Arts & Events

THURSDAY, JAN. 29 -more-

The woods decay, the woods decay and fall, -more-

The King is Dead ! Long live the King!” Was Ionesco thinking of that traditional cry of mortality and the mantle passed on, when he wrote Exit the King, now onstage at Live Oak Theatre, produced by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, at the start of Ionesco’s centennial year? -more-

Two unusual events, a musical and poetic tribute to the memory of one influential local poet, and the joint reading of two others, take place in Berkeley this week. -more-

One of the more annoying subterfuges of American journalists is that reporters present themselves as “objective” blank slates on which the “news” etches itself. Under that artifice, the U.S. media wage a clandestine war against things they don’t approve of: Palestinians fighting for their own nation; uppity presidents of former client states, like Venezuela; virtually anything that has the slightest tinge of “Left.” And most of all, Cuba. -more-

-more-

Oakland Magic Circle has been in the business of prestidigitation since 1925. On Tuesday, Feb. 3, they will put on their 84th annual Installation Banquet and Gala Show, featuring European magic and quick-change team Stoil & Ekaterina, plus comic magician, juggler and unicyclist Frank Olivier, veteran of Broadway and the Johnny Carson show, and others. Bjornson Hall, 2258 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland. Dinner & show: $25 ($20 for kids 12 and under), advance tickets required: brownpapertickets.com (800) 838-3006. Show only, $20 at door from 7:30-8 p.m. -more-

Berkeley is a city filled with “Custom Homes.” This is a term I hate, but in the absence of something better, there it will have to lay on the page, windless and mundane. To me, the term “custom home” brings to mind brochures filled with hackneyed images of rock jawed builders (plans rolled up under one arm, a pipe smoking in one hand) as they explain procedure and rectitude to their adoring clients. Custom homes are those that are built on site on an individual basis rather than as part of some larger group, tract or prefab model to be shipped out to an awaiting customer in Tuscaloosa. -more-

THURSDAY, JAN. 29 -more-