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Magic Theatre, Building D
A legendary San Francisco theater company known for its production of original and edgy drama celebrates its 40th year with a stunning line-up of plays — including the Bay Area premiere of Sam Shepard’s The God of Hell.
Magic Theatre stages six dramas for their anniversary season — three of them in the new, rotating “Hot House” series. The season begins with Shepard’s play in September. Amy Glazer directs this “unflinching ode to the current administration.”
“The play’s like a primal scream set in the heartland of America at the moment when patriotism has become a cancer,” said Magic’s Artistic Director, Chris Smith. “And the laconic poetry and absurdist touches make it quintessential Shepard.”
The theater company’s second production in October, the world premiere of Moving Right Along, features three short comedies written by Elaine May — yes, that Elaine May — and Jan Mirochek. May and Jeannie Berlin direct what is expected to be equal parts smart, funny, and subversive.
In December, Magic showcases new full-length plays by emerging playwrights in Hot House 2007. Pleasure and Pain is one of them. Smith says that Chantal Bilodeau’s erotic thriller, directed by Jessica Heidt, “explores sexual taboos and their personal and public repercussions….”
Smith says that Rust, the second in the Hot House series, “skewers African American advertising iconography and sports mythology.” Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and a black superstar athlete engage in this new play penned by Kirsten Greenidge and directed by Raelle Myrick-Hodges.
The third and final Hot House play is ‘Bot, by C. Michèle Kaplan. The work reveals how a young man’s extraordinary contribution to the world could go unnoticed by parents too involved in their own high-powered urban lives. Smith, who directs, said “the play brilliantly dissects how poorly we communicate, even when technology means we’re hyper-connected.”
Rounding out the benchmark season is the May 2007 revival of Claire Chafee’s Magic 1993 mega hit, Why We Have A Body. The provocative comedy, produced in association with the Women’s Project, NYC, tells the tale of four women who try to navigate nontraditional paths to self. Loretta Greco directs the award-winning play.
For more information, visit www.magictheatre.org.
— Ronald Tierney
Snapshots from Magic Theatre's 40th season shows (top).
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