Stage listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, and Nicole Gluckstern. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.
THEATER
OPENING
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Buriel Clay Theater at the African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton, SF; www.african-americanshakes.org. $10-15. Opens Sat/26, 8pm. Runs Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through Feb 17. African-American Shakespeare Company performs Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer-winning classic.
4000 Miles Geary Theater, 415 Geary, SF; www.act-sf.org. $20-150. Opens Wed/23, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 8pm; Tue, 7pm. Through Feb 10. ACT performs Amy Herzog’s comedy about growing up and growing old, and the moments in between.
Se Llama Cristina Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, SF; www.magictheatre.org. $22-60. Previews Wed/23-Sat/26, 8pm; Tue/29, 7pm. Opens Jan 30, 8pm. Runs Tue, 7pm; Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Feb 2 and 13, 2:30pm); Sun, 2:30pm. Magic Theatre performs the world premiere of Octavio Solis’ multi-layered drama.
Princess Ivanova Performance Art Institute, 75 Boardman, SF; www.thecollectedworks.org. $20-30. Opens Thu/24, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through Feb 9. The Performance Art Institute presents Witold Gombrowicz’s 1935 Absurdist comedy.
SF Sketchfest: The San Francisco Comedy Festival Various venues, SF; www.sfsketchfest.com. Ticket prices vary according to event. Jan 24-Feb 10. The popular fest returns for its 12th year, featuring an array of comedy programs including tributes to Portlandia, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, and Bruce Campbell; a series of Reggie Watts performances; film screenings; sketch and improv shows; and more.
BAY AREA
Our Practical Heaven Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; www.auroratheatre.org. $32-60. Previews Fri/25-Sat/26 and Jan 30, 8pm; Sun/27 and Tue/29, 7pm. Opens Jan 31, 8pm. Runs Tue and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm); Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through March 3. Aurora Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Anthony Clarvoe’s play about a family that gathers in a home they’ll soon lose due to a rising sea.
Waiting for Godot Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; www.marintheatre.org. $36-52. Previews Thu/24-Sat/26, 8pm; Sun/27, 7pm. Opens Tue/29, 8pm. Runs Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Feb 2,and 16, 2pm; Feb 7, 1pm); Wed, 7:30pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Feb 17. Marin Theatre Company performs Samuel Beckett’s modern classic.
The Wild Bride Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $35-89. Opens Sat/26, 8pm. Runs Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm; no matinee Sun/27). Through Feb 17. Berkeley Rep performs a return engagement of Emma Rice’s grown-up fairy tale.
ONGOING
Dear Harvey New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Previews Wed/23-Fri/25, 8pm. Opens Sat/26, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Feb 24. New Conservatory Theatre Center performs Patricia Loughrey’s play about Harvey Milk, drawn from over 30 interviews.
Foodies! The Musical Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter, SF; www.foodiesthemusical.com. $30-34. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. AWAT Productions presents Morris Bobrow’s musical comedy revue all about food.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch Boxcar Playhouse, 505 Natoma, SF; www.boxcartheatre.org. $25-35. Wed/23-Sat/26, 8pm (also Sat/26, 5pm). Boxcar’s popular production of John Cameron Mitchell’s glam-rock musical returns, starring a rotating cast of Hedwigs.
The Listener: Short Stories on Stage, A Cycle of Original Comic Stories Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sat/26, 8pm; Sun/27, 3 and 7pm. Charlie Varon reads five comic short stories, presented in two parts. Part two: Sat/26; parts one and two in succession: Sun/27.
The Little Foxes Tides Theatre, 533 Sutter, SF; www.tidestheatre.org. $20-38. Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through Feb 23. Tides Theatre Company performs a modern take on the Lillian Hellman classic.
Manic Pixie Dream Girl ACT Costume Shop Theater, 1117 Market, SF; www.manicpixiedreamgirl.org. $25-35. Thu-Sun, 8pm. Through Feb 10. A stock character takes the power back in PlayGround’s world premiere of Katie May’s play, based on her graphic novel.
"Risk Is This…The Cutting Ball New Experimental Plays Festival" Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor, SF; www.cuttingball.com. Free ($20 for reserved seating; $50 for five-play reserved seating festival pass). Through Feb 9. Three new works (by Sean San José, Dipika Guha, and Basil Kreimendahl) and two new "Risk Translations."
Sex and the City: LIVE! Rebel, 1760 Market, SF; trannyshack.com/sexandthecity. $25. Wed, 7 and 9pm. Open-ended. Lady Bear, Trixie Carr, Heklina, and D’Arcy Drollinger star in this drag tribute to the long-running HBO show.
The Waiting Period Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Fri/25, 8pm; Sat/26, 5pm. Brian Copeland (comedian, TV and radio personality, and creator-performer of the long-running solo play Not a Genuine Black Man) returns to the Marsh with a new solo, this one based on more recent and messier events` in Copeland’s life. The play concerns an episode of severe depression in which he considered suicide, going so far as to purchase a handgun — the title coming from the legally mandatory 10-day period between purchasing and picking up the weapon, which leaves time for reflections and circumstances that ultimately prevent Copeland from pulling the trigger. A grim subject, but Copeland (with co-developer and director David Ford) ensures there’s plenty of humor as well as frank sentiment along the way. The actor peoples the opening scene in the gun store with a comically if somewhat stereotypically rugged representative of the Second Amendment, for instance, as well as an equally familiar "doood" dude at the service counter. Afterward, we follow Copeland, a just barely coping dad, home to the house recently abandoned by his wife, and through the ordinary routines that become unbearable to the clinically depressed. Copeland also recreates interviews he’s made with other survivors of suicidal depression. Telling someone about such things is vital to preventing their worst outcomes, says Copeland, and telling his own story is meant to encourage others. It’s a worthy aim but only a fitfully engaging piece, since as drama it remains thin, standing at perhaps too respectful a distance from the convoluted torment and alienation at its center. (Avila)
The World’s Funniest Bubble Show Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $8-50. Sun, 11am. Extended through March 17. The Amazing Bubble Man (a.k.a. Louis Pearl) continues his family-friendly bubble extravaganza.
BAY AREA
Acid Test: The Many Incarnations of Ram Dass Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Extended through Feb 17. Lynne Kaufman’s new play stars Warren David Keith as the noted spiritual figure.
Hippy Icon, Flower Geezer and Temple of Accumulated Error Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Feb 10. Wavy Gravy holds forth on his legendary life and times.
Intimate Apparel Pear Avenue Theatre, 1220 Pear, Mtn View; www.thepear.org. $10-30. Thu/24-Sat/26, 8pm; Sun/27, 2pm. Pear Avenue Theatre performs Lynn Nottage’s drama about a seamstress in 1905 New York City.
Somewhere Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, Mtn View; www.theatreworks.org. $23-73. Tue-Wed, 7:30pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Feb 10. TheatreWorks performs Matthew Lopez’s play about a 1960s Puerto Rican family caught up in the filming of West Side Story.
Troublemaker, or the Freakin Kick-A Adventures of Bradley Boatwright Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $29-77. Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm). Through Feb 3. Berkeley Rep presents the world premiere of a play — about a 12-year-old wannabe superhero — it commissioned from writer Dan LeFranc.
PERFORMANCE/DANCE
BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, SF; www.improv.org. $20. "Super Scene," Fri/25, 8pm. "Spontaneous Broadway," Sat/26, 8pm.
"Brutal Sound Effects Festival #72" The Lab, 2948 16th St, SF; www.thelab.org. Wed/23, 8:30pm. $5-7. Music and visual performances with Rene Hall, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma and Paul Clipson, and Vallens.
"The Buddy Club Children’s Shows" Randall Museum Theater, 199 Museum Way, SF; www.thebuddyclub.com. Sun/27, 11am. $8. Cowgirl tricks with Karen Quest.
"Fountain" CounterPULSE, 1301 Mission, SF; www.counterpulse.org. Fri/25-Sat/26, 8pm. $15. Jeremy Wade performs.
Ian Harvie Punchline, 444 Battery, SF; www.punchlinecomedyclub.com. Thu/24, 8pm. $15. The transgender comedian performs.
"A History" Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, SF; www.ybca.org. Fri/25-Sat/26, 8pm. $20-30. Bebe Miller Company performs a new work.
"Life with Laughter" Garage, 715 Bryant, SF; lifewithlaughter4.eventbrite.com. Tue/29, 8pm. $8-20. Variety showcase featuring stand-up comedy, storytelling, spoken word, and music.
"Nevabawarldapece" Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Lam Research Theater, 700 Howard, SF; www.ybca.org. $25-50. Fri/25-Sun/27, 8pm. Robert Moses’ Kin performs a world premiere choreographed by Moses, with music and text composed and performed by Carl Hancock Rux, Corey Harris, and Laura Love.
"San Francisco Magic Parlor" Chancellor Hotel Union Square, 433 Powell, SF; www.sfmagicparlor.com. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Ongoing. $40. Magic vignettes with conjurer and storyteller Walt Anthony.
"Show/Off" Box Factory, 865 Florida, SF; www.underthegoldengate.com. Sat/26, 9pm. $5 suggested donation. Live taping of internet channel Under the Golden Gate’s drag and variety extravaganza show, plus comedy hosted by Andrew Roberts.
"The Witch House" Garage, 715 Bryant, SF; facebook.com/thewitchhouseplay. Fri/25-Sat/26, 8pm. $15. Morgan Bassichis’ new play offers a queer take on the legacy of Salem’s witch trials.