Local Theatre Archives

Get Your Troy On!

posted by Melissa on Fri, Jun 6, 2008

One of Impact's favorite playwrights, Enrique Urueta, has a staged reading of his brand new play-in-progress Get Your Troy On! on Tuesday June 10 as part of the National Queer Arts Festival. Think Ugly Betty meets the Trojan War. Mean Girls ass-tappin' The Iliad. A pop-kitsch collision of Greek myth and comic books.

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Regina Stadnik is awesome

posted by Melissa on Sun, May 25, 2008

Regina Stadnik is a longtime Impact supporter. We at Impact have been lucky to have Regina as a regular audience member for years. Now it's our turn to be her audience member: Regina is part of an awesome visual and performance art event based on the writings of Britta J. Austin called Whole Story: Notecards: A Living Museum.

There are dozens of local artists, dancers, musicians, and theatre folk involved-- many of whom I bet you know.

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Octopus KICKS ASS

posted by Melissa on Sun, May 18, 2008

Last night, DMW and I saw opening night of Octopus by Steven Yockey at the Magic, and it was wonderful. The final moment is honestly one of the best things I have EVER seen in the theatre.

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Hey, A.C.T.!

posted by Melissa on Fri, May 2, 2008

One of the actors in Impact's 'Tis Pity was handing a flyer to a friend yesterday when this actor (who shall remain nameless) was accosted by an onlooker. "I'm in the A.C.T. version of that," he smirked, "and we're laughing about you guys doing the play at the same time as us." Is this kind of snarkiness really necessary? Here's what I think.

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The Sincerest Form of Flattery: Deep Impact Theatre

posted by Melissa on Thu, Apr 17, 2008

Gasp! We have imitators! OK, one imitator. It's something I never thought would happen, and now that I'm confronted with it, I have to say that it's a combination of flattering, entertaining, and annoying, much like the male clientele at the Mallard.

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Theatre companies and new media

posted by Cheshire on Tue, Jan 29, 2008

Pat Craig surveys how the larger local theatre companies have been using new media to attract audiences. Glad to see such an article get written, but really, he should have talked to us.

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Chloe Veltman on the Little Man

posted by Cheshire on Mon, Jan 28, 2008

Local theatre critic Chloe Veltman has taken a poke at the elephant in the room of Bay Area theatre, the SF Chronicle's Little Man and his power to turn any production into box office gold just by getting off his ass and onto his feet, clapping his little head off. She says that after 50 years of making it so that you don't actually have to read the reviews, it's time for the Little Man to hang up his little hat.

I have a few thoughts on the matter.

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Tings Dey Happen wins Glickman prize

posted by Cheshire on Tue, Jan 22, 2008

Tings Dey Happen, a solo show by Dan Hoyle about Nigerian oil politics, has won the Will Glickman Playwright Award for the best new play to premiere in 2007. Developed with and directed by Charlie Varon (a former Glickman winner himself), Tings started at the Marsh and recently ended a NY run. It's a somewhat surprising win, given that the award is decided by local theatre reviewers, yet only one of the judges included the show in their best-of-2007 lists (to be fair, Chad Jones included it in a later column of runners-up). Well, at least they didn't forget they loved it at awards time.

Anyway, I really hope he brings the show back here -- I never got to see it in its original production, and I was very sorry to miss it. Congrats, Dan Hoyle!

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Impact company member Marissa Keltie at Shotgun

posted by Cheshire on Fri, Jan 11, 2008

To further tide you over while Impact isn't performing, we recommend you go down to the Ashby Stage and catch Shotgun's new show, The Shaker Chair. Among the company's other virtues, Shotgun has demonstrated the good sense to once again cast Impact company member Marissa Keltie, whom you've seen in Measure for Measure, Sleepy, Othello, and Cartoon, and who will return to the Impact stage in this spring's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore.

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A show and a party at Berkeley Rep for the under-30 set -- for only $13.50

posted by Cheshire on Mon, Jan 7, 2008

Sorry that Impact isn't presenting anything in January, but fear not, there's still great affordable theatre to be had. Berkeley Rep is presenting the world premiere of Danny Hoch's solo show Taking Over, and this Friday, January 11, is not only the first performance but it's also 30 Below, a party for anyone under 30 -- with tickets as low as $13.50 each for both the show and the party. Free drinks and appetizers, plus a badass hip-hop DJ (perhaps you even played against him at the Impact poker night...). Call Elissa -- whom you may remember as Josephine in Money & Run -- at 510 647-2918 for tickets.

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Way to go green, Shotgun!

posted by Cheshire on Thu, Jan 3, 2008

On December 29, 2007, our friends the Shotgun Players became the first theatre in the country to go 100% solar-powered. That's pretty fuckin' cool. Nice job, Patrick, Liz and company!

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Bay Area theatre 2007: the critics' lists

posted by Cheshire on Mon, Dec 31, 2007

The various Bay Area newspaper theatre critics have published their lists of the best (and worst) theatre offerings of the past year. We already posted about the Express's list, but now they're all online.

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Free Danny Hoch Workshop Performance Tonight!

posted by Cheshire on Tue, Mar 13, 2007

Berkeley Rep invites Impact fans to see a FREE workshop performance of Danny Hoch's latest work TONIGHT (Tuesday, March 13 8pm). If you've never seen Danny Hoch perform (Berkeley Rep produced his Jails, Hospitals & Hip Hop several years back at the Julia Morgan), you've missed out: he's one of the most talented solo performers to hit the stage since Anna Deavere Smith. If you have seen him, you know what I'm talking about.

Now he's back and working on new stuff, and you can see it tonight for free at Berkeley Rep. Email cheshire at berkeleyrep dot org and let me know how many tickets you want. If you don't receive a response, assume the tickets will be there for you -- they'll be held at the door under "Impact Theatre," NOT under your name. I repeat: NOT under your name. You give your name to the box office, they'll give you a blank look and no tickets.

More info after the jump.

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Free Tickets to The Pillowman

posted by Cheshire on Tue, Mar 6, 2007

Berkeley Rep has graciously offered our fans free tickets to The Pillowman this week: Tue, Mar 6 8pm; Wed, Mar 7 7pm; Thu, Mar 8 8pm; and Fri, Mar 9 8pm (update: no more tickets for Friday's perf). Call Elissa Dunn at 510 647-2918 for tickets. You will be so sorry if you miss this opportunity. So very sorry.

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Joshua Huston going on in The Pillowman!

posted by Cheshire on Wed, Feb 21, 2007

It's a big week for friends of Impact: first it was Peter Nachtrieb's Glickman award, and now Joshua Huston, last seen as Travis in Colorado, is going on stage at Berkeley Rep!

Joshua has been understudying the role of Michal in Berkeley Rep's production of The Pillowman -- in fact, he was set to be in Cartoon before he was tapped to understudy. Understudying is usually a thankless proposition with just the slimmest hope of glory: most of the time understudies never get to go on stage, but during the entire run they have to be available at a moment's notice. Oh, and the pay's not so hot, either. (We're one to talk!)

Anyway, Joshua took the gamble and won -- yay, Joshua! He'll be performing Thursday, February 22, both matinee and evening performances, and possibly this Saturday as well. Impact fans, come out and support one of our own as he makes his way toward the big time!

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Peter Nachtrieb wins the Glickman Award!

posted by Melissa on Fri, Feb 16, 2007

Impact favorite Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, whose play Colorado recently had its world premiere at Impact Theatre, won the 2006 Glickman award for his play Hunter Gatherers. The Glickman is given annually in honor of the best play to have its world premiere the Bay Area that year. Previous winners include Liz Duffy Adams, John Fisher, and Tony Kushner. Go Peter!

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Now read this: Theater Dogs

posted by Cheshire on Mon, Feb 12, 2007

Chad Jones's blog, Theater Dogs, is a great way to spend your time if you're interested in Bay Area theatre. Chad knows what's happening in the area, he goes to everything, and he has a great perspective on things. The blog features not only local theatre news and reprints of his reviews, he also muses about whatever stage-oriented things he comes across.

Chad's covered a lot of Impact shows over the years, and he's a fair, generous writer even (or especially) when he's being critical. Personally my tastes tend to jibe with his, so I'll admit I'm biased. But if you're not reading his words on local theatre, you should be. Start now.

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Legally Blonde the Musical: Guilty as Charged

posted by Cheshire on Wed, Feb 7, 2007

It's my own fault, really: I let myself get my hopes up. Until recently I wouldn't have been interested in going at all, especially not on poker night. But then, good friends of mine had seen it, and one of them (one of our esteemed company members, I might add) professes to not even like musicals, but even she had a good time. (The other friend likes pretty much every musical, so her opinion was a bit discounted.) Plus, I wouldn't have seen it had it not been for my dear wife, who also likes pretty much every musical. I've managed to get out of seeing A Chorus Line, Cats, and the stillborn Lennon, so even though I swore off Broadway nonsense after Movin' Out, tonight I found myself at Legally Blonde the Musical.

No, I didn't really like it. It wasn't as bad, say, as Miss Saigon (three hours of my life I'll never get back) or the semi-recent revival of Showboat (one of the few shows I've ever walked out on). I had hoped, though, that it would turn out to be more than terminally light entertainment, but in the end that's exactly what it was.

However, what I really couldn't stand about Legally Blonde, and this is something it has in common with the other two shows just mentioned (and probably all of the ones above), was...

...the audience.

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Go see Pillowman at Berkeley Rep

posted by Cheshire on Thu, Jan 18, 2007

(Full disclosure: I work at Berkeley Rep.)

Berkeley Rep's Pillowman, written by Martin McDonagh and directed by Les Waters, is a mesmerizing production of a brutal, blistering play. It's now in my all-time top ten productions. Honestly, nothing can prepare you for how disturbing and disturbingly funny this show is.

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Now at the Sub: 43 Plays for 43 Presidents

posted by Cheshire on Thu, Jan 11, 2007

Our friends at Rough and Tumble have rented out our space for their new show, the Neo-Futurists' 43 Plays for 43 Presidents. (Does that remind anyone else of "88 Lines About 44 Women"?) I haven't seen it yet, but I hear it's good. Check it out -- it runs Thu-Sat for the rest of the month.

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Censor This

posted by Cheshire on Sun, Aug 13, 2006

Note to people who've already seen House of Lucky: check out The Censor at Last Planet Theatre before it closes. Everyone else: you've got two weeks left to get Lucky...

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Hunter Gatherers ROCKS

posted by Melissa on Sat, Jul 8, 2006

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, whose middle name is SINN, I mean, HELLO, is the playwright of Impact's upcoming show Colorado (opening in Sept; the show right after House of Lucky). Peter has a show running RIGHT NOW produced by Killing My Lobster and playing at the Thick House in SF -- the best venue in the whole entire city because there's assloads of free parking all around. The show was just extended -- there are eight more performances. It's called Hunter Gatherers, and it kicks ass. Check out the website for more information. Carne!

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A good review for We Are Not These Hands

posted by Cheshire on Sat, Jul 1, 2006

Congrats to our pals Sheila Callaghan and Crowded Fire: Rob Hurwitt gave We Are Not These Hands a pretty good review in the Chron. Plus he gave a shout-out to Impact -- thanks, Rob!

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Zay Amsbury reading

posted by Melissa on Thu, Jun 29, 2006

Hey, kids! Remember Zay Amsbury? He was Impact's resident playwright for several years. He wrote a bunch of kickass plays for us, including Sweet Self, The Wake-Up Crew and Love is the Law. Well, Zay is headed off to grad school at NYU! He's having a reading of his work TOMORROW NIGHT (Fri 6/30) as a fundraiser. I'd be there myself, but I'll be parked on my parents' couch in Arizona watching 16 channels of baseball on cable (Why do Jews always retire to either Arizona or Florida? What's up with that? What's wrong with staying in the Bay Area? But I digress.)

Here are the details, which I, like the lazy cuss I am, just copied and pasted out of the email sent to me. Go to this event. You will NOT regret it. Zay is awesome. If you can't go, you can purchase a CD or an MP3 recording by contacting Carrie Cordeiro.

> Live Transmission II
> a reading by Zay Amsbury
>
> Friday, 30 June 2006
> 762 Clementina St.
> San Francisco, CA 94103
>
> 8:00pm ~V 930pm, reading
> 9:30 ~V 11:00pm, tunes from DJ rrrus, wine, dancing
>
> $15 recommended donation
>
> A world premiere of the short stories
>
> Friendster Girl
> Slow Company
> Britpop Is Dead
> and, if the demand is high, a re-reading of the audience favorite from
> Live Transmission I
>
> Dancepants
>
> As you may or may not know, Zay's heading to Grad School at The New
> School for Drama in New York City this fall.
>
> He can't quite afford it.
>
> So in order to help him out with moving costs, first month's rent, and
> maybe a new laptop, he's holding a fund raising reading in San Francisco.
>
> The recommended donation is $15, but absolutely no one will be turned
> away.
>
> If you can spare it, $15 is good. If you want to give more, so be it. If
> you've got nothing, come anyway. The more the merrier.
>
> If you don't love at least one of the stories, you get your money back.
> Period.
>
> Seating is limited!
>
> Please reserve your seats ASAP by an email with ~reservations~ in the
> subject line to zay@zayamsbury.net and tell me how many seats you want.
> You'll only receive a reply if we're sold out.
>
> 762 Clementia is wheelchair accessible.
>
> Live Transmission II is an Alphabets End Production.

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Evil Empire Comedy

posted by Melissa on Thu, Jun 29, 2006

Go see Evil Empire Comedy at La Val's! They only have four performances left -- Fri 6/30, Sat 7/1, Fri 7/7 and Sat 7/8. If you want to knock back a beer, laugh your ass off, and shell out very little to do so, point your rear end in the direction of La Val's! Tickets really are stupid cheap. Leaves money left over for more beer! Hell yeah. You can check them out more thoroughly here.

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Impact recommends: Hunter Gatherers

posted by Cheshire on Sun, Jun 25, 2006

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, playwright of this season's Colorado, has another show happening right now at the Thick House, Hunter Gatherers. It's the first full-length play presented by sketch comedians extraordinaire Killing My Lobster, and it's getting a chunk of good reviews from the Contra Costa Times, the SF Bay Guardian, and elsewhere. Don't wait--the show only has a couple of weeks left.

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Impact recommends: We Are Not These Hands

posted by Cheshire on Sun, Jun 25, 2006

Crowded Fire, an awesome SF-based theatre company, presents the world premiere of Sheila Callaghan's We Are Not These Hands at the Ashby Stage in Berkeley (Shotgun Players' theatre). Impact has produced two of Sheila's plays, Scab and last season's Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake). We love Sheila, obviously, and we love Crowded Fire--they're two great tastes that go great together!

Ever since their school blew up, teenagers Belly and Moth have spent their time peering through the windows of an illegal internet cafe hoping to cross over into the mysterious realms they can only glimpse on the screen. When Leather, a pampered scholar from the other side of the river, arrives to do research on their culture, the girls take particular interest in this strange man with a secret. As their relationship develops, the encounter threatens to explode their understanding of history and forge a connection that will save them all.

We Are Not These Hands starts tonight and plays through July 16. Plus, just for being an Impact fan, you get half-price tickets! To reserve your $10 tickets, email erin@crowdedfire.org with "Impact" in the subject line. Include your name, the number in your party, and the date you would like to attend (excluding opening night, 6/27). Or simply show up at the Ashby Stage on the night of the performance, and say the password "Impact" to the box office manager (excluding opening night, 6/27).

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