48 Hills editors and writers are highlighting their favorite people and things of 2025. Vote now for your own favorites in our 51st Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll! And join us October 22, 6pm-9pm, at El Rio for the 48 Hills Annual Community Gala to party with the winners and celebrate the independent spirit of the Bay Area.
Hidden among all the great things in Berkeley Rep’s recent take on Uncle Vanya was the cellist whose on-stage performance colored the surreal atmosphere. Those of us who have been following this performer the last few years knew she’d inevitably leave lasting impression with the few lines she was given.
What we weren’t expecting was for her to showcase an entirely new skill to go along with her acting. As usual, her work didn’t just add to the scene, it made the scene.
Kina Kantor is one of those performers who seems to pop up out of nowhere before becoming ubiquitous. Most of us first heard about her in 2019, when she performed in Bindlestiff’s The Love Edition: Falling Hard. Since then, she’s practically become a resident talent with SF Playhouse, SF Mime Troupe, and almost every other local stage of note. You may catch her with Golden Thread for the reading of a brand-new script; you may see her mid-pentameter in one of the Bard’s less-performed pieces; you may even just split your sides she delivers a pitch-perfect deadpan during a Noël Coward classic.
As with the best Bay Area talent, Kantor not only delivers on skill, she also adds some much-needed diversity to a local scene that’s still pretty white. One wonders if her musical talents add to her sense of timing and often-understated stage presence? She can handle heavy drama (see The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin) as well as comedy, without ever trying steal focus away from her co-stars. She never seems to make the scene about her, yet after the show, you can’t imagine those scenes without her.
Offhand, I don’t know where she’s performing next, but you can rest assured that she’ll stand out from the crowd without even trying.
