8 Days a Week

Aug. 14-21, 2002

IT'S NO SMALL feat to get a play into the Playwrights Foundation's 25th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival: out of 300 open-call entries, seven were handpicked through a rigorous selection process. After a play makes the cut, the playwright joins with a director, dramaturge, and a visual artist for intense, fast-paced development sessions. Once the final polish is applied, the works are unveiled for audiences who can then freely brag about being the very first to see these brand-new works by local and national authors. This year's fest includes staged readings of all the winning works – which represent a diverse range of topics and styles, with an eye toward the experimental – plus workshops, discussions, and forums. The whole shindig kicks off Fri/16 with a staged reading of Eyes of the Heart, a drama by Catherine Filloux about a blind woman who moves to Long Beach but continues to struggle with the memories of her experiences in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. Other scribes in the festival include Liz Duffy Adams (Dog Act), Kirsten Greenidge (The Gibson Girl), Mac Wellman (2 September), August Schulenberg (Riding the Bull), Marcus Gardley (like sun fallin in the mouth), and Brighde Mullins (Project 6, a work to be completed during the festival). Check the Web site for detailed descriptions and a complete schedule of events. Fri/16-Sat/17 and Aug. 22-24, 8 p.m. (also Sat., 3 p.m.; Aug. 24, 11:30 a.m.); Sun/18-Mon/19 and Aug. 25, 7 p.m. (also Sun., 3 p.m.), Z Space Studio, 1360 Mission, Third floor, S.F. $10 suggested donation; festival pass $55-$75. (415) 263-3986, www.playwrightsfoundation.org. (Cheryl Eddy)

Aug. 14

Wednesday

Saccharine trust While the success of pop culture phenomena like Lucky ("the magazine about shopping") is enough to make many intelligent women want to curl up and die, San Francisco-based Bitch magazine has for the past six years stepped up to the cultural-studies plate, offering sharp, funny, feminist critiques of our mediated environment. Its newest offering, the "Pink Issue" (its 17th), uses the Barbie's favorite color as the starting point for a wide-ranging examination of popular constructions of gender. To celebrate, Bitch is throwing a benefit-release party-bake sale at the Make-Out Room. With sweets baked by the magazine staff, DJ sets by Windy Chien and Alicia Vanden Heuvel, and a performance by sunny Oakland psych-pop band Call and Response, it promises to be as remarkable as bubblegum semiotics gets. 7 p.m., Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., S.F. $9-$20 sliding scale. (415) 864-6671. (Elizabeth Lobsenz)

Aug. 15

Thursday

How great thou art A quarter-century after his untimely death (Aug. 16, 1977), Elvis Presley is experiencing a resurgence of sorts, what with his omnipresence in Disney's Lilo and Stitch, a new remix of "A Little Less Conversation" topping charts here and overseas, and an invigorated push to highlight his contributions to the music world. 'Course, local movie maniac Will the Thrill isn't part of this Memphis Mafia-come-lately brigade – he's been takin' care of business for years now, keeping Elvis fever alive through an array of creative, King-themed events. For the 25th anniversary of the Big E's passing, Will and his cohost, wife Monica, Tiki Goddess – they first met at a showing of Jailhouse Rock – bring a little bit of Graceland to the Parkway Theater with the 'Thrillville Elvis D Day Party 2002,' a shake, rattle, and roll-worthy extravaganza highlighted by a screening of 1962's Follow That Dream (costarring Will's stepmother, Anne Helm), plus a "visual jukebox" of Elvis hits, prizes, and more. Blue suede shoes recommended but not required. 9:15 p.m., Parkway Theater, 1834 Park, Oakl. $6. (510) 814-2400. (Cheryl Eddy)

Aug. 16

Friday

Ear ye, ear ye This weekend pay tribute to the hardest-working of the sense organs, those magical parts of the body that never get a rest – the ears – at the Transparent Tape Music Festival 2. True to its title, the event focuses on music recorded for the fixed medium of tape, as opposed to live performance. The carefully selected recordings of new and classical composers such as Pierre Schaeffer, Larry Austin, Morton Subotnick, and John Cage are broadcast over 20 speakers in a pitch-black room. The effect is an audiophile's utopia, sheer auricular bliss. So, give something back to the organs that have given you so much; otherwise, they may never forgive you. Through Sun/18. 8:30 p.m., Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby, Berk. $7-$15. (415) 614-2434, tapecenter@sfsound.org. (Angie Edwards)

Forward back Known as "the Coltrane of mbira," Zimbabwean performer Forward Kwenda has garnered singular acclaim for his own work and international enthusiasm for the sacred Shona musical tradition. His complex, inventive style produces music that's hailed for its uniquely spiritual power and its ability to touch listeners worldwide with its soulfulness. Back in the United States this summer for the first time since his acclaimed 1997 tour, Kwenda appears tonight with Erica Azim, a longtime performer and preeminent international mbira educator and supporter. Kwenda likens his playing to a divine visitation upon his instrument and is as amazed as his audiences at the stirring results. 8 p.m., Clarion Music Center, 816 Sacramento, S.F. $17. (415) 391-1317. (Lobsenz)

Aug. 17

Saturday

Hot August night Yeah, I see you sitting there moaning about how everything's so corporate, so target-marketed, so impersonal these days. So do something about it and support local, community-centered events like 'Soulbeat's 24th Annual Hollywood Awards Ball and Dinner.' Oakland's 24-hours-a-day live, interactive community television station honors local community activists Cora "Mom" Green, Kenny Session, Rev. Dr. James Miller, and H. Geoffrey Watson. The ceremony is followed by an incredible evening of entertainment including a fashion show and an all-you-can-eat, "Sultry Night in New Orleans"-style buffet. Gospel singer Candace Session, urban dance troupe Medea Sirkas, and Oaktown's current It Girl singer, Goapele, are among the scheduled performers. So put on your fanciest threads and get there early – limos will transport you from your car to the red carpet, where Soulbeat's very own Billy E. Jones will be on hand to let local entrepreneurs give on-camera shout-outs for their businesses. Red carpet procession 6 p.m., ceremony 7:30, Scottish Rite Temple, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakl. $100. (510) 777-1400, www.soulbeattv.com. (Sylvia W. Chan)

Aug. 18

Sunday

New wave Shiva Godmother of punk rock, UFO enthusiast, and all-around raving spazz, Nina Hagen lands in San Francisco tonight at the DNA Lounge. In the '70s she flamboyantly thrust herself into the European limelight, and she eventually took over the American underground as well. Her style was, and still is, direct and furious; she's an utter maelstrom of expression, with cosmic visions of God and a political soft spot for the social underdog. Hagen has howled her way across the decades, satirizing and demanding "a revolution of humanitarianism" so that "mankind would finally evolve into humans." Don't just read about this vicious nymph in the history of rock 'n' roll, see the living legend live. Blue Period opens. 8 p.m., DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., S.F. $20. (415) 626-1409, www.dnalounge.com. (Edwards)

Lady Luckett After taking a uniquely circuitous route – busking in Paris subways, studying film scoring at the Berklee College of Music – to the seemingly commonplace role of contemporary folk singer-songwriter, Erika Luckett has arrived with enough multifaceted talent and musical maturity to make Norah Jones blush. Known for her leading role in the Bay Area's world music pop band Wild Mango and her virtuoso guitar picking, Luckett weaves Latin elements (she was born in Mexico and raised in Brazil and Venezuela) into jazz-tinged tunes that range from personally romantic to politically riled up. Her superb self-produced second album, My Little Crime, won Acoustic Guitar magazine's 2002 "Homegrown" award for best indie release, and her forthcoming New Orleans sessions will document the sultry and sophisticated charm of her live performances. 8 p.m., Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison, Berk. $16.50. (510) 548-1761. (Derk Richardson)

Aug. 19

Monday

Midday moves You're downtown, the sun's just past high noon, and the thought of spending another lunch hour in the confines of Carl's Jr. is worth starving to avoid. Thankfully, you can take your cheeseburger to go and head to the Yerba Buena Gardens Choreographers Festival, a weeklong event during which 10 highly respected local choreographers and companies will mount free, site-specific outdoor performances. These shows – a joint effort between the festival and San Francisco's Summerfest – present the perfect way to add a little culture to your daily routine. Today, Fellow Travelers Performance Group and Heidi Schweiker and Dancers get the program off to a stellar start; other participants throughout the week include EmSpace Dance and Huckabay McAllister Dance; Nancy Karp and Dancers and Paufve Dance; Rapt Performance Group and Kunst Stoff; and InkBoat and Dance Brigade. The schedule is subject to change, but no matter which of these groups you catch in action, it'll be time well spent in the Gardens. Through Aug. 23. 12:30 p.m., Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission at Fourth, S.F. Free. (415) 543-1717, www.ybgf.org. (Eddy)

Aug. 20

Tuesday

See El Smooth True Skool show why they've earned Best of the Bay awards two years running by bringing the mastery of Pete Rock back to the DNA Lounge. While the supporting acts sport plenty of skills, especially DJ Mike Nice and Foreign Legion, few anywhere have the back-in-the-day cred of Rock. Though last year's Petestrumentals (BBE) was solid, it suffered by comparison to his certified classics with C.L. Smooth, such as 1991's All Souled Out (Elektra). Nevertheless, Rock still knows his way around a tight horn loop on the ones and twos and deserves all respect due. 9 p.m., DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., S.F. $25. (415) 626-1409. (Peter Nicholson)

Aug. 21

Wednesday

Coldest winter The perfectly named act to visit San Francisco in the summer, Fog rolls down to Bottom of the Hill tonight. Fog is multi-instrumentalist Andrew Broder (one of UK label Ninja Tune's rare U.S. artists), and his eponymous album has been compared to Neil Young with a turntable and beatbox, but the music is much more compelling than that. Expect a good dose of misty angst as Broder strip-mines his childhood for emotional vocal material, channeling it all through guitar, turntables, and piano. Octavius and DJ Anon also play. 8 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $7. (415) 621-4455. (Nicholson)

The Bay Guardian listings deadline is two weeks prior to our Wednesday publication date. To submit an item for consideration, please include the title of the event, date and time, venue name, street address (listing cross streets only is not sufficient), city, telephone number readers can call for more information, telephone number for media, admission costs, and a brief description of the event.