I saw Berkeley Rep's "Honour" last night, one of my infrequent visits to that theater. Thirty years ago, I hated Berkeley Rep because of its presumptuous indoctrination and self-conscious acting style. These days, the acting is great, but it still presumes to indoctrinate.

The crowd, affluent and gray-haired, sat tensely in the lobby as if in wait of a court hearing. Many of them eyed those around them as if wondering whether each new ticketholder was with the plaintiff or the defendant.

They are the faded remnants of the Berkeley I knew 30 years ago, when in their youthful idealism they sat over coffee and proudly disdained classism.

Now they like their affluence and, for some, their tenure. They're stuck and stuck up.

At the signal, they file into the theater. There the trial is already over. The playwright, the director and the institution itself have have come to a verdict: the audience needs further re-education.

"Honour" is about the foulness of men, especially middle-aged men. It's a recurring theme in Berkeley, so I wasn't surprised. I lived there for 20 years and heard all the lectures that begin with "You men…"

The characters are played well, especially Kathleen Chalfant as Honor herself. The David Mamet-like dialog is crisp. The set is smart but icy. The cookies sold in the lobby were first rate.

Author Joanna Murray-Smith says in the program notes,"I strenously wanted to avoid painting Honor as the only victim and Gus [the husband] as a facile, vain bastard."

Someone failed, either Murray-Smith or director Tony Taccone or both.

Gus never explains himself well enough to convince any of the women or the audience of his decision's morality. But I'm sure that's fine with most Berkeley audiences. Who needs to hear the "other" side when you've already made up your mind?

This is all so familiar—not just because of my 20 years in Berkeley among the Hard Left. I also grew up in Alamo and Danville among the true-believing Hard Right. The Hard Right and the Hard Left might as well be bosom buddies because they're certainly twins.