Monthly Archives: April 2010

Auditions for ‘The Theban Chronicles’

The San Francisco Theater Pub’s June show is a serial-reading of four plays making up THE THEBAN CHRONCILES: The Phoenician Women, Oedipus at Colonus, Seven Against Thebes, and Antigone shown on four separate nights in June.

We’re looking for roughly 30 actors to participate in this unique experience. Each show will be presented as a concert reading at Cafe Royale and will run about 50 minutes. Some actors (like Creon and Antigone) will perform in all four readings, others will perform in just one or two.

There is a (very) modest stipend and rehearsal times will be light and flexible.

Please join us in this exciting theatrical experience and a chance to play some of the most memorable characters in Ancient Greek theater!

If you interested in auditioning, please send headshot and resume to theaterpub@atmostheatre.com with “Audition” in the subject line by May 6th. Please note any time conflicts and we’ll send you an audition time slot.
AUDITIONS:

May 8: 12-3
May 10: 7-10
Location:
141 Taylor Street, SF (Between Turk and Eddy – Cutting Ball’s Office Space)

SHOWS:

The Phoenician Women directed by Meg O’Connor: June 15 at 8PM
Oedipus at Colonus directed by Maryanne Olson: June 21 at 8PM
Seven Against Thebes directed by Sara Judge: June 28 at 8PM
Antigone directed by Amy Clare Tasker: June 29 at 9PM

San Francisco Theater Pub Announces Programming for August, September, and October

Before the performances of AUDIENCE this Monday and Tuesday, San Francisco Theater Pub co-founder Stuart Bousel revealed a little more of what’s in store for the next year.

In August, we will be mounting THE PINT SIZED PLAYS – a festival of short plays by San Francisco writers each performed in the length of time it takes to finish a beer – anywhere from ten minutes to a few seconds. We are excited for the first time to accept submissions by Bay Area playwrights. The rules: two to three characters, just as many beers, a table and a few chairs, and no longer than ten minutes (seven page script maximum). The rest is up to you. THE PINT SIZED PLAYS will run Mondays August 16, 23, and 30 at the Cafe Royale.

Submissions are due by May 21st. Please email a properly formatted script to theaterpub@atmostheatre.com with ‘Your Name – Pint Sized Submission’ in the subject line.

In September, we will return with another full production, a series of short plays by Samuel Beckett running playing two consecutive Mondays on September 20 and 27 at the Cafe Royale. The evening will feature infrequently performed gems such as CATASTROPHE, WHAT WHERE?, OHIO IMPROMPTU and COME AND GO. We are excited to present a different side of Beckett’s genius in a very different sort of setting.

In October, in the spirit of Halloween, we are planning a LOVECRAFT FESTIVAL, celebrating the life and work of the enigmatic  master of horror H. P. Lovecraft. The festival will run October 18, 19, and 25 and will feature original radio play style adaptations of three different H. P. Lovecraft stories. For fans of Lovecraft, this is not an event to miss.

We will announce the final shows of our season for the months of November and December before the final performances. If you have not seen AUDIENCE yet (or if you feel like another another go-round), we will be back for our final two performances in just under two weeks. Don’t miss it!

-Victor Carrion, Stuart Bousel, Bennett Fisher, and Brian Markley

AUDIENCE by Vaclav Havel runs May 3 and 4.  8pm at the Cafe Royale (800 Post, at Leavenworth) and admission is free. Reserve a place by emailing theaterpub@atmostheatre.com

San Francisco Theater Pub Announces Programming for June and July

Before AUDIENCE opened on Tuesday night, San Francisco Theater Pub co-founder Stuart Bousel introduced our June and July programming for our 2010 season. We will be announcing the rest of the season, which features new material every month of the year, bit by bit before performances of AUDIENCE, so be sure to attend to hear the new first.

For June, Stuart Bousel has conceived THE THEBAN CHRONICLES – a four part dramatic reading “mini-series” centered on the House of Thebes, starting with the banishment of Oedipus and ending with the death of Antigone. Drawn from four classic Greek plays by Euripides (The Phoenician Women), Sophocles (Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone), and Aeschylus (Seven Against Thebes), the reading will showcase a compelling four part drama, that honors its three literary sources and their distinct voices. By condensing each episode to less than an hour, we strive to create a compelling, character driven narrative that will appeal to all audiences. The scope of the project is impressive: thirty actors, four directors, four nights in three weeks. If you are a lover of the classics, this is not an event to miss. If classics are not quite your thing, what better venue to change your mind about Greek theater than a bar?

THE THEBAN CHRONICLES:

June 15: Phoenician Women

June 21: Oedipus at Colonus

June 28: Seven Against Thebes

June 29: Antigone

We are following THE THEBAN CHRONICLES with a slightly more comic take on ambition, power, and dysfunctional marriages – a staged reading of Alfred Jarry’s masterpiece UBU ROI on Monday, July 19, adapted and directed by Bennett Fisher. Considered by many to be the godfather of Absurdism, Jarry scandalized Parisian audiences in 1896 with a madcap reboot of Macbeth. Over a century later, the play has lost none of its edge, and it’s schoolboy humor send-up of greed and gluttony still resonates.

We are excited that both projects will allow us to expand our creative pool to encompass more bay area theater artists. Check back with us soon about information regarding auditions and other ways to get involved. If you’re interested in being a part, we highly recommend that you come talk to us after a show.

-Victor Carrion, Stuart Bousel, Bennett Fisher, and Brian Markley

‘Audience’ opens!

Last night, San Francisco Theater Pub made the leap to its first full production with the opening of Vaclav Havel’s AUDIENCE. About forty people came out to the opening performance – both old friends and new faces – and we broke records with audience donations.

The evening was a very different performance experience than previous Theater Pub events. Staged in the round and riding a fine line between tragedy and comedy, the mood of AUDIENCE‘s was subdued but focused, occasionally interrupted by a spasmic laugh.

Nathan Tucker and Paul Stout, in the roles of Vanek on the Foreman, deftly navigated the linguistic obstacle course of Havel’s writing – capturing the meandering dialogue that is at times convivial, aggressive, desperate, or cripplingly awkward.

AUDIENCE runs for four more performances – Monday April 19, Tuesday April 20, Monday May 3 and Tuesday May 4. 8pm every night, admission free. After last night’s performance, several audience members expressed interest in coming again to see it with another crowd (or watch it from another part of the bar). The show will be gone before you know it, so help us to spread the word.

-Victor Carrion, Stuart Bousel, Bennett Fisher, Brian Markley

‘Audience’ opens Tuesday April 13

The San Francisco Theater Pub’s first full production, Vaclav Havel’s one act AUDIENCE opens this Tuesday April 13 at 8pm at the Cafe Royale!

I have been a great admirer of Havel’s writing since I first read his plays, and was fortunate enough to meet him and other Czech Theater makers in Prague in preparation for a production of his play THE INCREASED DIFFICULTY OF CONCENTRATION I directed back  in 2008. I think AUDIENCE represents what is best about both the man and his writing – it is insightful, clever, compelling, and great fun. I have had the time of my life working with such an incredible and devoted team to get this play together, and I cannot think of a more perfect venue in which to share it. Reservations have been coming in, and all of us at San Francisco Theater Pub expect it to be a lively crowd and a memorable night.

The performance begins at 8pm, but, as always, we encourage you to arrive early to get a seat and grab a beer (our last few events have been standing room only). The play runs just under an hour with no intermission. Afterwards, we invite you to stick around after to chat with the cast, crew, and Theater Pub founders.

If you cannot make the 13th, there are also performances April 19 and 20 and May 3 and 4. Admission is free, so if you like what you see, come back with a friend or twelve.

Before the performance, we will be announcing San Francisco Theater Pub programming for the months of June and July. Show up early to be the first to hear about these exciting events and find out how to get involved. We will be announcing the rest of the season over the course of the run – another good reason to keep coming back.

Hope to see you there.

-Bennett Fisher

SFTP to Announce 2010 Season During Performances of ‘Audience’

It’s official – The San Francisco Theater Pub has finalized its 2010 season and confirmed the dates with the Café Royale. We hope to continue to build on the great momentum from the first few events with different and engaging material every single month of the year.

The 2010 season features a diversity of readings and performances, new works and under-appreciated classics, tragic and the comic, the wild and the contemplative, all presented in a welcoming and casual bar environment. In keeping with our mission statement, the year features work that, both in its content and its presentation, would not easily be found at other theaters in the area.

For those of you interested in working with us, we look forward to bringing in new actors, writers, directors, technicians, and producers into our collaborative process so that San Francisco Theater Pub is truly a nexus for local artists.

We will announce a new section of our season alongside every performance of AUDIENCE – opening April 13 and running April 13, 19, 20 and May 3, and 4 at the Café Royale. Come to the performances (more than one, if you desire) to be the first to hear about each new project and find out how to get involved. Also, keep checking back for further information on each project.

See you there!

-Stuart Bousel, Victor Carrion, Bennett Fisher, and Brian Markley

‘Audience’ in tech

This Saturday we had our tech rehearsal for AUDIENCE in the bar space. Staging a play in the round is always challenging, and even more so when the space is unconventional, but watching the play from each corner of the bar, it’s clear that this is the perfect venue for this play.

The closest audience members will be only about a foot or so away from the actors, giving a sense of immediacy rarely present in a theatrical performance, while the select few people seated on the balcony (another good reason to reserve tickets early), have an incredible bird’s eye view of the action. In both cases, the sense of confinement in Havel’s writing is made viscerally present. Tanya Orellana’s set, comprised of a few mismatched crates, shelves and a rickety table does a wonderful job providing a sense of place that is both distinct from the bar and also merges seamlessly with it. Molly Stewart Cohn’s lighting plot (which we set at about midnight this week as the bar closed), gives a subtle chill to the otherwise warm atmosphere of the Cafe Royale. In performance, there is not so much a clear distinction between the actors and the audience. Instead, the world of the play blurs and dissolves into its surroundings.

Other highlights of the tech included Theater Pub co-founder Brian Markley and sound designer Alejandro Acosta finding an elegant solution to create the peeing noise offstage (note to our audience: go to the bathroom before the performance begins), and producer Meg O’Connor’s discovery of two amazing beer steins at a local hardware store. We still have another week or rehearsals for polishing, minor technical adjustments, and painting the set pieces before we open, but the skeleton we had on Saturday looks very promising. We hope you’ll be able to see the final product.

-Bennett Fisher and the team of AUDIENCE

AUDIENCE opens Tuesday April 13 in the Cafe Royale (800 Post Street, at Leavenworth). Performances are April 13, 19, and 20 and May 3, and 4. 8pm every night. Admission is free. You may reserve seats by emailing theaterpub@atmostheatre.com