Mission Mission

For this installment of the good old drama talk with Katie & Brittany, the duo went to see the 12th Annual Bay One Acts Festival – Program 1. Here’s their report.

When we heard that there was a festival going on that brings together local artists and many different theater companies we were really excited to check it out. So, this past Sunday night we headed to the Tides Theater in Nob Hill for the 12th Annual Bay One Acts Festival to see 6 different short form plays. Since there are so many pieces we decided to break it down a little differently than usual, just giving you our first thoughts on each of the plays. Jump to the verdict if you don’t care about our initial reactions to the specific plays.

#1: Modernizing the Afterlife – A dead Google developer gets recruited by St. Peter’s nephew to optimize their afterlife processing.

Katie: It made me think of the time I went on an online date with a guy that developed apps for a living . . . and just like this piece I left that date slightly intrigued, slightly confused and wanting more.

#2: Desiree – A woman copes with the aftermath of ten years in captivity.

K: One word – Awkward. All I could do was compare it to the Cleveland woman tragedy. It was the one piece that no one knew when it ended.

Brittany: There were a number of pieces that fell short because of the acting, this one fell short because of the writing more than anything else.

#3: Write Dirty to Me – Dead writers operate literary phone sex lines.

B: This show is what an english major, who is crazy nerdy, thinks is funny. But if you are not deep into english major land you have no fucking clue was is going on.

K: Which was me.

B: This show also reminds me of the time I saw the Vagina monologues during high school and afterwards we said “cunt” over and over again because we thought it was funny. Dirty words just aren’t that funny when you’re an adult.

Intermission

#4: Love Song of Aflred J. Prufrock – A T.S. Eliot poem set to movement.

B: This show made me think of the time I was at a bar when I was 21 and a 50 year old hit on me.

K: Awkward.

B: Yeah.

#5: Red All Over – In the wake of a school shooting tragedy, new relationships begin.

B: Remember that thing we said last time about story arcs . . . there wasn’t one.

K: There wasn’t even a story . . . to be arced.

B: Also, why does a lesbian romance have to happen at a child murder scene…I don’t get that.

#6: Last Couples Therapy Session on Earth – The Zombie Apocalypse has happened, but that doesn’t mean that this couple is done working through their problems.

B: Well written, cute, vignette. It was the best piece in the series.

K: It would have been hilariously bizarre, Modern Familyish, if not for The Walking Dead.

[pic of The Royal Tug Yacht Club by Rose Garrett for Eater SF]

The Verdict: We really, really, really wanted to love this festival. It’s a great idea executed in a really cool space. We wanted to walk away feeling like we saw some fresh, innovative, well developed, entertaining theater, unfortunately we did not. We did only see Program One, so we can’t speak to the festival as a whole, but if Program One was any indication of what Program Two will be like, this festival is best left for an audience of friends of the artists and/or other artists that want to learn from watching artists, the general public might be disappointed.

The Drama Talk: Bay One Acts is a great platform for local directors, writers, and actors to collaborate, but when it comes down to it people are paying $15 to be entertained and moved and we just really weren’t. We want to bring new audiences to the theatre, not just support art just for the sake of supporting art. We don’t think a new audience would be that impressed by what should be some of the best new works in the SF theatre scene. At least for Program One, the writing itself is really what fell short for us.

The Drinks: We heard of a new bar that opened a couple months back just a few blocks from the theatre. The Royal Tug Yacht Club was the perfect place to discuss the evening, a small, almost empty, interestingly decorated (there’s a huge octopus on the ceiling, what is better than that) dive bar with great, strong cocktails. Brittany had the “Seek and Destroy”, which was what she was hoping this festival was going to do (you know, just “kill it”) and Katie got the “Washed Up”, which was what she felt she was after seeing this show.

Bay One Acts Festival

Mission Local reports:

First came parklets. Next up: mini-stages for street performers.

The Chronicle reported today on a project called Street Stage, which was recently deployed at the Mission Community Market. Designed to be compact and mobile — perfect for street performers — the original prototype was constructed in 48 hours during Makeathon by George Zisiadis.

Read on.

Coming Friday to the #BiRiteCreamery Soft Serve Window…PUMPKIN SOFT SERVE! Soon to be in the scoop shops and in pints, too. #FallIsHere #i

— bi-rite market (@BiRiteSF) September 25, 2013

[via @np]

Here’s Gothamist founder Jake Dobkin on gentrification in NYC:

All New Yorkers are gentrifiers. Say you’re of Jewish extraction: your forebears gentrified some Irish right out of L.E.S. around the turn of the century. Or maybe you’re Irish, and your ancestors were responsible for gentrifying the marginal land around the Collect Pond in Five Points. Or maybe your family goes all the way back to New Amsterdam and Peter Minuit, the original gentrifier, who gentrified the poor Native Americans right off Manhattan island. No New Yorker, no matter how long their tenure, has the right to point fingers and say to anyone else “the problem started when you arrived here.” [link]

[via kottke.org]

Street artist Tyme sent us this cool timelapse of him putting a piece up on a streetside door.

The event is called C2SV, and seeing local heroes Thee Oh Sees open for rock ‘n’ roll legends Iggy and the Stooges in Downtown San Jose’s St. James Park is going to be awesome! Here’s more info on the music portion:

Held over four days at 12+ downtown San Jose venues, C2SV will showcase emerging and established acts in some of Silicon Valley’s best venues. Early punk innovators Iggy and The Stooges will headline the inaugural event at St. James Park on September 28 with additional performances throughout the weekend.

Tickets (at many different pricing levels) here.

P.S. Stooges guitarist James Williamson is also one of the conference’s featured speakers.

Tunes4Tubes, the annual party and fundraiser for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, is going down tonight at the Rickshaw Stop.

The lineup includes hometown funk/soul masters Con Brio and Whiskerman plus the Balkan-fusion outfit Cradle Duende and comedy from Sean Keane; silent auction items include prints and photography from SF artists and gift certificates for massages, sweet bike gear, and local food and booze. What more could you want? Stop being so demanding.

Facebook deets here.

[via Vic Wong on Instagram]

Caryn and Kristin nailed their debut, so they’re at it again tonight:

We’re running quiz night at Shotwell’s again this Monday!

There will be a category on the Baldwins so brush up. Normal music round this time! Emily Atkinson will be pouring your beers and there will be Mama Chuchos Mexican food.

Arrive by 8 to play. Best team name gets a point.

Seriously, I heard multiple reports that it was the most entertaining quiz night in town. I missed it because I was in Australia, and somebody Skyped me in the middle of the night just to tell me how great it was! RSVP and invite your friends!