SFist: Stage = Fog: Dance and Theater

SFist is a website about San Francisco.
Editors: Eve Batey, Rita Hao / Publisher: = Gothamist

October 18, 2005

Stage Fog: Dance and Theater

3Dcapacitor.jpg=20

Stage Fog doesn't have anything against dancers, and to prove it = we're=20 featuring some of our favorite companies this week, letting them mix it = up with=20 theater. After all, San Francisco is a major dance theater center. =
But=20 before we get started, we wanted to call out Theatre Bay = Area's Free=20 Night of Theater on October 20. OK, we work at Theatre Bay Area, = which is=20 why we weren't plugging the event earlier, and now all the free tickets = are=20 gone! You=E2=80=99d have thought it was Green Day, the tickets went so = fast. Check out=20 the site anyway; you can show up at the theater of your choice and see = if anyone=20 flaked. Or, check out these fabulous other options.

Digging in the Dark at Project Artaud Theater
A = bounce-juggling=20 surface that receives vibrations and triggers images. A six-person = aerial=20 structure. A LED headpiece that changes color with a toss of the head. = And did=20 we mention innovative dance? This is what makes Capacitor one of the most = kick-ass dance=20 companies in the Bay Area, and it's also what landed them in = Wired=20 magazine and on Tech TV. Well, actually, those effects are brand-new as = part of=20 Capacitor's world premiere (the first in two years) that takes the = audience on a=20 journey through the Earth's layers to the core--a sort of metaphor for = human=20 consciousness. Inspired by modern geophysics and created in = collaboration with=20 the likes of The Crucible = (for the=20 aerial structure), Digging in the Dark apparently utilizes more = than just=20 the theater's stage. No surprise--after all, we fell in love with = Capacitor the=20 first time we saw them climb the walls in glow-in-the-dark costumes at = SomArts=20 some four years ago.
Playing October 20-30

A(Balinese)Tempest at Cowell Theatre
In documentaries about = Balinese shadow puppetry, performances almost always look like small = affairs,=20 with people sitting around on pillows watching awesome effects created = from a=20 cutout paper puppet and a single candle flame. You won't find that = intimate,=20 romantic feel in the modern Cowell Theatre, but you'll still find those=20 whimsical and unearthly shadows, courtesy of ShadowLight = Productions, one=20 of the few companies in the country with a background in traditional = Balinese=20 puppetry. Of course, this being San Francisco, they replace the candle = with more=20 cutting-edge technologies--the light bulb, for one. As part of the = "Gathering of=20 Gamelans" festival, ShadowLight presents Shakespeare's already = otherworldly=20 drama, utilizing shadow puppets, painted acetate slides, masks and = costumes to=20 create images unlike anything you've seen on Bay Area stages = before.
Playing=20 October 20-23

Phaedra at Last = Planet=20 Theatre
We=20 really like Last Planet Theatre. Really.=20 We=20 can't stop talking about them. So, haven't you gone yet? The company = bills=20 their latest outing as an "erotic reworking of the classic myth = Phaedra." She=20 was in love with her stepson--how much more erotic can you get? Writer = Matthew=20 Maguire sets this adaptation in the belly of American decadence, full of = wealth=20 and seduction. Go already.
Playing October 21-November 13

Good Luck With It at The=20 Marsh
When befuddled suburbanites greet comic Will Franken after his shows, = all they=20 can manage is a "good luck with it." So you know this has got to be good = stuff.=20 Picking up press accolades from New York to San Francisco, Franken = delivers his=20 latest solo performance glorifying life's everyday contradictions and = jabbing=20 things like slam poetry and insincere celebrations of diversity. =
Playing=20 October 22-December 3

BATS Improv at Bayfront = Theater
What,=20 you thought the only good improv was in Chicago? While other companies = in San=20 Francisco have been popping up like mushrooms, BATS has been around = since 1986,=20 turning screwy audience suggestions into gold. They perform Friday = through=20 Sunday nights practically year-round, but this weekend they take on the = Great=20 White Way with Spontaneous Broadway. Ah, the potential! The players = create=20 original songs based on audience-submitted titles, and after the = favorite song=20 is chosen, they present the entire musical. If Broadway isn't an obvious = target,=20 why not try Elvis? Yep, the next evening the players, corralled by = director=20 Joshua Raoul Brody, present an improvised, full-length Elvis movie. No = plot=20 required.
Playing October 21-22

Trolley Dances on the F-Line
If you've been thinking lately = that Muni=20 sucks, then maybe the trick isn't to think of it as public = transportation,=20 but instead as entertainment. If your theatrical experiences on Muni = have=20 starred, for example, homeless people balancing their carts between = Civic Center=20 and Castro, then let us suggest more professional dancers. Just a train = fare=20 affords you a creative ride with Epiphany Productions, which = presents=20 dance pieces at stops along the F-line with aerial masters Project Bandaloop, spunky = Dance = Brigade and the=20 excellent Robert Moses' = Kin. Make=20 the journey the destination. Or, at least have fun along the = way.
Playing=20 October 22-23

Photo: Lizelle Buckner, Nathan Brumbaugh and Jocelynn Rudig in = Capacitor's=20 Digging in the Dark, photo by Mart Sohl

Posted by=20 Karen in Arts+Events , Theater =

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