Don’t Miss Our Next Show On Tuesday, June 12!

Founding Artistic Director Victor Carrion returns to Theater Pub after more than a year long hiatus with HIT TRIP FALL RUN DREAM STICK SLEEP, a new performance piece about the early days of AIDS research in the 1980’s.

Of the piece, Carrion writes, “It’s a dramatic portrayal of coming up in the medical industry during the discovery of AIDS and the impact of
homophobia on the development of young medical students and residents.” Seeing this as a way for Theater Pub to contribute to the general discussion of LGBT history and rights that marks every June in San Francisco, Carrion adds that this moment in past was particularly interesting because “The innocence of medicine at the time combined with the social ignorance of the early 80’s to have a profound effect in the lives of a generation of gay men.”

Written by James D. Lock and directed by Carrion, the evening will employ a number of narrative styles, including screenplay, and will be performed by some of our favorite actors: Nick Dickson, Julia Heitner, Rik Lopes, Brian Markley, Theresa Miller and Nick Trengove. As usual, it’s free to attend, though we recommend a five dollar donation at the door, and get there early as we tend to fill up!

Auditions for The Boar’s Head

A lot of people have been asking us about auditions for our adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV in May. Well, in case you’re still interested, here are our audition notice:

The Boar’s Head
adapted by Stuart Bousel from Shakespeare’s Henry IV & V
directed by Jessica Richards

Rehearsals: March 16 and April 12-May 16
Performances: May 16, 17, 23, 30, 31 @ Cafe Royale, SF

Auditions in West Berkeley:
11:30a-2p Feb 26
4-6p Feb 27

Please prep: one Shakespeare monologue
Sides will be provided
Email SFTheatrePubAuditions@gmail.com for an appointment

Roles Available

FALSTAFF: older, fat, jovial, lecherous, drunk, cowardly, usury but not ill-willed; genuinely loves Hal but his interest in the Prince is also selfish

BARDOLPH: 40s-50s, contemporary of FALSTAFF’s and long-time friend, nice enough guy but definitely a follower.

PISTOL: 20s-early 30s, violent and argumentative, he’s friends with FALSTAFF and BARDOLPH but that can change without warning; likes DOLL.

KATHARINE: 20s, French, beautiful, aloof but secretly friendly and gentle-hearted. MUST speak French well.

MISTRESS QUICKLY: late 30s-40s, weathered, simple minded, good hearted, loves FALSTAFF deeply but despairs of ever actually attaining him.

DOLL TEARSHEET: a whore, professionally and personally, late 20s-early 30s, long-time friend of QUICKLY, on-again-off-again lover of FALSTAFF.

ALICE: a barmaid, 20s, middle class, smart, articulate. Basic French-speaking ability required.

Join Us This Monday As We Kick Off Our 2011 Season

Back after a little winter break, the San Francisco Theater Pub prepares to kick off its 2011 season with THEATER FOR THE INATTENTIVE this Monday, January 17th at the Cafe Royale. Keeping with our commitment to exploring a wide variety of work and theatrical forms, THEATER OF THE INATTENTIVE is in a category all it’s own, as director and Theater Pub co-founder Victor Carrion explains:

“By playing these stories, a terrific cast brings us snapshots of our daily existence. Presented in less than 50 minutes, we’ll be able to enjoy the tribulations of others, but also remember our own. Simple pleasures of life and those more complex situations that make us ponder intersect each other as haiku-like stories, one page plays and small anecdotes are interwoven into a narrative trip that is hungry for your full attention. Theater for the Inattentive will make you think quickly and deeply, leaving you with plenty of time to be distracted at a later time…”

Hope that grabs your attention. See you at the bar.

THEATER FOR THE INATTENTIVE performs Mondays January 17, 24, and 31 in the Cafe Royale (800 Post Street, San Francisco, at Leavenworth). 8pm curtain. Admission is free.

Happy New Year!

Many thanks to everyone who made 2010 a huge success for the San Francisco Theater Pub!

This has been a tremendous first year for us. We completed 11 projects over the course of 12 months and worked with 100+ actors, directors, artists, writers and musicians! We received media coverage in Theater Bay Area Magazine, The Guardian, Words On Theater/KUSF and on numerous blogs and events listings! Our crowds ranged from full to capacity to bursting and whether it was original work, classic Greek tragedy or modern drama we found our audience to be supportive and ready to let us play and push our own boundaries!

Rest assured, San Francisco Theater Pub will be back in 2011. Here is a taste of our upcoming season:

January 17, 24,  31: Theater for the Inattentive, 50 short stories adapted from John Ashworth’s Is The Barn Still Standing, directed by Victor Carrion.

February 21: Personal Politics, an exploration of the personal drama found in 600 years of English political rhetoric, directed by Stuart Bousel

March 21: The Dragon, a fairy tale satire of bad government, adapted and directed by Bennett Fisher from Evgeny Shvarts’ classic play.

April 18: Congresswomen, by Aristophanes, a profane and provocative sex comedy from Ancient Greece, adapted and directed by Stuart Bousel.

May 16, 17, 23, 30 & 31: The Boar’s Head, a revisioning of William Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays, directed by Jessica Richards.

June 20: Joyce’s Voice, a dramatization of selected writing by James Joyce, conceived and directed by Megan Cohen and Nirmala Nataraj.

Accepting Submissions for the Pint Sized Plays

San Francisco Theater Pub is accepting submissions for our August offering, THE PINT SIZED PLAYS. The evening will feature original short plays by local writers, all set in a bar, and each the length of time it takes to finish a beer (a few seconds to ten minutes).

Guidelines: 1-3 characters, as many beers (or other beverages), table and chairs. No other technical elements. The whole thing has to take place in a bar. Once one of the characters finishes a beer, the play is over. The idea is that the set up – bar, table, chairs – is constant throughout all of the plays. The only thing that changes is the people and the conversation.

Scripts must be under ten minutes (7 page maximum). San Francisco Bay Area playwrights only, please.

Submissions: Email a properly formatter script to theaterpub@atmostheatre.com. Please include your full name and the phrase “Pint Sized Play” in the subject line of the email. All scripts are due by May 21.

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 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