Credits: Patrick Barry
How many times can a teacher tell a story about failing to connect to students and cause you to laugh out loud? Turns out, the answer is often, because Al Letson has a natural gift as a playwright, performance poet, actor, public-radio host, and storyteller. His one-man, autobiographical account of a summer spent working with disadvantaged kids in Jacksonville, Florida, is a kaleidoscope of dark and light colors. Spoken and sung, he tells a no-middle-ground story of America’s dropout epidemic. Summer in Sanctuary doesn’t play it safe, either. And why should it, when the kids Letson profiles butt up against shame, pride, poverty, and death each and every day?
April 7 – 29, $20-35 sliding scale, $55 or $100 reserve seating. 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley, TheMarsh.org.
