Mission Mission

Fall theater season is upon us, which means lots of great new shows to see around the Bay Area. Cutting Ball Theater’s first show of their 17/18 season just opened at the Exit Theater on Taylor. The Mineola Twins, by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel, is a “razor sharp satire about domestic upheaval in times of political progress and in the rise of conservatism”. It sounded like a pretty timely topic, so we headed over the the TL for some drama talk and drinks.

Elissa Beth Stebbins as Myra (right), Steve Thomas (left) and Sango Tajima (center) Photo by Liz Olson

Katie: That was so interesting! What a cool story! I wish I went in knowing a little bit more about the script. Usually I like to be surprised, but this was such a smart show, I think may have gotten more out of the first few scenes if I had known more about the story.

Brittany: I really liked it. The woman who played the twins (Elissa Beth Stebbins) was amazing. She played each sister so well I honestly couldn’t tell at first if there were two different but nearly identical looking actors, or just one amazing actor playing both roles. Turns out it was just one incredibly talented person, but her physicality was so good each character was totally distinct.

K: Yes, she was remarkable. It was such an interesting show too. I was constantly curious about where the story was going to go next.  It is ridiculously relevant to what the country is going through now and it’s a play that was written in the 90s. I think it did such a great job at creatively exploring the left versus right, conservative versus liberal.

B:  Yes it’s super timely. It also makes you reflect on your own beliefs, and that feeling of superiority that comes with feeling you have the moral high-ground. It’s great to see a play that reveals so much about the division in our society without hitting the audience over the head with politics too. It was just a compelling story about twins, who while they couldn’t be more different, still are the same.

The Verdict: Go see it! Great actors and a super relevant script make it an enjoyable thought-provoking evening.

The Drama Talk: Even though this play was written in the 90s it couldn’t feel more contemporary and in-tune with the political turmoil happening today. Cutting Ball Theater always does really relevant work, but their artistic director did a great job picking this play for this season. Beyond a great script the lead actor Elissa Beth Stebbins was remarkable. It’s worth going just to see her performance. While there were some nitpicky things that we didn’t love, the show as a whole was so engaging nothing could really detract.

The Drinks: A block from the Exit on Theater, is a chill cocktail bar in the Tilden Hotel called The Douglas Room. It has great cocktails and delicious well priced snacks. We also love that they had plenty of seating the two times we have gone. It was a great place to debrief about this thought provoking show.

The Mineola Twins plays through October 29th the Exit on Taylor. Tickets range are $35 and can be purchased on their website. Right now there are tickets available on Goldstar for $15-$20.

Bay Area Obie award-winning playwright Christopher Chen‘s latest work, A Tale of Autumn, just had its’ world premiere at Potrero Stage. One of DT&D favorite theater companies, Crowded Fire Theater, commissioned the work “a psychological rise-to-power fable”, so we knew we wanted to check it out for Drama Talk & Drinks.

Lawrence Radecker as Dave (left) and Shoresh Alaudini as Gil (right)
Photo by Cheshire Isaacs

Katie: What just happened? I was so excited for this show, and that was just…meh.

Brittany: I feel bad. For the first act I was like, “cool, I’m with you”. There were some good actors, a smart script exploring some cool concepts, but I wish it ended at the end of the first act. I mean, I know it didn’t make sense as an ending, but the whole second act felt like a long philosophy lesson. It totally lost momentum.

K: I agree, I just felt like the story could have been more concise. It was like we were being hit over the head with the concept that the ends can’t justify the means. Cool I get it. How is this helping to move the story along? There were a lot of words coming at me and it didn’t help me connect to the characters. A strong story is really important to me, without that I just stop caring.

B:  It wasn’t like the people in it weren’t talented, or the set wasn’t cool, the set was really cool. It was just over written. You can make a point without jamming it down people’s throats.

K: I agree. I don’t think I’ll be telling friends to run out and see this one, but I have for multiple other Crowded Fire shows. This is a piece that seems like it could use some work.

B: Love Crowded Fire though, they always do interesting, innovative work. This one was a bit too much like a lecture.

The Verdict:  If you are a Bay Area theater nerd, you should probably see it. Christopher Chen is a prominent local playwright, and this is the world premiere of his latest work. Otherwise, if you aren’t really into Bay Area theater and having your pulse on the local theater scene, this is probably one you can skip.

The Drama Talk: This is such a promising play, but needs some edits to live up to its potential.  There were lots of cool and smart things A Tale of Autumn explores  -  like what is the line between selfishness and self care, and should we as a society trust “benevolent” companies, but the story gets lost in the philosophizing in the second act. While this show has lots of bright moments, a cool set, and some great actors, it just collapsed under its own weight.

The Drinks: As always after a show at the Potrero Stage, we headed up the hill to Blooms for some drinks with a view.

A Tale of Autumn plays through October 7th at the Potrero Stage. Tickets range from $15-35 and can be purchased on their website. The company also offers the following discounts: Student Tickets are always $15! (Please bring i.d.). Seniors (65+), TBA/TCG Members: $3 off at checkout.Groups of 5 or more receive an automatic 15% savings at checkout

Ever since we got to see Taylor Mac perform a portion of A 24-Decade History of Popular Music at Curran Under-Construction we couldn’t wait for the full show to come back. Last Friday the wait finally ended, and we got to see the first six hour chapter of the show at the Curran- covering the first six decades of American history from 1776-1836. It made for some unforgettable Drama Talk & Drinks.

Taylor Mac, photo by Teddy Wolf

Brittany: SIX HOURS!

Katie: Crazy, right! I was worried it was going to brutal, but it wasn’t at all. It went fast.

B: It went so fast! I was surprised every time an hour ended.

K: The pacing was so well done and deliberate. Taylor really thought about the human condition. The flow of it, and the strategic audience participation at just the right moments. The show moved. I didn’t feel tortured in any way, and when it was over it was like ‘Oh….WOW! ‘

B: I had some anxiety going into the show. The idea of going into a six hour performance that doesn’t have any intermissions is kind of daunting. I was worried about having to pee, getting tired, getting hungry, getting bored. All of those things were taken care of, so none of that was a problem. It would be very easy for them to just be like f*-you it’s performance art, you’re supposed to be uncomfortable, but it’s clear they really cared about taking care of the audience.

K: It was also just an amazing show. I loved it. So unique, so fun, so engaging.

B: I’ve never seen a show like it, so I can’t even go about comparing it. Taylor is an amazing performer, so expressive, such a fabulous voice.

K:  I feel like this show made performance art so accessible. From the way Taylor engaged with the audience and shared personal stories, to the amazing costume design by Machine Dazzle, to the more contemporary arrangements of these historical popular songs by Matt Ray, the whole show felt so deeply relevant. It was fabulous, irreverent, smart, intellectual, artsy, and still deeply human. I was able to connect to it. Not like other performance art I’ve seen that I’ve felt alienated from.

B: The Curran is such a big space too, and somehow they managed to create a really intimate experience. They did audience participation better than any show I’ve ever seen. Taylor even called it out,  that audience participation can be really uncomfortable. Somehow they managed to create a space where it was just fun. They kept pushing audience boundaries, asking us to do stranger more intimate things, and by the end it truly felt like the audience was part of a community and building the show together – which is an amazing thing to accomplish.

K: What an undertaking. I can’t even imagine there’s so much more of this show to go.

B: I know! I thought I would be done after six hours, but now I really want to go back and see the other nights. Especially the last two installments which will have more contemporary music I’m more familiar with. This show does such a clear-eyed job deconstructing the history of oppression in America, and it would be fascinating to see songs I know turned on their head.

The Verdict: Go see this show! It’s one of the most remarkable pieces of theater we’ve seen.

The Drama Talk: Taylor opens the show telling the audience this is a “radical fairy realness ritual” and there isn’t really a better way to define it. Part drag performance, part concert, part performance art, part history lesson this show can’t be put into a box. It was workshopped over three years, in various configurations in New York. Culminating last year in a 24-hour performance of the show in full at Brooklyn’s St. Ann’s Warehouse. This San Francisco production, a collaboration between the Curran, Magic Theater, Stanford Live, and Pomegranate Arts (Taylor’s home theater) is the first showing where they’ve broken the 24 hour show into four six-hour blocks (1776-1836, 1836-1896, 1896-1956 and 1959-present) and shown it in its entirety over multiple days. It’s a remarkable testament to the company’s talent that six hours felt like no time at all. Using popular music from each decade Taylor explores the history of America and the systemic oppression which has been foundational to our society. All of this is done with such heart and levity, that you don’t even realize how deep the content is until you leave the theater. A really remarkable performance that you should see if you can.

The Drinks: The Curran sells drinks and food throughout the show, which you can bring into the theater, so that’s what we did. Each night is different, but there was both food and drink handed out to the audience by the Dandy Minions during the performance we saw as well, so you will be well taken care of. Just remember to pace yourself. In one moment this show feels like a raunchy drag performance, in the next it’s tackling issues like racism and sexism, so you don’t want to be wasted and miss some of the really smart critiques this show has to offer.

The last two chapters of this show are this coming weekend, (September 22 & 24) so if you want a chance to experience this amazing performance you need to go now. Tickets range from $285 to supposedly $49, but the cheapest we could find for single ticket purchase remaining were $99 tickets. You can buy tickets through the Curran website.

We have kicked off the Fall theater season with seeing the Tony Award winning musical, An American In Paris at SHN’s Orpheum Theatre. It’s a musical inspired by the 1951 film, which is full of George and Ira Gershwin songs. Brittany couldn’t make it, so she was replaced with our backup theater lover, Garrett.

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy
An American in Paris Touring Company

Katie: So much dancing.

Garrett: Yeah, but the dancing is what I liked about it.

K: Really? There were great dancers and dance sequences for sure, but for me when I’m not interested in the story, the dancing feels like a filler. The dancing was beautiful, but there was just so much of it, and the show dragged on for me. The other aspect that made it drag for me was the weak male romantic lead (Jerry Mulligan, played by McGee Maddox), who was far from believable.

G: I think the show started off strong, but then the story didn’t hold up and it never quite took off for me. It felt like a forced love story and very old fashioned for a newly adapted script.

K: It felt like a super old American musical, which I can appreciate but don’t seem to have as much patience for anymore, I’m just over this style of storytelling. I mean, who is this musical for?

G: It feels like it’s for grandparents or someone who loves the nostalgia that you get from the old classic Gershwin songs, or maybe a very young person who loves to be visually stimulated and doesn’t need a complex well developed storyline.

K: I guess. I think we are just not the audience for this musical. I was underwhelmed. It felt stale and unimaginative. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone between the ages of 20-50.

The Verdict: This old time feeling musical could be a great night out with parents or grandparents. The nostalgia from classic songs like “I Got Rhythm” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” is enjoyable. Don’t go to this show expecting something new and unexpected.

The Drama Talk: This Tony winning musical fell short when it came to imaginative, well developed storytelling, but didn’t disappoint in terms of music and choreography. Everything about this production, from the set to the costumes and actors, were just, well….fine, but nothing really stood out as exceptional. This felt like a big budget Broadway musical going through the motions and checking the standard boxes of what used to wow people. There is nothing new to see here.

The Drinks: Less than a block away there is a new beer and wine bar called Fermentation Lab. It wasn’t crowded or loud which made it a great place to grab a drink and talk about what we had just seen.

An American In Paris runs through October 8th at the Orpheum Theatre. There are $40 both virtual and in-person rush tickets available. You can check-out the SHN website for rush instructions. Goldstar also currently has tickets for $50-70.

We know we are in the middle of summer when we get the notification for a San Francisco Mime Troupe show. We look forward to it every summer. We were extra excited to find out that they are celebrating their 58th season with a show musical about immigration called “Walls”. So we packed our picnic basket full of treats and canned wine, and headed off to McLaren Park for some drama talk and drinks.

l-r) Velina Brown (L. Mary Jones), Marilet Martinez (Zaniyah Nahuatl)
Photo by: Mike@mikemelnyk.com

Brittany: What a beautiful day! It’s always nice to see a show outside in a park.

Katie: Yeah, the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater is awesome! Can’t believe I have never been there. Such a great location for this. But for me, the location was one of my favorite parts about it. This one wasn’t quite as inventive and creative as I remember their other shows being. I found myself not super interested in what was going to happen next, because it seemed too obvious and predictable.

B: The last Mime Troupe show we saw was just before the election, and it felt really urgent. It made me feel like “we’re gonna fight, we’re speaking truth to power”! I didn’t feel that after this show. I kind of just felt sad. The final message seemed to be “our immigration system is a terrible mess, but the best thing we can do is help escort undocumented immigrants to their ICE trials”. I did appreciate that they included sound bites not just of Trump, but also of Obama, both Bushes and Clinton showing how long our immigration system has been broken. It’s important to acknowledge this is a huge and longstanding problem, I just wish there was more of a call to action. Although this play pissed off Breitbart News, so that’s worth something!

The Verdict: Any weekend spent sitting in a park, sipping wine, and watching free theater is a weekend well spent. Expect to be entertained but don’t expect to leave inspired to make a change.

The Drama Talk: Not the most inspired show we’ve seen done by SF Mime Troupe. The premise of Walls sounds compelling (an undocumented lesbian immigrant living in hiding with her ICE agent partner) but the script is pretty predictable and not nearly as boundary pushing as other SF Mime Troupe shows we’ve seen in the past. The SF Mime Troupe company is consistently talented, and does a good job playing multiple roles and keeping the show moving. While some of the actors have great voices, none of the songs are really memorable.  It’s a free show and it’s in a park, so if it’s a nice day it’s worth going. Unfortunately, despite Breitbart’s outrage, we don’t think this show will actually spark any leftist revolutions.

The Drinks: These shows are mostly in parks and we recommend bringing drinks with you. We brought Underwood canned wine from Trader Joe’s. Super classy.

Walls is running through September 10th at various locations. Tickets are free. You can check out locations for their upcoming shows on their website.

The Speakeasy has added a new show on Friday nights that “welcomes audiences to the immersive, Prohibition-era world of The Speakeasy with a mix of lighthearted cabaret acts and interactive scenes.” It’s called A NIGHT AT THE PALACE and was created to be a less structured theatrical experience and more of a party. We were intrigued and knew we needed to see how this new spin would feel after seeing the full Speakeasy show. So we headed to North Beach to meet a someone on a corner, tell them our secret line, and get escorted to a secret underground location for some drama talk and drinks.

Brittany: I had so much fun!

Katie: What an incredible night out. There really isn’t anything like it in San Francisco.

B: I’ve really never seen anything like it anywhere. The line between audience and performer, the show and reality, is so blurred. You just lose yourself in this other world.

K: This was my first time seeing this new space and it is SO cool! The decor and the costumes were on point, but I think the main thing that really made me feel transported back in time was that there is a no phone rule. There was no point where I looked around and I saw screens, which never happens anymore. People were captivated by the show, or the pleasure of each other’s company, and not distracted by their phones.

B: It is great to be able to fully unplug and just have a really fun time with friends. I also still can’t believe how committed audience members are to dressing for the show. People wear the most amazing costumes, and it’s great that everyone just dives-in and has fun.

K: I know this is a new thing they are trying, having an option to just come and enjoy the show and party. I appreciate that. You could sit in the cabaret and watch the show and when you felt like it you could get up and go to the bar and casino room. I didn’t have the feeling like I was missing out on something that was happening in the other rooms since there weren’t multiple storylines happening around us.

B: I think this could also be a great way to get introduced into the full show, since it introduces you to the characters, but without any of the drama. It lets you explore the space in a much more laid back way too. Besides, who doesn’t love a night of delicious drinks, dressing up, and entertaining characters.

The Verdict: So much fun! It’s both entertaining and stimulating without being overwhelming.

The Drama Talk: The first time we went to Speakeasy we were a bit overwhelmed. So many plots, so many secret rooms, so many actors all around you. We loved it, but it was hard not to have FOMO knowing that some cool story was happening in the other room that we were probably missing. A Night at the Place maintains all the fun and magic of the original Speakeasy show while making it a lot more lighthearted. The cabaret acts were great, we had a bunch of fun conversations with actors trying to sell us on their bootlegged gin, and we still got the feeling of stepping into another era. While not all of the secret rooms are operational on this night (the office and the dressing room which both allow audience members to eavesdrop on different storylines are not used during A Night at the Palace) you get to stay later and dance the night away in the cabaret, which was really a highlight. This would be a great special outing for a group of friends, or an awesome way to introduce out of town guests to the magic of San Francisco.

The Drinks: Are strong, delicious and plenty! You will be able to order drinks from your table in the cabaret or you can go into the bar area and order. Make sure to give them your credit card info beforehand (before noon the day you’re scheduled to see the show) to make ordering food and drink easy.

A Night At the Palace runs Friday nights through September 1st at a secret venue near Chinatown and North Beach (Ticket buyers will receive a text or email the day of the event with directions on how to obtain the address). Tickets are $25-$85 depending on the time of entry you choose. Tickets and more info are on their website.

It’s rare that plays on Broadway get as much buzz as the blockbuster musicals. The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-Time is the exception to that rule. Winner of five Tony Awards in 2015, including Best-Play, we had heard about this play for a while. So when we were heard the tour was going to SHN’s Golden Gate Theater, we were excited to see it for Drama Talk & Drinks.

Adam Langdon as Christopher Boone in the touring production of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” – photo by Joan Marcus

Katie: Wow, I couldn’t look away. I was so engaged, and intrigued, and invested in Christopher [The lead character -Ed.] and his story. Even though at moments the plot was predictable, it didn’t matter because it was such good story telling. I was interested in the whole family. The actor who played Christopher (Adam Langdon) was so incredibly talented. The set was innovative and propelled the show forward, which is a hard thing for a set to do. I just really enjoyed it.

Brittany: I agree. It was one of those shows that, although it wasn’t pleasant to watch because of the intense sound and lighting design, it’s just too good not to. I thought the way they used the lights and sound to put the audience into Christopher’s head was so innovative. It’s hard to say it’s enjoyable, because when you’re getting blasted with strobe lights and loud screeching noises it’s definitely jeering, but it’s such a powerful story and creative production.

K: Totally, for once I can’t think of anything to criticize. I was just really moved.

B: They showed a lot of humanness. It’s wonderful that a show told from the perspective of a 15 year old boy who is on the autism spectrum is one of the most empathetic shows I’ve seen. You could totally understand why all the characters in the show did the not-so-pleasant things they did, and feel for them, even while knowing that they were making selfish or wrong decisions.

K: It got messy, but it was so good.The show was engaging, you didn’t really have time to think of anything else, but be present and watch this story about these very imperfect people unfold. It’s definitely a must see.

The Verdict: GO SEE IT! It’s not an “easy” show, there’s some uncomfortable moments, but it’s such a well done play it’s worth a little discomfort.

The Drama Talk: When you walk into the theater, there’s a dead dog in the middle of the stage with a pitch-fork stuck in it (a ‘garden fork’ in the script – it’s set in the UK).  The play’s plot never gets much lighter than this, but still somehow, there’s a joy and lightness to the production. The performance puts the audience into the mind of a 15 year old boy, named Christopher, who is a math savant but “ill-equipped to interpret everyday life”. The set is remarkable, with LED lights and built in projections that transport the viewer to the different settings of the show, but also into Christopher’s thoughts and fantasies. While the show isn’t “immersive” in the sense that the audience never leaves their seats, it does transport the audience into a different sort of consciousness. When Christopher is panicked, the play uses lighting and sound to induce a similar sort of emotion in the audience. While it’s not always comfortable, it’s definitely memorable, and makes for a moving night at the theater.

The Drinks: After the show we decided to check-out a bar we hadn’t tried yet, Rx, a ‘apothecary themed cocktail lounge’ a few blocks uphill at the corner of Geary and Leavenworth. It was a cozy and chill spot to grab a strong fancy cocktail and unpack the show.

 A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time runs through July 23rd at SHN’s Golden Gate Theater. Tickets range from $55-$200 on the SHN website. There are also a limited number of virtual rush tickets that are available through the Today Tix app, and a limited number of $35 Rush tickets available via an in-person rush,  beginning 2 hours prior to curtain at the SHN Golden Gate Theatre Box Office. Note, the in-person rush tickets are cash only with a 2 per person limit. At time of publishing there are still some $40 Goldstar tickets available for the show too.

Can the idea of ‘fake it til’ you make it’ work for white male privilege? If you just act like a bro, no matter your race, sexual orientation, or gender identity, can you get a free pass when you act like a jerk? That’s what Luna Malbroux and Jennifer Lewis ask in their new play How To Be a White Man now playing at PianoFight produced by FaultLine Theater company. Always up for a play that “takes a bold look at race, sexuality, and gender” we decided to check it out for Drama Talk & Drinks.

Luna Malbroux – Photo by Clive Walker

Katie: They had me with the title How To Be a White Man. I love talking about white male privilege and I love seeing new works by women, particularly women of color, so I was excited about this show. I just wish I liked it more than I did. The writing was funny and called out some good shit. It was a fresh and relevant script. Where it fell short was in the execution.

Brittany: I agree, it was a cool interesting script, very thought provoking, but at the same time there was something off with this performance. I know they were having technical difficulties before the show started, so maybe that contributed, but the pacing was off.

K: There were so many awkward transitions which took me out of the show. The actors were kind-of lackluster too. There were moments when I was totally with them, during one of the serious monologues or the hilarious stand-up routines, but then it would fizzle when they moved on to the next moment.

B: It seemed like something was off, like actors were having to cover for someone who was late for an entrance or dropped a line. It was strange since you could definitely see there were talented people in the show, but it dragged, it felt inconsistent.

K: This script has so much potential, the production we saw just didn’t quite do it for me.

The Verdict:  This production had some great moments, but this is one occasion where the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts. The script is fresh, relevant, and fun. There is a cool set, some talented actors, and some innovative uses of video projections. But, it fell short because of pacing.

The Drama Talk: This isn’t an easy show. The script is based on comedian Luna Malbroux’s experience as a queer Black woman, and also draws from a series of real interviews the playwrights did with people all over the country on the topic of white male privilege. At times the play takes place in a fantasy world, a comedy club, in the past, in the present, as an internal monologue. Actors are playing multiple roles, and scenes change quickly. There were moments when everyone in the play was strong, but there were also moments when every performer in the play was not. Because of the highly episodic nature of the script, it at times was hard to stay in the moment. However despite pacing issues, this is still very relevant new work, that’s worth seeing just for the interesting content. They also give out free white male privilege vouchers, so that’s reason enough to check it out.

The Drinks: As is always the case when we go to PianoFight, we don’t see a need to go anywhere else. We got drinks and food at the in-house restaurant and bar after the show, and toasted a fun and thought provoking night of Drama Talk & Drinks.

How to Be a White Man runs through July 1st at PianoFight. Thursdays @7:30pm, Fridays @7:30pm, Saturdays @7:30pm with one Wednesday performance June 28th @7:30pm. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased HERE.

We’ve been loving Cutting Ball Theater recently and their “radical re-visionings of classic works”. When we found out they had a new production of Phèdre, the classic Greek tragedy about the perils of unrequited love for your stepson, opening we knew it was time for a night of drama talk and drinks.

Brittany: Cutting Ball is very good at making classic plays approachable. These actors did a great job tackling dense language and making it, at least for me, very understandable. I kinda know Greek mythology but certainly don’t remember it well, and I appreciate how clear they made a very complicated story.

Katie: I struggle with Greek plays. Theseus, Hippolytus, Hercules… all the names and the intersecting myths and back stories. It’s so confusing, and as you said the language is dense. I think Phèdre (Courtney Walsh) did the best job at normalizing the language. She was SO good. But I still found it hard. I’ve seen other shows at Cutting Ball that I’ve liked better. This just didn’t feel as inventive as usual. The only thing that looked fresh were the costumes, and even then I didn’t understand they were from the 50’s.

B: Yeah, they didn’t really do anything with that time period.

K: Yeah, so why even make their outfits 50’s? Why not make it nondescript. So I wasn’t a fan of the 50’s theme, it didn’t work for me. There wasn’t much to the sound or lighting design. The set was clean, and simple and I liked the sky projected thing over the center of the stage. But It just wasn’t as interesting as other Cutting Ball shows I’ve seen.

B: I’m kinda in the same place, mostly because I don’t always love Greek tragedies. The setting it in the 50s for no reason got to me too. But, Phèdre was just amazing, incredibly talented. You should see the show just to see her performance, it’s fantastic.

K: Right! I was like where the hell did she come from!

B: For a play that could be really deadly, corny pun intended, the actors made it come to life.

K: I just feel that for the non theater goer/lover this show didn’t have as much of a cool factor as the other shows we’ve seen them do.

B: I agree with that, I think if you want to see Phèdre, or you like Greek tragedies then you should totally go see this. If you are someone who is not a theater goer…

K: This would be rough.

B: It is a hard play, and although a very solid production, it may not be what everyone wants to see.

The Verdict: Do you like Greek tragedies? Go! Like theater enough to wade through some dense language with a powerful female actor? Go! Otherwise this may be one you want to skip.

The Drama Talk: Cutting Ball reliably delivers fresh takes on classic theater. Their season is full of powerful, perhaps misunderstood, female characters who are chafing at the confines of society. In Phèdre, Courtney Walsh presents a compelling portrayal of a women grasping for the things she wants in the only ways she knows how, to tragic results. It’s a very heavy play, both because of the weighty language and impending doom. While Cutting Ball has a bright set and fun 50s costumes to lighten things up a bit, it’s not really clear why it’s set in that era and the staging isn’t as inventive as we’ve seen in Cutting Ball productions in the past. Greek tragedies are not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is a strong cast, and worth a watch if you’re a theater lover.

The Drinks: We have noticed that hotel bars are really making a comeback. After this show we headed a block up Taylor to the 6 week old Douglas Room, which is part of the Tilden hotel. It had a really chill atmosphere and sassy strong cocktails, which was a good combo after the intense Greek tragedy.

Phèdre runs through May 21st at the The EXIT on Taylor. Tickets are $15-$45 and can be purchased on the Cutting Ball website.

Ever since the Curran’s grand-reopening earlier this year, the theater has been bringing some serious theater game, living up to their mission of “presenting bold, daring work”. Their latest show, The Encounter, promised audiences an “epic journey” through the use of the latest in 3D audio technology. Actor and director Simon McBurney’s one-man-show takes audiences into the Amazon rainforest, following the story of National Geographic photographer Loren McIntyre.  We had a feeling that this was going to be something special, so off we went for a night of Drama Talk & Drinks.

Simon McBurney in THE ENCOUNTER (Photo by Gianmarco Bresadola)

Katie: This was like nothing I have ever seen. That in itself was magical. There were moments where I could feel myself making a crazy face and thinking “what’s happening, this is so cool”. I have just never experienced storytelling in that way. He (Simon McBurney) was an amazing actor and storyteller. Then you throw in what he did with sound design and it made it a recipe for awesomeness. It was one man on a very bare stage but I really felt taken away.

Brittany: Yeah, it was mesmerizing. It’s also an interesting juxtaposition. On one hand he’s using the story of encountering this remote tribe in the Amazon to critique the consumerism and technological dependence of modern Western society. At the same time, the way he’s able to transport you on this journey is through the use of this amazing audio technology and lighting. There are a few groups in the environmental movement who are exploring how you can use technology to build deeper empathy and concern for places like the Amazon rainforest. That certainly was one goal of this show. While I don’t know if I came away with a concrete way to change my behavior, aside from shunning bottled water, but it certainly gave me a deeper experience of the rainforest. It was a very innovative way to engage people.

Katie: The show presented a lot of interesting questions and ideas on the environment and generally on life. I appreciated the way it encouraged us to challenge our perceptions about the truthfulness of stories we tell, what it means to be alive, and what we should value.

Brittany: Also major kudos to the Curran. When we were walking out I was thinking how unique it is to see a piece like this in a theater this size. It was amazing to see this on a big scale. One little person on this great big stage and he was able to fill it. I feel like you don’t get the opportunity to do that very often. And it was mesmerizing for the 2 full hours.

Katie: I’d have to say that the Curran is really sticking to their promise to be bold and different. I’ve seen some really cool and innovative theater there. Looking forward to seeing what they do next.

The Verdict: SO cool! A very unique and mesmerizing experience. Go! Go now!

The Drama Talk: Simon McBurney did an incredible job transporting the audience to another place. He gets in your head, or at least your ears, through the use of  3D audio technology that is served directly to each audience member via personal headphones found at each seat. The masterful sound design is at once intimate and immersive. The story takes the audience to the Amazon rainforest and the sound design makes you feel surrounded by the jungle, the river, the mosquitos and the swirling voices of the story being told. Technically speaking it was incredible, but beyond the flashy technology, it also was just great storytelling.

The Drinks: A block away from the theater on Geary we checked out the Pineapple Bistro and Bar in the Alise San Francisco hotel. It was a great choice because is was practically empty with plenty of seating and great service. There were lots of pineapple everything, and Katie’s drink even came in a brass pineapple, which felt appropriately jungle themed after an evening in the Amazon.

The Encounter runs through May 7th at the Curran. Tickets are $49-$185 and can be purchased on the Curran’s website.