As actresses and actors perform "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" at ArtsCentric, they want to take you back in history.

Some say Shakespeare invented ... in Henry VI is working-class 80s (one character wears a Back to the Future t-shirt). The devilish Richard III is cool black leathered nonchalance.

“Shakespeare in the Shadows"— Mark Cohen plays six of Shakespeare’s most intriguing characters. The Bard’s hushed whispers and thundering roars unfold against wild Northern California ...