Jeff Smith
Jeff Smith has been a theater critic for the Reader since 1980. He also writes a local history column. He has a Ph.D. in literature and critical theory from the University of California, Irvine, and wrote his doctoral dissertation on Shakespeare. He was the original writing director of two University of California freshman composition programs: the Humanities Core Course, at Irvine, and the Revelle Humanities/Writing Program at UCSD. Over the years, Jeff has dramaturged dozens of shows. Favorites include Sam Shepard’s Tooth of Crime, Peter Barnes’s Red Noses (both at the San Diego Rep), Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia (North Coast Rep), Things May Disimprove: Samuel Becket One-Acts (L&L Productions), and Shakespeare’s Hamlet (New Village Arts).
Latest Blog Entries
Craig Noel Award Recipients for 2011
Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012
**Dramatic Production**: August: Osage County, Old Globe Theatre ...
Theater Critics Circle Awards: Backstage Last Night
Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012
It's 7:15. Our annual Craig Noel Award ceremony ...
Golden Child at Chinese Pirate Productions
Monday, Feb. 6, 2012
David Henry Hwang knocked Broadway for a loop ...
A Raisin in the Sun at Moxie Theatre
Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012
Is wonderful! Lorraine Hansberry's breakthrough drama (1959) is ...
An Enemy of the People at Intrepid Shakespeare Company
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012
In the movie *Jaws*, the police chief wants ...
Brooklyn Boy at Scripps Ranch Theatre
Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012
Eric Weiss's dream has come true. All those ...
The Mousetrap at Moonlight at the Avo
Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012
When Agatha Christie's whodunit opened at the New ...
Dividing the Estate at the Old Globe
Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012
There's more to Horton Foote's play than meets ...
Lion in Winter: Sure It's Whacko, But Is It Accurate?
Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012
In James Goldman's comedy-drama - now at North ...
Spring Awakening at California Youth Conservatory Theatre
Friday, Jan. 13, 2012
Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's eight Tony Award-winning, ...
This Week in Sports, 100 Years Ago - Baseball
Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012
SEMI-PROFESSIONAL. "Each winter sees more of the big ...
This Week in Sports - 100 Years Ago, Part Two
Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012
AUTOMOBILE RACING. Two cars — a Schlacht driven ...
This Week in Sports - 100 Years Ago, Part One
Friday, Jan. 6, 2012
"Literally speaking," writes the *Union* on January 1, ...
Year End Clearance Sales - 100 Years Ago
Friday, Dec. 30, 2011
Between December 26 and January 2, 1911, stores ...
Nominees for Craig Noel Awards, 2011
Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011
The San Diego Critics Circle has announced the ...
It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Cygnet
Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011
Okay, over here you got your world class ...
Comparison Shopping - 100 Years Ago
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011
If you were out and about on December ...
What's Playing this Weekend — 100 Years Ago
Friday, Dec. 16, 2011
Between December 16 and 18, 1911, San Diego ...
Mistletoe, Music, and Mayhem at North Coast Rep
Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011
Now in its second year, this wacko satire ...
More Blog Entries
Latest Stories
The Old Globe’s Recommendation; A Behanding in Spokane at the Cygnet
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012
Aaron Feldman’s so connected that when he sits by the pool and the beer runs out, he whines: “No one has texted me in, like, AN HOUR!” He lives in ...
North Coast Rep stages James Goldman’s Lion in Winter
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, their sons Richard I and King John: mighty names, each exuding historical import. Henry II dressed like a commoner and ruled, at one point, from ...
Over, Under, Through
Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012
The Old Globe staged Tracy Lett’s August: Osage County and did a masterful job. Also at the Globe, Adrian Noble turned Shakespeare’s The Tempest into a musical with “wood notes ...
Unforgettable: The death ship returns to Baja and salvation
Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011
The Death Ship Comes Alive When the crew of the San Diego heard they were finally going home, relief erupted. “They thought they might have a few more days to ...
Unforgettable: Bitter Cold and Scurvy Dog Vizcaíno’s Ships
Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011
Toward the Freezing North As Sebastian Vizcaíno’s expedition prepared to leave San Diego Bay, a member of the crew struggled to board a launch. Stiff-legged, barely able to walk, he ...
Rewind the Clock to the Ghosts of Seasons Past
Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011
Jacob Marley’s isn’t the only Ghost of Christmas Past. Everyone probably has a few. They may not arrive in chains, shaking a bony finger at the void, and whispering “beware.” ...
Rock the Cynics
Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011
‘What’s buzz? Tell me what’s a-happening!” “When do we arrive in Jerusalem?” “Will no one stay awake with me?” “Did Mohammed move a mountain, or was that just PR?” “Did ...
Wrestling Angels
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011
When a close friend died from AIDS, Tony Kushner dreamed about an angel “crashing through someone’s bedroom ceiling.” It wasn’t an archangel — a Gabriel or a Michael — or ...
Unforgettable: Exploring San Diego Bay
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011
Fifty years after Columbus first set sail, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo discovered “a sheltered port and a very good one” on the California coast. Guarded by a steep promontory, dark green ...
X-Ray Eyes
Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011
During OnStage Playhouse’s intermissions, the houselights come up, but the actors remain in character onstage. As audience members talk among themselves or scan text messages, the characters play cards and ...
