Stage Reviews

A Lot of Life This isn’t so much a holiday production as a new Buck Busfield play in a December slot. The story involves an old Italian hardware store owner who’s about to lose his sputtering business (to a developer who wants to put up a gigantic home-improvement center) and his daughter (to a boyfriend he hasn’t met and probably wouldn’t approve of). The first half plays like situation comedy, as the various characters bounce off each other. But in the second half, fate arbitrarily intervenes, as everyone in the play experiences a personal setback, and then moves on (the way characters often do in a late Shakespearean romance). B Street Theatre , 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, $20.50-$10.75. 2711 B St., 443-5300. Through Jan. 6. J.H.


Six Women With Brain Death This very campy revue is Sacramento’s longest-running show, having celebrated its fifth anniversary in October. It’s a series of skits and songs about midlife women with “expiring minds,” dealing with soap operas, high-school reunions, grocery shopping and getting away from the kids. While the show clearly tickles the funny bone of its core audience (females over 40), our critic found the appeal elusive and the humor generic. But then, he’s a middle-aged guy.
Studio Theatre, 8 p.m. Thursday- Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $18-$14. 1028 R St., 446-2668. Open-ended run. J.H.