Faculty all-stars direct expressionist, popular and new plays, September-December
SAN FRANCISCO, September 4, 2008 — San Francisco State University’s dynamic Theatre Arts Department unveils a new season of thrilling and innovative productions, showcasing its all-star faculty comprised of top Bay Area directors and playwrights. SF State alum and rising star Mark Jackson — named 2007 Best Theatrical Auteur by SF Weekly — returns to the main stage with Sophie Treadwell’s “Machinal,” the 1920s expressionist play inspired by the true story of a woman who murdered her husband and later went to the electric chair. Barbara Damashek — a past Tony Award nominee — directs the hit musical “Chess,” featuring music written by former members of ABBA. The musical squares off in a Cold War-tinged love triangle between two players in a world chess championship, and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.
Emerging playwright and director Claire Rice directs new works penned by SF State student writers in the fifth annual “One-Act Fringe,” always a wild and wooly festival. “Arcadia” is Tom Stoppard’s masterpiece set in an English country manor: a site of science, legend and intrigue — juxtaposed between two contemporary scholars and those who lived there in the early 1800s. Faculty member William Peters, director of this production, describes “Arcadia” as “a funny, poignant and deeply intelligent meditation on love, mortality, poetry, history and the beautiful enigmas of chaos theory.” Peters, a noted veteran in Bay Area theatre, has directed his own adaptations of “Nine Stories by Chekhov,” Dostoevsky’s “The Possessed,” Feydeau’s “A Flea in Her Ear” and Dickens’ “Hard Times.”
The thrice-weekly Brown Bag Theatre Co. resumes through December — free of charge with programs changing each week. These popular lunchtime shows feature student-directed works in progress, under Peters’ guidance. Shown in a black box theatre, for years the Brown Bag has helped engender the dexterity needed for professional success. Jackson says, “So many small theatre companies have been formed by SFSU graduates. We made theatre together, and we knew how to put up a show in one of San Francisco’s many 50-seat theatres because we’d all done it in Brown Bag.”
Tickets and Information
For general information about SF State theatre productions, contact the Theatre Arts Department at 415/338-1341 or visit http://creativearts.sfsu.edu, http://theatre.sfsu.edu or www.myspace.com/sfstatecreativearts. Tickets may be purchased through the Creative Arts Box Office, located in the Creative Arts building, outside of McKenna Theatre, online at http://creativearts.sfsu.edu, or by phone at 415/338-2467.
Location and Parking
The Little Theatre, Studio Theatre and Brown Bag Theatre are located in the Creative Arts building on the SF State campus, 1600 Holloway Ave. (at 19th Ave.), San Francisco. Public parking is available in Lot 20, accessed from Lake Merced Boulevard between Winston Drive and Font Boulevard. On weekends and evenings only, public parking is available in Lots 1 and 2, on Holloway Ave. (at 19th Ave.). Parking is $1 per hour with a $5 daily maximum. Nearby street parking is readily available on weekends. For details, visit www.sfsu.edu/~parking.
Calendar Editors, Please Note:
Main Stage
“Machinal”
By Sophie Treadwell
Directed by Mark Jackson, guest artist
Thursday, Oct. 9 – Sunday, Oct. 19
Oct. 9, 8 p.m. preview, $13 general/$10 students and seniors
Friday, Oct. 10; Saturday, Oct. 11, Thursday, Oct. 16, Friday, Oct. 17; Saturday, Oct. 18, 8 p.m. $15 general/$12 students and seniors
Sunday, Oct. 12; Sunday, Oct. 19, 2 p.m. $15 general/$12 students and seniors
Little Theatre, Creative Arts building, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave. (at 19th Ave.), San Francisco
Tickets: 415/338-2467; http://creativearts.sfsu.edu/tickets
Information: http://theatre.sfsu.edu, http://creativearts.sfsu.edu, 415/338-1341
Noted Bay Area director and SF State alum Mark Jackson — named 2007 Best Theatrical Auteur by SF Weekly — directs “Machinal,” a classic expressionist play inspired by the true story of Ruth Snyder, who murdered her husband and later went to the electric chair. Jackson’s intense, physical production makes parallels between the 1928 setting of the play and 2008. In both eras, mounting technological, economic and moral pressures emerge in a mechanized society, creating a burning anxiety nationwide. Something has to give.
Student-written Plays
“One-Act Fringe”
Coordinated and produced by Claire Rice, faculty
Directed by Claire Rice, faculty, and Nick Pappas, student
Monday, Oct. 13 – Friday, Oct. 17, 6 p.m.
Studio Theatre, Creative Arts building, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway (at 19th Ave), San Francisco
Admission: $8
Tickets: 415/338-2467; http://creativearts.sfsu.edu/tickets
Information: http://theatre.sfsu.edu, http://creativearts.sfsu.edu, 415/338-1341
In the fifth annual “One-Act Fringe” festival, emerging playwright and director Claire Rice showcases the best new one-act plays penned by SF State students. Plays featured in the festival include: “Snapple Flakes” by Daniel Korth, “The Idiot Box” by Steven M. Salzman, “Flinch” by Cindy Dinh, “Watercolor Girl” by Tony Carrillo and “Burrito Fantasy: An Autobiographical Tragedy” by Jared Petersen.
Main Stage
“Chess”
Music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Lyrics by Tim Rice. Book by Richard Nelson.
Directed by Barbara Damashek, faculty
Friday, Nov. 14 – Saturday, Nov. 22
Friday, Nov. 14; Saturday, Nov. 15, Thursday, Nov. 20, Friday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 22, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Little Theatre, Creative Arts building, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway (at 19th Ave), San Francisco
Tickets: 415/338-2467; http://creativearts.sfsu.edu/tickets
Admission: $20 general/$15 students and seniors
Information: http://theatre.sfsu.edu, http://creativearts.sfsu.edu, 415/338-1341
Barbara Damashek, faculty member and Tony Award-nominated director of “Quilters,” sets the table in this production featuring music written by former members of ABBA. The musical squares off in a Cold War tinged love triangle between two players in a world chess championship, and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. Inspired by the classic 1972 match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, “Chess” plays its characters like pawns.
Workshop
“Arcadia”
By Tom Stoppard
Directed by William Peters, faculty
Dec. 9 – 13, 8 p.m. Dec. 10, 13, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Studio Theatre, Creative Arts building, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway (at 19th Ave), San Francisco
Tickets: 415/338-2467; http://creativearts.sfsu.edu/tickets
Information: http://theatre.sfsu.edu, http://creativearts.sfsu.edu, 415/338-1341
Admission: $8
An England country house is a site of science, legend and intrigue — juxtaposed between two contemporary scholars and those who lived there in the early 1800s. Professor William Peters, the director of this production, describes “Arcadia” as “a funny, poignant and deeply intelligent meditation on love, mortality, poetry, history and the beautiful enigmas of chaos theory.”
Brown Bag Theatre Co.
William Peters, faculty adviser
Wednesdays – Fridays, September – December, noon
Brown Bag Theatre, Creative Arts building, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway (at 19th Ave.), San Francisco
Admission: Free
These popular lunchtime shows feature student-directed works in progress, developed in a Senior Production Workshop. Programs change weekly. Arrive 30 minutes early, as seats fill quickly.
PHOTOS/INTERVIEWS: For photos or to schedule interviews, contact Matt Itelson at 415/338-1442 or matti@sfsu.edu.
