SAN LEANDRO 2016-2017 SEASON
Click here to see our current lineup of shows.
THE SHOWS:
ECHO BROWN: BLACK VIRGINS ARE NOT FOR HIPSTERS
Sept. 23-25, 2016
Finding love in "post-racial" America is easy, right? This show offers an incisive and side-splitting ride through the maze of race and romance in "colorblind" America, giving the audience an unfettered look at modern courtship rituals, climaxing with a mesmerizing Beyoncé dance tutorial. As the show opens, 23-year-old Echo is about to lose her virginity to a good-looking white hipster that she met on Craigslist. During the quickly dwindling hour before the fateful meeting, Echo bounces between desire and anxiety and reflects on the sociopolitical implications of her predicament.
"...not since early Whoopi Goldberg... have I been so moved by a performer..." —Alice Walker, author, The Color Purple
"One of the top ten shows of 2015."
—San Francisco Chronicle
BRIAN COPELAND: THE SCION
October
21-23, 2016
In 2000, Stuart Alexander, owner of Santos Linguisa Factory, murdered three state and USDA meat compliance officials after he claimed they were harassing his business. In this riveting one-man show, Brian Copeland explores the events surrounding the triple homicide and the uneasy relationship between the law and those who believe they are born above it.
Delivered with Copeland’s signature style, "The Scion" skillfully tiptoes the line between comedy and tragedy, adding a dash of humor to this riveting subject matter.
KQED's Best New Play of 2014
"Copeland Scores Again"
—San Francisco Examiner
"His solo form is artful and his storytelling chops are as sharp as ever."
—East Bay Express
MARGA GOMEZ: LATIN STANDARDS
November 18-20, 2016
"Latin Standards" is Marga Gomez's new solo piece about fathers, entertainment, wealth, poverty and café cubano. Marga revisits the triumphs and demons of her father Willy Chevalier: comedian, producer, songwriter, Café El Pico spokesperson, and a prominent figure in the golden era of New York's Latino culture. His influence spurred Marga on her journey as a performing artist and micro-manager. It's a loving, humorous and poignant story of perseverance and creative addiction passed down from immigrant father to lesbian daughter. "Latin Standards" is Marga's twelfth solo show. Earlier in 2016 "Latin Standards" was presented at Brava Theater and The Douglas Morrison Theater's "One For All Festival."
"Hysterical, brave, feisty and true."
—Eve Ensler, "The Vagina Monologues"
BRIAN COPELAND: THE JEWELRY BOX
Dec.
4, 2016
In this hilarious and heartwarming prequel to his hit show "Not a Genuine Black Man," beloved actor-playwright Brian Copeland recounts two memorable weeks in his youth when he took to the "mean streets" of Oakland to buy his mom the perfect Christmas gift. Rife with references to 1970s Oakland, "The Jewelry Box" follows six-year-old Brian's adventures as he scours the help-wanted ads, applies for jobs and collects bottles, inching his way toward the coveted present, a jewelry box at the Hegenberger White Front store.
"Destined to be a holiday classic!"
—SF Examiner
"'The Jewelry Box' is a gift in itself... it glitters with bright comedy, sharply observed local color and deftly drawn characters as well as genuine warmth."
—San Francisco Chronicle
CHARLIE VARON: FEISTY OLD JEW
January 20-22, 2017
At age 83, here's what Bernie hates: yoga studios, tattoo parlors, boutiques of all kinds, medical marijuana dispensaries, $6 cups of coffee, young techies and what they’re doing to San Francisco. It's a hot October Sunday and Bernie is tired of waiting for a cab. He sticks out his thumb and is picked up by three 20-somethings in a Tesla with a cappuccino maker in the dashboard and two surfboards strapped to the roof. By the time they get to the beach, Bernie has convinced the kids to let him surf for the first time in his life, and bet them $400,000 that he'll ride a wave.
Charlie Varon has been called "wildly entertaining" (San Francisco Chronicle), "very funny" (The New Yorker), and "hilarious" (The Washington Post).
"Comic gold."
—San Francisco Chronicle
DON REED: KIPLING HOTEL
March 24-26, 2017
The piece chronicles the true story of Reed's collegiate and Tinseltown misadventures in the electric-pink '80's. As the awkward son of a pimp struggling with college and a merciless Hollywood, Reed tried being a stripper and a gigolo, but ended up as a live-in waiter at an unforgettable retirement hotel—breakfast-sandwiched between the elderly, employee drifters and drug-addicted dreamers.
A San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Nominee, NPR Snap Judgment platinum storyteller, co-star of the NBC Streaming/Broadway's Hamilton series "Bartlett"—Reed is also the performer, director and playwright of one of the longest-running solo shows in Bay Area History—his highly regarded "East 14th."
"Reed stretches his elastic features and voice to inhabit people of every race, age and gender."
—San Francisco Chronicle
JEFF GREENWALD: STRANGE TRAVEL SUGGESTIONS
April 28-30, 2017
Jeff brings his tales of world travel back for another round! Audience members step onto the stage and spin a huge, colorful wheel. Round and 'round it spins, and where it stops—there are 30 travel-related "themes" on the Wheel—the story begins. Greenwald never knows which tales he is going to tell during any show, so the audience embarks on an expedition with him, from one spin to the next, as partner and companion. No two performances are the same!
"I love this show! Jeff could take a trip to Costco to buy socks, and I'd want to hear the story. Sixteen thumbs up!"
—Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Gulp
"Funny, keen-eyed, utterly engaging. Wherever it leads, it adds up to quite a trip."
—Rob Avila, SF Bay Guardian
WILL DURST: BOOMERAGING
May
19-21, 2017
The man the New York Times calls "quite possibly, the best political comedian working in the country today," Will Durst, proudly takes to the road with his acclaimed show that has run for 3 years in the Bay Area. "BoomeRaging: From LSD to OMG" is an uproarious tribute to the joys, achievements, frustrations, and looming doom of the Baby Boom Generation. In this rollicking 90-minute monologue, Durst explains why his chronologically gifted brothers and sisters should refuse to grow old in the face of gravity no matter how many times they forget their password retrieval question. It's what happens when acid flashbacks meet dementia. A celebration of the maturation of the Boomer Nation: culminating in an extra, added special treat—the Meaning of Life.
"Durst's good-natured, acerbic monologue is so funny that... I found myself on the verge of uncontrollable, hysterical laughter. His observations are hilarious."
—San Francisco Examiner
© Brian Copeland.