group, 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $10. 652-2120. 

UC Dept. of Theater “Dolly West’s Kitchen” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $10-$14. 642-9925. http://theater.berkeley.edu 

Virago Theatre “Orphans” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at BridgeHead Studio, 2516 Blanding Ave, Alameda, through March 31. Tickets are $10-$15. 415-439-2456. www.viragotheatre.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Somebody” The New World of Figurative Art Works by seven artists exploring the human form. Reception at 6 p.m. at ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. 

“Person Place and Thing” Paintings by Susan Kendall, Renie McDonough and Pam Wright opens with a sidewalk reception at 6 p.m. at the Addison St. Windows Gallery, 2018 Addison St. 981-7533. 

FILM 

Women’s Film Festival and Disgital Arts Club, selected screenings at 6:30 p.m. at Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center St. 981-2884. 

“Boris Eifman: Work in Progress” A documentary by Alex Gutman at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Mr. Eifman will be present to introduce the film and will answer audience questions afterwards. 642-9988. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tom Odegard and John Rowe read their poetry at 7 p.m. at Nefeli Caffe, 1854 Euclid at Hearst. 841-6374. 

Alfred McCoy, author of “A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to the War on Terror” at 7:30 p.m. at at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

Sharon Lamb describes “Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers’ Schemes” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Christy Dana Quartet Plus Three at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $20. Sponsored by the Berkeley Arts Festival. 524-1124. 

Trillium, harp trio, celtic, world, classical at 8 p.m. at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Tickets are $15, children $5. 526-9146. 

Tony Bellaver “Interventions” Performance art from 1 to 4 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Donations accepted. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

MamaCoatl & Cihuatl Tonali for International Women’s Day, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Danny Hoch Hip Hop Workshop at 8 p.m. at 2116 Allston Way. Tickets are $7-$15. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Classical with a Twist Vicki Trimbach performs at 8 p.m. at the Jazzcafe, 2087 Addison StTickets are $15. 1-800-838-3006, event 6103. 

Carla Zilbersmith & Allen Taylor Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Womansong Circle Celebrating International Women’s Day in song at 6:45 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Donation. $15-$20. 525-7082. 

Swingthing at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. 

Houston Jones, Americana, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Willie Porter at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

The Nomadics, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

The Freak Accident, The May Fire, Space Vacuum from Outer Space at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Behind Enemy Lines, Born/Dead, Bumbklatt at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

The Brothers Lekas at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

B-Side Players, Raw Deluxe at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$7. 548-1159.  

Suburban Legends, 5 Days Dirty, All the New at 8:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10-$12. 763-1146.  

Chroma, electro-groove jazz, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Stanley Clarke at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $24-$28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, MARCH 10 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Colibri and Nancy Raven at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Owen Baker Flynn and his “Act in a Box” celebrates National Reading Month Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. 452-2259. 

EXHIBITIONS 

8 in 07 A group show of East Bay artists. Reception at 4 p.m. at the Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Gallery hours are Wed.-Sun. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Exhibition runs to April 1. 848-1228. 

Recent Works of Changming Chen Artist reception at 2 p.m. at Alta Galleria, 2980 College Ave., Suite #4. 421-1255.  

“Sexicon: The Art and Language of Erotica” from noon to 4 p.m., Sat. and Sun. at Living Room Gallery, 3230 Adeline St. www.myspace.com/livingroomcollective 

“A Rose Has No Teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960s” Guided tour at 1:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

THEATER 

“Facing the Mountain” Armenians and Turks Share Their Stories A Playback Theatre Performance at 8 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Tickets are $10. For reservations call 642-9460. 

Butchlalis de Panochtitlan, queer theater and comedy, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568.  

FILM 

Women of Color Film Festival “Sidestepping the Eternal Repetition” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Feminist Art” a lecture by Lousie Stanley at 10 a.m. and “Feminist Postmodern Installations” at 11 a.m. at Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center St. 981-2884. 

“The Bay Area Concept: Bruce Nauman and the Late Sixties” Symposium from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

Joe Hill discusses his scary novel “Heart-Shaped Fox” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Jessica Livingston describes “Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera Company “The Seraglio” at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300.  

West Coast Blues Hall of Fame Awards Show at 7 p.m. at Kimball’s Carnival, 522 Second St., Oakland. Tickets are $30. For reservations call 836-2227. www.bayareabluessociety.net 

The Albers Trio “Eastern European Masters” at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. 

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra “Violin and Viola Virtuosity” at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Free. 415-248-1640. 

Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Jewish Music Festival “Klezmer Buenos Aires” 8 p.m. at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St.. Tickets are $22-$26. 800-838-3006. www.jewishmusicfestival.org 

Moment’s Notice Improv music and dance at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 8th St. Coat is $8-$10. 847-1119. 

Steve Tayor-Ramirez, at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar, in the Strawberry Creek Park complex. 704-9378. 

Faye Carol & Her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sila and the Afrofunk Experience at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is TBA. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

John McGaraghan and Scott Waters at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Cascada de Flores at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Clarinet Thing with Beth Custer, Ben Goldberg, Sheldon Brown, and Harvey Wainpel at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Polkacide, The Kehoe Nation, The Whoreshoes and others at 8 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $8-$10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Nicole McRory at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

The Ravines, rock, at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Ten Ton Chicken, 7th Direction, Powel St. Jon and Friends at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Cyril Guiraud Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Insect Warfare, California Love, Reagan SS, Noisear at 6 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $8. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 11 

CHILDREN 

Oakland Hebrew Day School “Into the Woods, Junior” at 1 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $5 children, $7 aduults, at the door.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“A Rose Has No Teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960s” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

Works by Ellen Oppenhiemer and Peralta Elementary Students Opening reception at 4 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

FILM 

“Thieves in the Temple: The Reclaiming of Hip Hop” written and performed by Aya de Leon at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Jack Tillmany and Jennifer Dowling on “Oakland Theaters: A Pictorial History” at 2 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive Theater. 642-0808.  

Mitchell Schwarzer describes “Architecture of the San Francisco Bay Area: A History and Guide” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Poetry Flash presents poets David Roderick and Rebecca Black at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Aaron and David Requiro, chamber music, at 4 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $12, free for children under 18. 

Soli Deo Gloria and Orchestra Gloria at 3:30 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 5201 Park Blvd., Piedmont. Tickets are $20-$25. www.sdgloria.org 

Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32-$56. 642-9988.  

Classic Flamenco and Mariachi Dive Bar Piano with Seth Montfort, at 5:30 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $15. 415-362-6080. 

Alarm Will Sound Works by composer Conlon Nancarrow at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $32. 642-9988. 

Soul at the Chimes with harpist Destiny and Sonata Pi at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes,4499 Piedmont Ave. Oakland. Tickets are $20-$25. www.brownpapertickets.com 

The Hot Club of San Francisco at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ.  

Danny Hoch Hip Hop Workshop at 7 p.m. at 2116 Allston Way. Tickets are $7-$15. 647-2949. 

Tinkture, Kumbulus, Storm Temple and others at 6:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Ellen Seeling/Susan Muscarella Group at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

MONDAY, MARCH 12 

EXHIBITIONS 

Paintings of Michael Murphy opens at The LightRoom, 2263 Fifth St. and runs through April 13. 649-8111. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Writing for the Greater Good” a panel discussion on the recent issue of Greater Good magazine at 5:30 p.m. at 105 North Gate Hall, UC Graduate School of Journalism, Hearst at Euclid Ave. http://journalism.berkeley.edu 

Fred Alvarado on “Urban Dreamscapes” creating community murals at 5:30 p.m. at the Oakland Public Library, César Chávez Branch, 3301 E 12th St. Oakland. 535-5620. 

Jennifer Baumgardner discusses “Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Debra Di Blasi and Paul Vangelisti read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Dinah Lenney reads from “Bigger than Life: A Murder Memoir” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Poetry Express with Jan Dederick at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Classical at the Freight with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Danny Hoch Hip Hop Workshop at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $7-$15. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Skyline High School Jazz Ensemble at 8 and $10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com  

Celebrating both the richness of Jewish musical traditions and new innovations that spring from them, Berkeley’s 22nd annual Jewish Music Festival will explore the diversity and beauty of Jewish music from the world over for the next two weeks. With major artists from Argentina, Italy, Israel and the United States, “in some ways it’s the richest festival we’ve ever had, because it’s so eclectic,” says Festival Director Ellie Shapiro. “There’s everything from Italian Renaissance music to a poetry slam, cutting edge to Israeli pop.”  

The festival opens this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley (FCCB), with Musical Fortunes, a world premiere by Emmy-award winning Bay Area composer Dan Cantrell. Inspired by both klezmer and Romani (Gypsy) music, the song cycle features Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble, klezmer multi-instrumentalist, singer and dancer Michael Alpert, Romani musicians Rumen Shopov and Dusan Ristic, dancers, and stage direction by Aaron Davidman of A Traveling Jewish Theatre. 

The festival will also spotlight a little-known but extraordinary body of music by presenting Italy’s superb Ensemble Lucidarium in a program called La Istoria de Purim: Music and Poetry of the Jews of Renaissance Italy. For both Jewish music fans and the Bay Area’s early music community, this Bay Area premiere is a unique opportunity for discovery. The concert takes place at FCCB on Thursday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. 

Turning to an equally unique contemporary repertory, the festival presents Klezmer Buenos Aires, performed by Argentina’s Lerner Moguilevsky Duo, who mix klezmer, tango, jazz and Argentinean folk music. The musicians say they make their music “without anthropological pretension,” but instead create a heady mix that unites the passion and virtuosity of their musical sources on an array of keyboards, woodwinds and percussion. Their performance will take place on the Thrust Stage at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St., on Saturday, March 10 at 8 p.m. 

Along with its international reach, the festival’s devotion to local artists includes a homecoming for New York-based, Berkeley-bred jazz musicians Steven Bernstein and Peter Apfelbaum. On Sunday March 18 at Berkeley Rep, they’ll perform music from their Grammy-nominated recording Diaspora Blues, a work inspired by famed cantor Moshe Koussevitsky.  

At 2 p.m. on the 17th, Bernstein and Apfelbaum join fellow musicians Ben Goldberg, John Schott and Basya Shechter for a panel discussion at the JazzSchool, 2087 Addison, exploring the impact of John Zorn’s Tzadik Records and its Radical Jewish Culture series, which has featured all of their work and stretched the boundaries of Jewish music. That evening at 8 p.m., Berkeley Rep will play host to Pharaoh’s Daughter, Schechter’s groundbreaking group that mixes jazz, rock, Hasidic music, and sounds from across the Mediterranean and Middle East. 

The local focus continues with a new work by UC Berkeley composer Jorge Liderman, Aires de Sefarad, a world premiere for violin and guitar performed by Duo46, and inspired by the music of Sephardic (Mediterranean) Jews. This will take place on Thursday, March 22 at 8 p.m. at Congregation Beth El, 1301 Oxford St. The program opens with Avi Avital, a remarkable young Israeli mandolinist who at age 22 won Italy’s “Citta di Voghera” competition and has already soloed with orchestras around the world. Avital’s virtuosity will be spotlighted in a concert of his own that afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley.  

Several programs will take place in San Francisco locations, including a concert by Israeli vocalist Noa, and a program of rediscovered chamber music written by composers in the Terezin concentration camp. There are related programs throughout the Bay Area. 

Summing up this year’s festival, Shapiro comments, “We wanted to highlight emerging artists as well as new music this year. We’re a very committed Berkeley organization, collaborating this year with La Peña, the Jazz School, Freight and Salvage, and the Magnes Museum, as well as serving the greater Bay Area. We’re about participation as much as performance, and all this comes together on Community Music Day.” This event concludes the festival with a day of workshops, programs for children and families, an instrument petting zoo, a poetry slam, and much more. It all happens on Sunday, March 25, at the Jewish Community Center. 

JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL 

Information and tickets for all programs are available at (800) 838-3006 or www.jewishmusicfestival.org. 

Photograph: Avi Avital will perform at the  

22nd annual Jewish Music Festival.

A peripheral quality of action and inaction pervades the stage set of Berkeley Rep’s very interesting staging of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse. The sensory world juts out and curves through the playing space, projections of flights of birds, enormous raindrops, swirling seas seen from above move on the screens, music and recorded natural sounds pour through, the beacon flashes—and the cast of characters, drawn from Woolf’s memories of family summers on the Isle of Skye, meet at the intersections of social politeness and private thoughts and feelings. 

Woolf’s novel seems to defy adaptation, with its almost complete reliance on that celebrated mode of modern prose, the internal monologue. 

Modern theater in fact had developed a whole panoply of techniques for dealing with the internal, the diffident and the ineffable, from Strindberg and Chekhov (both influenced by Maurice Maeterlinck) through Pirandello and the experiments of Dada and the Surrealists by the time To the Lighthouse was published in 1929, developments which led, after the war, to the Theatre of the Absurd. 

Adaptor Adele Edling Shank and director Les Waters mostly eschew these parallels to the internal monologue, concentrating on a synthesis of self-narrating soliloquies, overlapping like the visual motifs to give a sense of various facets of the characters. 

This bears mixed results, especially as the development of the play is as diced up as the elements of the scenic design and the spoken component of the script. The show progresses from a series of seemingly disjointed vignettes, which then cohere around discussion among the Ramsay family at home about a deferred boating party to the lighthouse and also dialogue between two of their guests about the Ramsays; to a dinner party at a stage-breadth table that plays off the hostess’ (a fine performance by Monique Fowler as Mrs. Ramsay) soliloquizing of her intentions versus the overlapping thoughts of the guests as they observe and react to each other at table; to more conventional scenes of dialogue, then to a long poem about the passage of time; leading to the finale, a kind of opera, when a bereaved Mr. Ramsay and two of his children hoist sail onstage and sail past the ever-vigilant lighthouse while, on shore, old guest Lily Briscoe (Rebecca Watson) finishes a painting.  

Watson sings well to the pizzicato, and Edmond Genest’s distant, blank gaze both counterpoints the more intentional glances of family and guests, which attempt to bind together their common space in lieu of dialogue, and completes his excellent portrayal of this eccentric intellectual and father in glimpses that end in the long, blank look of age and mortality on the world. But the rocky sense of mood that tosses the valiant cast like the rough waves of the sea begs the question: should the show have been all opera, all sung?  

Ethereal, impressionistic, very aesthetic, yet the game’s worth the candle—candlepower?—of what serves as our beacon: the excellent, eclectic cast, both veterans of Broadway and regional stage (Watson, Fowler, Genest, Clifton Guterman, Whitney Bashor) and staunch local troupers (Jarion Monroe, David Mendelsohn, Lauren Grace and Noah James Butler) and young performers (Jack Indiana, Sophie Gabel-Scheinbaum, Gabriel Stephens-Siegler and Amara Radetsky) as the Ramsay children; the score, the design (Annie Mart’s set, Christal Weatherly’s costumes, Matt Frey’s lighting, Darron L. West’s sound and the best of Jedediah Ike’s video) and the director’s conception of the great dinner party. 

“The great revelation has never come, perhaps never will ...” The end effect is, in a way, less that of Woolf’s world of strangely interpersonal solipsism than of the Victorian-Edwardian world she conjures up in this rare, for her, ensemble from memory, very English in its sweeping, impersonal sentimentality, coming alive with vivid apercues and regrets, only to come away with a thronged picture or poem that only reveals what’s missing. “These journeys of remembrance!” 

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE 

Presented by the Berkeley Rep through March 25. $45-$61. 2025 Addision St. 

647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org.