Theatre entertainment in San Francisco
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Red Poppy Art House
It feels like a house party you’ve stumbled upon by accident, where guests are instead performers still in rehearsal mode. The little corner storefront is open to passersby; inside you’ll find art in progress, musical performances and occasional film screenings. Check the lineup on the website, or just wander in. If you dig open studios, this is a very cool concept and a great way to meet local artists.
reviewed
-
B
Magic Theatre
The Magic Theatre is well known for taking risks and staging provocative plays by such playwrights as Bill Pullman, Terrence McNally, Edna O’Brien, David Mamet and longtime playwright-in-residence Sam Shepard. Watch the next generation of playwrights and provocateurs break through in professionally staged works written by teenagers as part of the Young California Writers Project.
reviewed
-
C
American Conservatory Theater
Breakthrough shows destined for the big time in London or New York sometimes pass muster at the turn-of-the-century Geary Theater, which has hosted ACT’s landmark productions of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America and Robert Wilson’s Black Rider, with a libretto by William S Burroughs and music by the Bay Area’s own Tom Waits.
reviewed
-
D
Brava Theater
Brava’s been producing women-run theater for 20 years, and it’s the nation’s only company whose sole purpose is to produce original works by women of color and lesbians. Nodding to the neighborhood’s Mexican heritage, Brava posts hand-painted billboards like the kind you’d see in old Mexico – see some in the lobby.
reviewed
-
E
A Traveling Jewish Theater
Founded in 1978, this theater presents a variety of genres focusing on Jewish and American cultural issues. Borscht Belt comedy, music, storytelling, and serious and comic drama appear on the company’s main stage in the Mission, but sometimes elsewhere too; check with the box office to confirm locations.
reviewed
-
F
New Conservatory Theater
This respected gay company draws playwrights like Terrance McNally and continually shows new works. There’s usually a boy partially naked on stage, earning it the nickname ‘Nude Conservatory Theatre, ’ but it’s never a strip show. Shows range from camp to dead serious. Worth investigating.
reviewed
-
G
AMC Van Ness 14
An enormous multiplex (14 screens) in a former Cadillac dealership, 1000 Van Ness mostly shows mainstream Hollywood releases, and has state-of-the-art theaters with surround sound and incredibly comfy high-backed stadium seating.
reviewed
-
H
Climate Theater
You never know what’s doing at the Climate, a tiny black-box experimental theater, which is a testing ground for new works, from comedy improv to small plays pulled together on a shoestring.
reviewed
-
I
Exit Theater
Experimental theater in this tiny venue provides an escape from the musical-and-melodrama treadmill. It’s also home to the annual San Francisco Fringe Festival, a mass exodus from the norm.
reviewed
