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
The Full Monty Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson, SF; www.roltheatre.com. $25-36. Opens Thu/31, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through June 30. Ray of Light Theatre performs the hit musical.
100 Saints You Should Know Thick House, 1695 18th St, SF; www.therhino.org. $10-30. Previews Thu/31, 7:30pm and Fri/1, 8pm. Opens Sat/2, 8pm. Runs Wed-Thu, 7:30pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through June 17. Theatre Rhinoceros performs Kate Fodor’s comedy-drama about family love, homosexuality, and adolescence.
BAY AREA
Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $14.50-73. Opens Wed/30, 8pm. Runs Tue, Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 7pm). Through June 24. Berkeley Rep presents a world premiere from writer-performer Dael Orlandersmith (a Pulitzer finalist for 2002’s Yellowman).
The Tempest Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda; (510) 809-3290, www.calshakes.org. $35-71. Previews Wed/30-Fri/1, 8pm. Opens Sat/2, 8pm. Runs Tue-Thu, 7:30pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also June 23, 2pm); Sun, 4pm. Through June 25. California Shakespeare Theater opens its season with this dance-filled interpretation of the Bard’s classic tale.
ONGOING
Endgame and Play American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary, SF; (415) 749-2228, www.act-sf.org. $10-95. Wed/30-Sat/2, 8pm (also Wed/30, Sat/2-Sun/3, 2pm). The stage is bare save for three cocoon-like urns in a row, each containing an emergent head, literally trapped side by side as in an existentialist’s nightmare. In staccato bursts of speech punctuated by the rapid jumping of a follow-spot, the three heads (Anthony Fusco, Annie Purcell, and René Augesen) narrate their respective sides of an adulterous triangle, not once, but twice, incorporating subtle variations on delivery and cadence during the second go-round. The static staging and deconstructed syntax of Samuel Beckett’s seldom-produced short Play is a good introduction to Beckett’s sensibilities, and sets the mood for the main event, the better-known Endgame. This ferocious exploration of habit, habitat, cruelty and fealty has a lot of food for thought to chew on no matter who produces it, but ACT’s version does lack a certain meaty heft. There’s just something a little too smooth in Bill Irwin’s manner as the chairbound, petty tyrant Hamm, and all too often his poisonous ire comes off as merely petulant. Nick Gabriel, as his beleaguered servant Clov, fares somewhat better (or in fact worse), inhabiting his painful mobility with an appropriately long-suffering manner and frustrated despair, and Hamm’s two legless “cursed progenitors” Nell (Barbara Oliver) and Nagg (Giles Havergal) inject some much appreciated warmth into the generally bleak atmosphere. (Gluckstern)
Fwd: Life Gone Viral Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $20-50. Thu, 8pm; Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7pm. Through June 10. The internet becomes comic fodder for creator-performers Charlie Varon and Jeri Lynn Cohen, and creator-director David Ford.
My Tia Loca’s Life of Crime Bindlestiff Studio, 185 Sixth St, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $20. Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm. “No Human is Illegal,” the immigrant rights activists like to remind, a message adeptly conveyed by Roy Conboy’s My Tia Loca’s Life of Crime, presented by Guerrilla Rep at Bindlestiff Studio. A pointed yet comical commentary on the “crimes” of one Tia Loca (Cat Callejas) which include sneaking back over the border between Mexico and the US after being illegally deported from her actual native country by “La Migra” and impersonating a plainclothes cop in order to find her long-lost daughter, the central message of the play is one of solidarity — familia first. The family bond is most strikingly evident between Callejas’ feisty, independent eccentric and Melvign Badiola as her goofy nephew Memo, who shares her tendency for extralegal action as well as a love for mole. The comedic chemistry between the two is tough and tender, and full of casually hilarious, bickering repartee. The staging is mostly a delight with great jams provided by Brandon Bigelow and Jonah Pavon, strong acting support from Lainey Garrity, Matt Gunnison, and Kirsten Broadbear, and a snappy pace. Regrettably the play’s ending, a dreamlike nod to magical realism and low-riders, feels somewhat tacked on and not fully plotted out, unlike the down-to-earth retelling of events that illustrate Tia’s “criminal” past. But “life aint no pinche bowl of cherries,” and even imperfect, Tia is important. (Gluckstern)
Othello Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $15-18. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through June 9. Ninjaz of Drama performs Shakespeare’s classic in a contemporary setting.
Slipping New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through July 1. New Conservatory Theatre Center performs Daniel Talbott’s drama about a gay teen who finds new hope after a traumatic breakup.
The Waiting Period MainStage, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Extended through July 7. 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)
BAY AREA
Crevice La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; www.impacttheatre.com. $10-20. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through June 9. Just in case you were feeling panicked about the persistently recessed state of the economy and what might be your own less than ideal place in it, the Impact Theatre and Playground co-presentation of Lauren Yee’s Crevice might help to put your woes into perspective. That’s because slacker sibs Liz (Marissa Keltie) and Rob (Timothy Redmond) are only slightly exaggerated representatives of Generation Next whose penchant for making lackluster life choices has sentenced them to an indefinite prison term of couch-surfing and Teen Mom marathons in their childhood home. Naturally, they desire change, but it’s not until their mother (Laura Jane Bailey) starts having a hot fling with a younger man that things do. In an egregious breach of the TMI line, it appears that Mom’s orgasms open a “crevice” into an alternate reality that Rob and Liz subsequently fall into. Thus removed from the entropy of their former reality they begin testing the parameters of their new one, quickly coming to the realization that sometimes the alternatives to what you already have are even worse. Getting home again is a convoluted, not fully mapped-out process, but in the interim, their navigation of their erstwhile wonderland offers most of the play’s best lines as well as the uncomfortably effective transformation of Reggie D. White from Liz’s nerdish best buddy to multi-lingual Mafia killer and casual sadist. (Gluckstern)
God of Carnage Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; www.marintheatre.org. $34-55. Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat/2 and June 16, 2pm; Tue/7, 1pm); Wed, 7:30pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through June 17. Marin Theatre Company performs Yasmina Reza’s Tony-winning comedy about two sets of parents who meet after their children get into a schoolyard fight.
The Great Divide Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby, Berk; www.shotgunplayers.org. $20-30. Wed-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through June 24. Shotgun Players performs Adamn Chanzit’s drama about the hot topic of fracking, inspired by Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People.
The Kipling Hotel: True Misadventures of the Electric Pink ’80s New venue: Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $20-50. Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7pm. Extended through June 10. This new autobiographical solo show by Don Reed, writer-performer of the fine and long-running East 14th, is another slice of the artist’s journey from 1970s Oakland ghetto to comedy-circuit respectability — here via a partial debate-scholarship to UCLA. The titular Los Angeles residency hotel was where Reed lived and worked for a time in the 1980s while attending university. It’s also a rich mine of memory and material for this physically protean and charismatic comic actor, who sails through two acts of often hilarious, sometimes touching vignettes loosely structured around his time on the hotel’s young wait staff, which catered to the needs of elderly patrons who might need conversation as much as breakfast. On opening night, the episodic narrative seemed to pass through several endings before settling on one whose tidy moral was delivered with too heavy a hand, but if the piece runs a little long, it’s only the last 20 minutes that noticeably meanders. And even with some awkward bumps along the way, it’s never a dull thing watching Reed work. (Avila)
Not Getting Any Younger Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Extended through June 30. Marga Gomez is back at the Marsh, a couple of too-brief decades after inaugurating the theater’s new stage with her first solo show — an apt setting, in other words, for the writer-performer’s latest monologue, a reflection on the inevitable process of aging for a Latina lesbian comedian and artist who still hangs at Starbucks and can’t be trusted with the details of her own Wikipedia entry. If the thought of someone as perennially irreverent, insouciant, and appealingly immature as Gomez makes you depressed, the show is, strangely enough, the best antidote. Note: review from the show’s 2011 run at the Marsh San Francisco. (Avila)
The Odyssey Angel Island; (415) 547-0189, www.weplayers.org. $40-76 (some tickets include ferry passage). Sat-Sun and Fri/1, 10:30am-4pm (does not include travel time to island). Through July 1. We Players present Ava Roy’s adaptation of Homer’s epic poem: an all-day adventure set throughout the nature and buildings of Angel Island State Park.
The World’s Funniest Bubble Show Marsh Berkeley, TheaterStage, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 826-5750, www.themarsh.org. $8-50. Fri, 6pm; Sun/3, June 10, 16, 24, and 30, 11am. Through June 30. Louis “The Amazing Bubble Man” Pearl returns with this kid-friendly, bubble-tastic comedy.
PERFORMANCE/DANCE
“The Bilarious Show” LGBT Center Rainbow Room, 1800 Market, SF; www.qcomedy.com. Sat/2, 7:30pm, $12. The National Queer Arts Festival presents this all-bi line-up of comedy, music, and performance.
“Elect to Laugh” Studio Theater, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. Tue, 8pm. Ongoing through Nov 6. $15-50. Will Durst and friends perform in this weekly political humor show that focuses on the upcoming presidential election.
“Larry Hankin’s Street Stories” Marsh San Francisco, Studio Theater, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. Fri/1-Sat/2, 8pm. $20-35. The San Francisco comedy legend performs his solo show.
“The News” Somarts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan, SF; www.somarts.org. Tue/5, 7:30pm. $5. New and experimental queer performance works from Nic Alea, Hallie Dalsimer, and more.
“Parkour Deux” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF; www.counterpulse.org. Fri/1-Sun/3, 8pm (also Sun/3, 2pm). $15-22. Scott Wells and Dancers perform new work.
“The Romane Event Comedy Show” Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St, SF; romaneeventcomedyshow.eventbrite.com. Wed/30, 7:30pm. $10. Stand-up with Ms. Pat and the Bay Area Comedy All-Stars.
San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival Fort Mason Center, Cowell Theater, Marina at Laguna, SF; www.worldartswest.org. Sat/2, 4pm; Sun/3, 4pm. $12-20. Weekend one of the 34th annual festival, “The World United Through Dance,” features a world premiere by Bay Area troupe Gamelan Sekar Jaya, in collaboration with Sudanese gamelan Pusaka Sunda.
“Sex and the City: Live!” Rebel, 1760 Market, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. Tue, 7 and 9pm. Through June 26. $25. Heklina, D’Arcy Drollinger, Lady Bear, Trixxie Carr play the fab four in this drag-tastic homage to the HBO series.
“Shadow of a Doubt” Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St, SF; www.dancecontinuumsf.org. Fri/1-Sun/3, 8pm. $20. Dance Continuum SF performs a dance-theater concert with four premieres and one repertory work.
“Voca People” Marines’ Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter, Second Flr, SF; www.marinesmemorialtheatre.com. Tue-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 6:30 and 9:30pm; Sun, 3 and 6pm. Through June 17. $49-75. A capella from outer space.
“The Water is Clear and Still” Z Space, 450 Florida, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm; Sun/3, 2pm. $25. Liss Fain Dance performs a world premiere performance installation inspired by short stories by Jamaica Kincaid.
“X” Garage, 715 Bryant, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. June 5-7, 8pm. $10-20. Australian performer Sunny Drake presents his new show in conjunction with the National Queer Arts Festival.
BAY AREA
“Dances for Oakland” Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon, Oakl; www.savagejazz.org. Thu/31-Sat/2, 8pm; Sun/3, 3pm. $5-20. Savage Jazz Dance Company performs in celebration of its 20th anniversary.
“RoCo Dance Onstage” Marin Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, Marin Center, 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael; (415) 499-6800. Fri/1, 8pm; Sat/2, 7pm. $19.50-29. RoCo Dance and Fitness presents two nights of performance featuring over 700 dancers of all ages. *