I have seen some great plays and have learned a great deal of Black history by attending events at this venue. Keep up the great work and I will see you at the next event. read more

Great place for brothas ans sistas to gain knowledge and celebrate our history as well as future. We need more aces like this and kept up to move our agenda further. There other entertainment besides sports! Its small so come early, next to the BART read more

Everyone was very nice and polite but they do not have flashlights to show you to your seat and no one wears uniforms so you have to guess who works there. It didnt seem that clean so I was glad the lights were dimmed. I enjoyed the play a lot Misery loves Company but I doubt Ill return until they make more improvements to the venue. read more

Saw Amen Corner yesterday. This is an intimate venue with the lobby lined with photos of well known and lesser known accomplished black men and women from all fields of endeavor. The play treated the problems in religion with respect... THe cast was good, and it was a delight to get the opportunity to shake hands and chat with them after the show. It was definitely worth the drive from San Jose, oh, wish we hadn't had dinner before because there was great home made food available.. Including what looked like a great crab pasta salad and some skewered jerk chicken that sure looked good. read more

Saw Cabin in the sky. This is my new favorite theater! Best show I have seen in years! Will come back often!

Wonderful experience visiting for the first time to see Amen Corner by James Baldwin. The set and actors were great! There were three intermissions - and while short, the entire show lasted three hours which was a bit long for me despite how well they did. What I didn't expect were the vendors with so many great gift items, perfect for the season. And they sold food too - those jerk chicken wings looked and smelled great.. but I'd already eaten. In any case, check out this play and even consider making a donation to the theater. They are living their purpose and you will be happy that you supported it! read more

Okay, so I thought I would give this venue a second try. I was excited to hear Faye Carol sing Nina Simone songs, but so far this has been a real disappointment. Less than 20 minutes into the show, the ensemble took a 15 minute break. Faye Carol sang 3 songs while we had to listen to the corny rendition of Nina Simone's life. Very sad in that it was such a waste of Faye Carol's talent. I am not going to give this venue a third chance. Bye! read more

Enjoying Langston Hughes "Mullato" GREAT Cast & a GREAT way to end Black History Month ~

I loved the intimate nature of the playhouse, excellent acting and really loved how the actors were present after. It is very much a community theater, down home awesome acting a marvelously pleasant evening!:) read more

We saw the play - Mulatto - at the Berkeley Repatory Theater. The actors were fantastic. I highly recommend it.

Saw the Natalie Cole review "Unforgettable" there. The writer did and outstanding job reducing this complex woman's story to the short space of two hours. The musical selections were accurately and masterfully performed. The theater cast and staff gave a very warm reception to the audience which was appreciated on a cold rainy night. Altogether it was a great evening's entertainment. read more

The Wiz was sold out when I along with my family and grand-children went yesterday. A disappointing experience, we left during intermission; there was a group behind us who left during the first half! The venue was run down, restroom was not fully functional and unkempt. The production was poorly coordinated: most of the performers were unmic'd and hard to hear, the set/stage had no evidence of creativity and 'empty', the spotlight/lighting was hit or miss, sound system was awful! The performers didn't have a chance to shine due to the lackluster support of the entire production company including the venue. Am hoping BRT makes the necessary improvements to its primary business to support up and coming artists in the community. read more

For Valentine's Day, B.T took me here to watch the adaptation of Langston Hughes' "Mulatto." Romantic? Yes! I love watching plays so I was super excited! The Black Repertory Group Theater is not shiny, swanky, or new but there is something very endearing about it. I think a lot of it has to do with the passion and pride of the performers and the support from the community. It's very easy to say that this place needs an overhaul, but this is a community theater. I think the important thing to concentrate on is that the Black Repertory Group focuses and fosters the manifestation of creative arts- for EVERYONE to enjoy. The seats are very comfortable, and from a vantage point, there are no bad seats. "Mulatto" was very well done. One of the better plays I have seen and the acting was amazing. Oh, during intermission, they sold food! Score! Goodness that Jambalaya was yummy!!! They also had a raffle and B.T won VIP membership for a year. I can't wait to go back and see more plays here. So B.T if you're reading this... hint hint. read more

I just got back from an afternoon rendition of "The Princess and the Frog." I had never been to this theater and had no idea what to expect. My neice was in town and I thought, why not? Well, what a show! The entire show was put on by children with the exception of one or two adults. All of them were teriffic! Great acting, costumes, and dance numbers. Whoever did the direction, the costumes, and chrorography deserves accolades! The children ranged from maybe five years old to teenagers and they played their hearts out. However, they could have benefitted from a better script and better, more colorful sets. Also, they need better sound. There was taped music and the children did their best to sing along with it, but frankly, it would have better had they sang acapella. There was also a long wait between each scene to the point we got bored and started playing with our cell phones, etc. People were allowed to walk in and out of the door while the actors were on stage, flooding the inside of the theater with light which was a constant distraction. The ticketing was a mess, wth one of the young actors actually printing out each ticket in felt pen as she took your money - this takes alot of time and was unprofessional. The waiting area consisted of shoddy ran down furniture haphazardly placed about. The refreshment area was unorganized. Food was ...um - those overdone burgers didn't look too tasty .... we didn't order anything but a bag of chips and a soda, although they were offering a barbecue dinner for an addiional charge. With better management at the door, better sets and scenery, reconsideration of having the children sing over loud taped music, rearrangement of the lobby area - get rid of those mismatched old chairs and put in some long benches at least, a better ticketing system, and puhlleeeese get someone to watch that theater door so that people don't wander in and with the actors on stage, it could have been something wonderful. The children are delightful and endearaing I will probably go again, regardless of the drawbacks if for nothing else that I enjoyed watching those amazing kids. It does not deserve one or two stars. It could have easily been a four star had all the drawbacks above been rectified. A great time overall. Try it! read more

It is easy to find or see many problems here, but look ''behind the scenes" for the true Black Repertory Group. Some may criticize the condition of this historic Theater without giving regard to the unwavering community support provided by BRG for over 50 years. The Theater has given many a start, and a forum for all races to demonstrate creative expression - poetry, music, plays etc written/performed by the young & the old ! Some famous entertainers & creative people have either started or performed here. Sure it needs a physical facelift, (we all do eventually), but passion in Black Repertory Group and those who have committed to its community goals, which is THE HEART of this Theater, needs to remain a contemporaneous creative influence. Just spend some time watching local children learn about themselves here and see if the shortcomings really matter that much. read more

Please do not spend your money here! I bought two general seat tickets for Dec. 26th Paul Mooney: Last stand tour in cash the day before, upon arriving at the show the man at the door was explaining to everyone that Paul Mooney was unable to perform do to medical conditions, they would not give me a refund, but instead wanted to upgrade my ticket to VIP for other comedians that were unknown. After waiting about an hour with no refund I decided to leave. note: This place is extremely ghetto, unprofessional, and a down right dive. Don't spend your money on this venue, there was no notification of a cancellation, no information on the comedians replacing Paul Mooney yet, they insisted that I attend the show. I did eventually get my refund the next day, but I warn everyone NEVER attend any functions at the Black Repertory Group it was the worst experience I ever had. This venue should be closed down. Paul Mooney who was once on top of my list of best comedians of all time is now on the very bottom. Beware of the Black Repertory Group. I'd give zero stars if I could. read more

Most of the acting was just OK. The woman who played the lead was good. We saw Langston Hughes' "Mulatto". Now for the theater. It's definitely in need of a makeover. They also need to do some serious maintenance in the ladies room -- one toilet was broken & had leaked all over the floor, they ran out of toilet paper in another stall & I used the last paper towel (this was all during intermission BTW). They have a sign outside the theater that advertises coffee & dessert but what they actually had was some sad lil snacks, water & beer & wine. Lastly, we got there early to get good seats but it turns out they don't open the theater until 5 minutes before showtime. I'm glad there's a black theater but they need to get it together. read more

It's soooo disappointing to see a theater with so much potential - so run down and sooooo POORLY ran. For starters, opening night was oversold which caused a bit of an uproar in the audience when they - the theater added additional chairs blocking guests who said they could not see. The director/directors/choreographer were very unprofessional in their introductions and other times they spoke to the audience using "we just do what we do" and "we're just a community theater" as an excuse for their obvious unprofessionalism and ignorance. Basic things when doing a play like "The Wiz" were missing and noticed e.g. not having props, horrible sound and apparently no plans for queing the cast and musicians throughout the show. It was noticeable that cast members would just start their lines or start singing because something was obviously missed. I was also disappointed to see that although they seem to have good musicians, they used performance tracks for most of the singing - which is really unacceptable for a show like The Wiz with such memorable songs like "Home" and many others. It limited the vocal ability of some obviously dynamic singers like Nate' Soulsanger and even those who sang and dance throughout the show. The reputation of The Black Repertory is and continues to be sooo tarnished - not just because of The Wiz, but because of it's unwillingness to change - to step up to the plate - to bring a level of business that it's community and all of The Bay Area can and wants to be proud of. Hater? - I am NOT! No, just someone who knows The Black Rep can do sooooooooooo much BETTER! read more

The Amen Corner by James Baldwin is fabulous. The acting was as good as any I've seen at any theater, anywhere. The play is both dramatic and funny. Everyone was very nice and helpful, and the atmosphere was welcoming. We'll be back. read more

I am very disappointed in this play. I was so surprised to hear so many black voices off key. It started from the very first voice! I love black plays and tried to support our people but this one was tragic. I wanted to treat my granddaughter to the play because she is interested in drama and just was in her first school play. Her and her mother decided to step into the lobby because they were so frustrated w/ the play. My cousin and I sat through the play and could not believe what we were seeing. The curtain closed about 8 times and were closed from 4-5 mins each time. The young people were dressed in appropriately and thrusting their bottoms out! Though the scarecrow and tin man had good voices. Dorothy had a good voice I think but I don't think her microphone worked. You could barely hear her. I love seeing the Wiz but not this production. costumes were very poor quality, most of the women's hair ridiculous, etc..... Food overpriced, lines unorganized, over sold event because they had to bring in fold up chairs.... must I go on...., very unorganized. So sad...... I think it was generous to give 1 star. read more