Is there something about growing up in Mill Valley that would turn a perfectly normal boy into a playwright with a dark sense of humor and a penchant for odd violence that involves lamb legs?

Wherever Peter Sinn Nachtrieb got his love for " big theatricality" - his humor-loving parents, his years at Marin Academy as a "theater geek," his time interning as a marine biologist off the coast of Panama, being involved in a sketch comedy group - it has served him well. Nachtrieb's career is booming as his latest play - appropriately titled "boom" - has caught the attention of critics all over.

here reporter Sam Hurwitt catches up with all 6 feet 6 inches of Nachtrieb as "boom" makes its Bay Area premiere at Marin Theatre Company, the first time one of his plays has hit his hometown of Mill Valley.

Speaking of theatricality, Barfly experiences his own mini-version when it comes to a "big tipper," and Kat Wilder explores the drama known as a love spat.

Feeling dramatic? E-mail me at editor.here@gmail.com.

- Vicki Larson, here editor