Arts And Entertainment

TUESDAY, DEC. 18 -more-

Obie winner Adam Bock’s new play, The Shaker Chair, at Ashby Stage in a joint production of the Shotgun Players with Encore Theatre Co., opens with one woman sitting on the title piece, expostulating with another woman, who’s curled up in another kind of chair crying over a book. -more-

Berkeley Akademie Ensemble, Berkeley Symphony’s new program jointly directed by conductor Kent Nagano and violinist Stuart Canin to present music in “a multifaceted structure,” a tradition of Akademies which “trace their origin all the way back to what one might call the democratization of music,” will perform their debut concert 8 p.m. Wednesday at the First Congregational Church with renditions of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2 and 3, Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue and Richard Strauss’ “Metamorphosen.” -more-

Everyone who knew Sidney Howard (1891-1939) testified to his exuberant vitality. Barrett Clark said he had an “irrepressible youthfulness, a tremendous enthusiasm for life.” He was admired for his generosity to other writers, and his own plays were described as “among the best ever written in America.” He was one of the first important Broadway playwrights to go to Hollywood. -more-

FRIDAY, DEC. 14 -more-

Tomas Saraceno is a visionary artist who aspires to bridge the gap between art and science. Knowledgeable about principles of physics, chemistry and architecture, he has made use of high technology to design cities in the air. -more-

Brookside Repertory’s Holiday Shorts IV, their annual anthology of short holiday-themed plays by Bay Area playwrights, directed by Robert Hamm in staged readings, will be performed this Sunday afternoon at the Ballroom of the Claremont Resort and Spa. -more-

Siddhartha, the Bright Path, The Marsh Youth Theater production about the life of Buddha, which serves as a kind of alternative holiday show on several levels, opening this Saturday and playing through Jan. 6 at The Marsh in San Francisco’s Mission District, is the result of a collaboration set into motion by Berkeley’s Emily Klion, the creative roots of which trace back years ago to Mills College. -more-

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a huge oak tree stood east of Shattuck Avenue near Strawberry Creek in old Berkeley. It was variously known as Gibbet Oak, Vigilante Oak, and Hanging Oak. -more-