Carrie Fisher Tells Tales from the Hollywood Edge at Berkeley Rep

Nothing soothing about this storyteller, but you’ll laugh your head off, guaranteed. Dressed like Norma Desmond, kicking her shoes off, stretching in a chair, and feeling totally at home, Princess Leia, now 51 (still gorgeous) is drinking iced coke and chain-smoking, while relating her bitter tale of a celebrityrdom in her own new play “Wishful Drinking,” directed by Tony Taccone. It surely takes a lot of guts to be as brutally honest, direct and unapologetic as Ms. Fisher is in her autobiographical story, especially when both her legendary parents, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and her legendary film director, George Lucas, are all present at the show, as it happened during the Berkeley Rep opening last Tuesday. It also takes a lot of inner warmth and wisdom to be as sympathetic, graceful and relevant as she is underneath those sharp shards of her shattered subject matter, called life. From a visual lesson on Hollywood’s incestuous genealogy to a brief mental-health questionnaire, thrown into the audience, the playwright-actress keeps her viewers’ undivided attention with her speedy speech, bubbling over with details. Her prodigious childhood; her marriage to Paul Simon, who loved her “coffee eyes;” her parenting, shared with a husband who forgot to tell her he was gay; her unsettled accounts with Mom and Dad, and those commercial images of Princess Leia--from pez dispensers to sex dolls—everything is included in her story, up to rehab and mental hospital stints. Endlessly entertaining, she brings the value of a self-deprecating laugh to a new height. This MUST SEE show runs through April 12. Added bonus: On Friday, February 22, the Berkeley Rep Book Club meets at 6:30 PM for a lively discussion of Fisher’s first novel, Postcards from the Edge. The group, led by volunteer Mary Ann Peoples, is free – and, while you don’t have to see Wishful Drinking to attend, reading the book will deepen your appreciation of the show. Gourmet tastings take place before select performances on Friday and Saturday evenings. At these events, local artisans provide free samples at 7:00 PM, offering the perfect appetizer for a luxurious evening at the theatre. Charles Chocolates on February 29, Pyramid Brewery on March 1, Maritime East Restaurant on March 15, Raymond Vineyards on March 28, and Fra’Mani Salumi on March 29. Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Roda Stage, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. Box office: 510-647-2949. berkeleyrep.org.