Recently, the Richmond Arts and Culture Commission sponsored a student writing contest based on stunning photos from an exhibition titled Blossoms and Thorns: The Legacy of Richmond’s Japanese American Nurseries. Like the images that inspired them, the resulting haiku are elegant, eloquent, and bittersweet.

The Berkeley Repertory Theatre remains a local treasure—but it’s also become a high-profile incubator for New York–bound productions like the Green Day rock opera, American Idiot, and Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking. Our theater critic, Sam Hurwitt, traces the Rep’s star-studded trajectory.