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Theater
New Season, Fall 2006 – Part 1
by
Ed Brownson
September In San
Francisco: the tourists go home, our best weather arrives, the schools restock
with kids and the doors of our many theaters are thrown open as local companies
large and small entice us to linger a while with their new season of offerings.
This year, Bay Area theater companies bring us an impressive lineup of shows
both brand new and familiar, by established playwrights and talented newcomers.
Producers and directors and actors and all manner of support crew have been
working for months – a full year is not unusual – on comedies and dramas,
musicals and monologues, all to entertain us, challenge us, amuse us, upset us,
maybe even (gasp!) make us think.
This
is the first of a series of columns designed to keep you up to date with the
who-what-when-where of local theater. Below is a short list of some of the
offerings by noted local companies. Next, we'll continue adding to this list,
and look for the review of A.C.T.'s latest Stoppard offering shortly after the
20th.
So, read on, then
toss down that remote, unplug yourself from the media lounge, walk out your
front door and go see some live theater!
(1) Amiercan Conservatory Theater -
American
Conservatory Theater opens their new season with Tom Stoppard's Travesties. A.C.T. in general and
Artistic Director Carey Perloff in particular (Perloff directs this production)
have an excellent history presenting Stoppard's works and Travesties should be no
exception. Travesties, first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in
1974, crossed the Atlantic to win a Tony in 1975. From the A.C.T. website:
Travesties begins with a simple fact: during World War I, James
Joyce, Vladimir Lenin, and Tristan Tzara all happened to be living in the
neutral oasis of Zürich, Switzerland. From that historical premise, Stoppard's
recipe for freewheeling dramatic fun takes over. Travesties throws the three
geniuses together in the same research library, adds a dash of irony, a pinch
of romantic intrigue, a generous helping of Oscar Wilde references, and voilà !
With this delightful riff on the skittish friendship between art and
revolution, Stoppard takes us inside the wildest minds of the 20th century and
leaves us breathless.
Previews for Travesties
begin on September 14; opening night is September 20. For more info and tickets: www.act-sf.org
or 415-749-2228.
Special note for the LGBT community:
One night each run, A.C.T. offers a special "Out with A.C.T." Enjoy a fully
catered after-party, meet members of the cast, and more. "Out" night for Travesties
is Wednesday, September 27. More info on A.C.T.'s "Out" nights: http://act-sf.org/in
dex.cfm?s_id=&pid=com_out
(2) Magic Theater
The
connection between Magic Theater and Sam Shepard goes back more
than 25 years: many of Shepard's plays were workshopped and/or premiered at the
Magic. Now, The Magic opens their 2006-2007 season with Shepard's latest work, The God of Hell, an unabashedly
agit-prop "takeoff on Republican fascism" (Shepard's description). Written in
2003 in response to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, The God of Hell tells of the…
…slow and predictable life of a mid-Western couple[…]
turned on its head when a salesman shows up at their door selling patriotic
paraphernalia. Who invited Homeland Security anyways? Electric, quick-witted
and subversively funny, The God of Hell is agit-prop theatre
at its best. (From the Magic Theatre website).
The God of Hell begins previews at Magic's Fort Mason stage
on September 23, and opens on September 30. For info and tickets: www.magictheatre.org and 415-441-8822.
(3) San Francisco Fringe Festival -
A
September "must-see" for all local theater addicts is the annual San
Francisco Fringe Festival. Sponsored by San Francisco's EXIT Theatre, the
S.F. Fringe and offers more than 40 different shows at a half-dozen locations
around the city. You will find anything at the Fringe: the great to the
groaner, the queer and the absurd and the political (often all in one), the
ridiculous, the tearjerker, the genius, the utterly incomprehensible. Shows are
never longer than 50 minutes and never cost more than $9.00 so the risk is low.
And if you don't like something? Hang around for the next: it's easy and a lot
of fun to fit several in to an evening.
The S.F. Fringe Festival runs from September
6 through 17. To plot your Fringe binge, visit www.sffringe.org for schedules and descriptions, then just
show up at the right theater a bit before curtain time and get your tix. This
year, you can also buy tickets online for only $1.00 extra.
(4) Theatre Rhinoceros
Theater Rhinoceros starts their 2006-2007 season with a very energetic four-play.
Joe Orton's
(in)famous play, What The Butler Saw
gets the Rhino treatment beginning Labor Day weekend. Orton's hilarious comic
farce, first performed in 1969, a year after Orton's death, immediately
outraged the Free World (sic) with its open sexuality and disdain for
authority. Butler runs through
September 24 at the Rhino theaterplex on 16th Street.
(5) American Conservatory Theater / Theater Rhino
For a queer
classic with completely different tone, check out Thomas Mann's Death In Venice, presented by Rhino
in collaboration with A.C.T. Mann's famous short novel of the awakening of
homosexual love in a life that had long denied it is adapted, directed and
performed by A.C.T. favorite Giles Havergal. Performances are at the Zeum
Theater at Yerba Buena Gardens from September 7 - 24.
For those
craving good old fashioned queer silliness (read: wigs, fishnets and
stilettos), consider Trog! a…
"side-splitting parody of the cult film TROG (1970) which starred Joan Crawford
in her last film role" (from Rhino's website). Trog! is written, directed and starring Matthew Martin and runs
through September 23 at the Rhino.
(6) A Song At Twilight
Last, but by no means least, is a one-night-only
special reading of Noel Coward's final and only overtly gay work, A
Song At Twilight, on Tuesday September 12. A "comedy-drama about fame,
infamy and the ever presence of the past Reading will be Giles Havergal (see Death
In Venice, above) with Libby O'Connell, Trish Tillman, and Enrique
Vallejo. Don't miss this rare opportunity to hear a rarely performed work by a
gay legend.
(7) Benefit for San Francisco Zoo
And . . . if you prefer your Rhino with, well, rhinos, Theatre Rhinoceros is having a benefit at
the San Francisco Zoo on October 15. Included will be all-day admission to
the Zoo, catered buffet lunch by Taste of the Wild catering company,
entertainment, and a silent auction. Rhinos
at the zoo? Who can pass on THAT?
Info and tickets for all shows and events: www.therhino.org or 415-861-5079
OK, class.
You've got your assignments for this week; start buying those tickets!
Next time:
Berkeley Rep brings us Brecht's magnificent Mother Courage, Aurora Theatre offers a new production of Oscar
Wilde's Salome, New
Conservatory Theatre has all sorts of queer theater ongoing and planned,
Shotgun Players, and more! Check back soon!
END
Bio & Past Articles
Past Articles
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On Stage Now!
Theater Reviews by Ed Brownson
Ed Brownson has been writing for the stage for eight years. His plays have been performed in the U.S. and Europe. Recent productions include his one-acts Another Ache and Soul’s Rust as part of Teatro Del Navile’s UAI Festival in Bologna, Italy, May, 2005, and The Dictionary Play in San Francisco’s Bay One-Acts (BOA) Festival, February, 2005. An evening of his short plays is scheduled in Italy in September. Also an essayist, Ed’s meditation on aging and mountains, Fifty at Ten Thousand Feet, was honored by Literary Traveler as part of their Summer Essay contest in 2002. He is currently editing a collection of essays on California titled California / Off Topic: Notes On A State Of Mind, scheduled for release in Spring, 2006. In various previous and parallel lives, Ed is/was a technical writer, a cyclist, cat attendant, and self-proclaimed computer geek. Reach Ed at ed.brownson@bettyslist.com. Read more of his writings at www.edbrownson.net.
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