February 26 2003

stage

Stage listings are compiled by Cheryl Eddy. Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, Lara Shalson, and Chloe Veltman. See 8 Days a Week for information on how to submit items to the listings.

theater
Opening

A Night with Dame Edna Curran Theatre, 445 Geary; 512-7770. $25-62. Opens Fri/28, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm (also March 6, March 12-13), 8pm; Sat-Sun, 2pm (also March 9, 16, 7:30pm). Through March 16. The Australian media icon performs her solo show.

The Ramayana Zeum Theater, Yerba Buena Gardens, Fourth at Howard; 749-2228. $12-15. Previews Thurs/27, 8pm. Opens Fri/28, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also March 8, 15, 2pm); Sun, 2pm (also Sun/2, 7pm). Through March 15. The American Conservatory Theater Master of Fine Arts class of 2003 performs an adaptation of the 2,000-year-old epic poem based on several Hindu legends.

Bay Area

Fräulein Else Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2929. $20-42. Previews Fri/28-Sat/1, 8pm; Sun/2, 7pm. Opens Tues/4, 8pm. Runs Tues, Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Wed, 7pm (March 5, show at 8pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through March 28. Berkeley Rep performs Francesa Faridany's adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's novella about a young woman who becomes trapped by a strict society and her family's desire for financial security.

Oedipus Rex 8th Street Studio Theatre, 2525 Eighth St, Berk; (510) 704-8210. $10-20. Previews Thurs/27-Fri/28, 8pm. Opens Sat/1, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm (no show Sun/2). Through March 30. The Shotgun Players perform Sophocles' classic tragedy.

Ongoing

Are We Almost There? Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 345-7575. $15-18. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. Travel is the theme of this musical-comedy revue.

*Chicken: A 1-Ho Show Marsh, 1062 Valencia; 826-5750. $10-15. Extended run: Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through March 29. A chicken is a common domestic fowl, often found roasted or deep-fried. A chicken is also a teenage rent boy. David Henry Sterry is familiar with both definitions. In Chicken: A 1-Ho Show, Sterry's refreshingly affectionate portrayal of a naive young man's first taste of Los Angeles street life in the mid 1970s, the actor and writer demonstrates how little effort it takes to go from dunking greasy lumps of chicken in rancid oil in a Hollywood fast food outlet to earning $200 a pop for fleshing out rich Beverly Hills widows' sexual fantasies. Sterry might look like a lost child bouncing around in sweatpants and red baseball boots, but he attacks his evocative prose like a grizzled beatnik poet hitting a home run. (Veltman)

The Dazzle Geary Theater, 415 Geary; 749-2228. $11-61. Wed/26, March 4-5 and 11-12, 8pm (also Sat, Wed/26, and March 12, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through March 16. The passionately cluttered estate of bothers Langley (Gregory Wallace) and Homer (Steven Anthony Jones) Collyer, characters based on the legendary Harlem hermits of the early twentieth century, serves as setting and metaphor for their (and playwright Richard Greenberg's) splendid profusion of words. And, like the bric-a-brac that finds its way into designer Robert Mark Morgan's incredibly shrinking set, there's not a cliché in sight. With the arrival of Milly (René Augesen), an admirer of charismatic Lang, the brothers' uniquely vibrant language sets itself off against the charmed and lonely heiress. In Greenberg's largely improvised rendering of their lives, the brothers float somewhere above the world, viewing it from some comfortably dull place filled with their own exceptional fancies. In ACT's production, director Laird Williamson strikes a precarious balance between sentiment and sediment. It's as if the battle for an exceptional life was lost on the nullifying ground of cliché, giving weight to Lang's definition, "Tragedy is when a few people sink to where most people already are." (Avila)

Dracula Phoenix II Theatre, 414 Mason; 731-6027, www.ticketweb.com. $15. Thurs/27-Sat/1, 8pm. La Vache Enragée presents Mac Wellman's witty, wild, word-drunk take on the Bram Stoker classic. Adding their own twist, La Vache makes Dracula (Jennifer Dean) a steely Transylvanian countess with porcelain features and a striking red gown. Stoker's latent themes of sex and power erupt here in a full-blown gale of audacious syntax and lurid poetry as the characters look to gratify themselves wherever possible. The pace flags a bit and the word-driven text receives inconsistent treatment from an uneven cast, but director Mike Burg's imaginative staging and rich, elegant costumes combine with Ty McKenzie's sepulchral lighting to create an alluringly haunted environment for Wellman's "bloodsucking mysterium." (Avila)

8 Bob Off Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 441-8822, www.magictheatre.org. $10-50. Wed-Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 2:30pm. Through March 9. See "This Old House," page 40.

*A Feast of Fools Marines Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter; 1-877-771-6900. $25-45. Extended run: Thurs/27-Sat/1, 8pm; Sun/2, 3pm. Accomplished Bay Area actor and clown Geoff Hoyle's latest "one-man show" not only revisits characters and routines from an illustrious 30-plus year career, it features one woman: his marvelously versatile accompanist and coperformer Gina Leishman. Built around the comical conceit of a show that doesn't quite come off, the evening in fact offers some flawlessly executed vaudevillian foolery and pantomime. Handily directed by Richard Seyd, Hoyle's masterful brand of physical comedy consistently delights without uttering a word. (Avila)

*Hedwig and the Angry Inch Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St; 392-4400. $25-35. Wed-Fri, 8pm; Sat-Sun, 7pm (also Sat, 10pm). Open-ended. Kevin Cahoon assumes the title role originated by John Cameron Mitchell in his 1998 Obie-winning glam musical, later a celebrated film. And while die-hard fans show up prepared to sing along, the show is so instantly contagious that no homework is necessary on the part of the uninitiated. For all its value as camp, Hedwig is a cabaret act of subtle sophistication; the story, like the best glam rock, has a quiet force that is the undercurrent of its self-conscious banality and cutting humor. (Avila)

In the Garden New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972. $18-38. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 30. In Norman Allen's "erotic drama," the lives of four urban professionals are turned upside down by a homeless teen obsessed with the New Testament. The play opens post-coitus with Gabe, a promising young student, lying naked on his professor John's bed while the latter gets dressed. Soon, Gabe will have sex in the same bed with John's wife Muriel and their best friend Walter. The only person not getting laid in this sexual roundelay is Lizzie, who nonetheless develops an intimate, if platonic, relationship with the boy whom the professionals regard as a modern-day prophet. This production wants to be a provocative meditation on the postmodern condition – on the inability of people to connect with each other or the world in a culture more concerned with surface than substance – but no number of biblical quotes or references to Nietzsche can compensate for this play's one-dimensional characters or its vacuous platitudes. Ultimately, Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence," which serves as the play's theme song of sorts, has more depth. (Shalson)

Killing My Lobster Tales of a Lonely Planet Brava Theater Center, 2789 24th St; 558-7721, www.killingmylobster.com. $13-18 (Thurs, pay what you can). Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 11pm); Sun, 7pm. Through March 2. They're generally known for their cerebral humor, so the dull-wittedness of Killing My Lobster's latest show is somewhat surprising. Whether they're underestimating their audience or simply overestimating the power of sex and ditzy-girl stereotypes to rouse a laugh is unclear, but the result is a collection of sketches that rehash without managing to twist a number of clichés about gender and ethnicity in their treatment of the ups and downs of travel. From the man who refuses to ask for directions to the jealous wife who causes an avalanche with her nagging, this production can't seem to escape the familiar, even as it sends its characters around the globe. At times that's the point, and those pieces succeed best that demonstrate an acute self-awareness about what it means to be white, monolingual Americans traveling abroad (oh, and DJ Ross Hogg is excellent). Unfortunately, the funnier ideas – the discovery of the "international language" for instance – are ultimately thwarted by the shopworn approach. (Shalson)

Ladies and Gentlemen Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy; 999-8870, www.theshee.org. $15-20 (previews and March 10, pay what you can). Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through March 15. From the Shee Theatre Company comes a poignant new play by Irish writer Emma Donoghue about love and grief in a troupe of cross-dressing vaudeville performers in the 1880s. Based on the true story of Annie Hindle, the male impersonator who became a legend touring America with Tony Pastor's showcase of human novelties, the play floats from Annie's memories of performing with fizzing female impersonator Gilbert Saroney (Michael Patrick Gaffney), and her spiky friendship with rival male impersonator Ella (Laura Hope), to her enduring passion for Ryanny (Carrie Paff), the Irish immigrant turned stage dresser whom she dared to legally marry. Sleek and silver-haired Jessie Gray is impish and imperious by turns in the lead, but the play only takes off with Paff as the slyly unpredictable Ryanny. Director Virginia Reed capitalizes on the play's textures, liberally combining period songs and music for a festive first act and a slower, elegiac second. (Amir Baghdachi)

No Exit Theatre Rhinoceros, 2929 16th St; 861-5079. $15. Thurs-Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7:30pm. Through March 9. Expression Theatre Ensemble performs Jean-Paul Sartre's existential classic about a man and two women locked in one room for eternity.

Physicalities Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor; (510) 532-8420. $12-17. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through March 15. Aggro Theater Co. presents Steven O'Donoghue's new play about Internet dating.

R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida; 626-DOME, www.foghouse.com. $25-35. Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm); Sun, 2pm. Open-ended. Fuller was one of the great brainiacs of the 20th century, a philosopher, mathematician, inventor, and idealist who devoted his life to finding the best fit between nature and humanity. In D. W. Jacobs's fitful, two-hour monologue based on the life and writings of Fuller, actor Ron Campbell dexterously pings from one of the visionary's obsessions to another, inhabiting Fuller's eccentric soul with physical and verbal intensity. (Veltman)

'Second Annual Bay One-Acts Festival' Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson; 776-7427, www.threewisemonkeys.org. $15-20. Thurs/27-Sat/1, 8pm; Sun/2, 3pm. Three Wise Monkeys (TWM) and Eureka Theater's second annual festival showcases the work of 14 Bay Area playwrights, 11 companies, and a diverse assortment of local talent. Week two of a four-week program takes off with TANTA's Knock Yourself Out, a comedy set aboard a crowded Muni bus. River Jackson's stop-and-go script crackles with one-liners but seems unsure when to get off. Directed by Richard Bernier, amusing performances, including Raymond Rea as cranky off-duty dental technician cum nitrous tank, smooth the ride. One Act Wonders' Alan Goy directs Trevor Allen's The Alice Unit, a bawdy but ultimately sentimental look at the seamy side of love among three wage slaves in Wonderland drag. TWM presents Scott Munson's A Spider on the Radio, directed by Alice Shiking. The quirky nebbish turned spiderwoman storyline gets a lift from strong comedic performances by Floriana Alessandria and TJ Metz. Finally, Coelacanth Theater's Nick Sholley directs Ed Brownson's Soul's Rust, about an HIV-positive man (Russ Duffy) who discovers the sprit of his recently deceased best friend (Danielle Thys) drinking Jack Daniels outside a convenience mart. The performances, especially Thys's darkly shaded shade, elevate an interesting but underdeveloped premise. With minimal sets and inevitably uneven offerings, the crapshoot aspect of this unique smorgasbord remains part of its charm. (Avila)

Skin Hot: Bone Deep (Series 2) African American Art and Culture Complex, Buriel Clay Memorial Theater, 762 Fulton; 861-8208, www.ticketweb.com. $13-23. Thurs/27-Sat/1, 8pm. The Liquid Fire Project's lesbian and bisexual performers use dance, song, storytelling, and poetry to explore the connection between race and the erotic.

Soul of a Whore Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia; 626-3311. $9-15. Thurs-Sun and March 17, 8pm. Through March 17. Campo Santo + Intersection present the world premiere of Denis Johnson's latest work, a morality play written entirely in modern verse.

The Special Connection: A Night of Love, Sex, and Serendipity The Next Stage, 1620 Gough; 673-0304, ext 3, www.cafearts.com. $12-25. Fri/28-Sat/1, 8pm. Combined Art Form Entertainment's Tilted Frame Improv players (Diana Brown, Jonathan Caplan, Christopher DeJong, Sean Garrett, Heather O'Brien, Kym Priess, and Trish Tillman) present a semi-free-form show built around the theme of sex and dating. Short improvisational solos generated by a live hookup to the Craigslist personals page bracket a series of sketches, including a spontaneous musical and two short films. The live Internet feed adds a twist to the usual improv stratagems, and Lydia Brawner's home-movie segments have a silly appeal, but the frequency of "special connections" remained low as far as ideas were concerned. (Avila)

Thief River New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972. $18-38. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 9. If you're tired of gay love stories where shame wins out over romance, where gay bashing drives the plot, and where all of the characters are either gay or homophobic (or a combination of the two), you'll probably expect to hate Lee Blessing's Thief River. But you might be surprised. Quick pacing and a nonlinear plot structure help keep this play interesting, despite its clichés. One has to wonder, watching this story of a 53-years-long, mostly unrequited love affair between two men from a small farming town in the Midwest, whether any unfulfilled attachment could possibly be worth holding onto for that much time. But, somehow, there are enough wryly humorous lines and touching moments to keep one engaged, even after one has long stopped rooting for the star-crossed lovers' reunion. (Shalson)

Tomfoolery Goat Hall, 400 Missouri; 1-877-OPENSTAGE. $15-20. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through March 16. OpenStage Repertory Theater performs Tom Lehrer's musical satire.

Waiting for the Podiatrist Venue 9, 252 Ninth St; 289-2000. $12-15 sliding scale. Fri/28-Sat/1, 8pm; Sun/2, 2pm. Terry Baum has been performing for nearly thirty years and is certainly a part of that generation of lesbians who redefined low-budget theater in the 1980s with profound, ironic humor. In this piece, Baum struggles to deal with the aftermath of her father's stroke. While he lies comatose in the hospital, Baum attempts to comfort her irritating mother (an orange-haired, shrieking hand puppet played by Baum), while deciding whether or not to pull the plug on her father's respirator. Baum is a very likeable personality onstage, moving easily between irreverent jokes and sentimentality, and capable of pulling off a song-and-dance number with a puppet (to the accompaniment of Scrumbly Koldewyn of Cockettes fame). However, her portrayals tend toward caricature, and her performance sometimes lacks the self-reflexivity that would make it truly nuanced. The play runs about 30 minutes too long, a fact which Baum acknowledges in her final song about the value of finally learning that sometimes it's best just to wait: "Better late than never!" she sings. (Shalson)

Bay Area

The Chairs Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822. $28-38. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through March 9. If it's impossible these days to avoid feeling like the French are trying to tell us something, escapists and others will appreciate a look back at 1952, when Eugène Ionesco's The Chairs, an early example of what came to be labeled theater of the absurd, concerned itself with articulating precisely nothing. In Ionesco's wicked one-act, currently enjoying a spirited revival at Berkeley's Aurora Theatre, an old janitor and his wife (Gerald Hiken and Barbara Oliver) inhabit a seaside tower where they've daily recycled the same games and reminiscences through 75 years of marriage. Soon they're welcoming a stream of invisible guests, worthy personages including, at last, the emperor himself, all summoned to hear the old man dispense the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime. While the play's self-conscious avant-gardism feels a bit stuffy 50 years on, Aurora's production benefits considerably from director Cliff Mayotte's emphasis on its zanier elements and Jim Lewis's fresh, contemporary-sounding translation. (Avila)

The Chosen Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College, Berk.; (415) 399-1809. $12.50-25 (Thurs, pay what you can). Thurs/27-Sat/1, 8pm; Sun/2, 2 and 7pm. Starting March 13: moves to Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, S.F. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8:30pm (also Sat, 2:30pm); Sun, 2:30pm. $25-35 (Thurs, pay what you can). Through March 23. Baseball and the Torah are unconventionally intertwined in A Traveling Jewish Theatre's sensitive staging of American-Jewish novelist Chaim Potok's breakthrough novel, The Chosen. The novel, written in 1967, was adapted three years ago by Potok and Philadelphia playwright Aaron Posner. The Chosen tells the story of a friendship between two Jewish teenagers from different backgrounds in Brooklyn at the end of World War II. Director Aaron Davidman's dark mise-en-scène imbues the turbulent relationship between a Hasidic Jew, Danny Saunders (Gabriel Carter), and the more liberal Jewish teenager Reuven Malter (Zac Jaffee) with longing and anger. Although the pace of the production drags in places, Richard Olmsted's subdued set and lights and convincing performances from the ensemble eloquently convey one of the play's central ideas: that "speech is silver but silence is golden." (Veltman)

Culture Clash in AmeriCCa San Jose Repertory Theatre, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose; (408) 367-7255, www.sjrep.com. $20-48. Wed/26-Sat/1, 8pm (also Wed/26, noon; Sat/1, 3pm); Sun/2, 2 and 7pm. Culture Clash mix their trademark blend of irreverent humor and social satire in this new show about Silicon Valley.

The Importance of Being Oscar Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, Berk; (510) 841-7287 (information); (510) 558-1381 (reservations). $8-20. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through March 23. Wilde Irish Productions and Central Works present Micheál mac Liammóir's play about the life and work of Oscar Wilde.

The Rehearsal: A One Act Play in Three Acts Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby, Berk; (510) 883-0305. $20 (Sun, pay what you can). Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through March 23. Transparent Theater presents the premiere of Mark Chappell and Alan Connor's comedy about a troupe of actors struggling to mount an obscure Hungarian play.

Suddenly Last Summer Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2949. $10-54. Tues and Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Sat/1, March 6, 15, 20, 2pm); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm). Through March 23. Berkeley Repertory Theatre presents Tennessee Williams's darkly poetical work set in a New Orleans mansion. The house's fierce but frail matriarch, Mrs. Venable (Randy Danson), calls upon a financially desperate psychiatric surgeon (Joey Collins) to help rescue the reputation of her late son Sebastian, a reclusive poet, by repressing the story of his troubling demise in the memory of its sole witness, anguished cousin Catharine (Michelle Duffy). Catharine's mother (Anne Darragh) and brother (T. Edward Webster), frustrated beneficiaries of Sebastian's will thanks to Mrs. Venable's interference, are equally invested in the truth of Catharine's story. Will the truth come out, or be cut out? Les Waters directs a fine cast, and an astonishing stage design by Annie Smart (set) and Chris Parry (lighting) brilliantly augments the play's complex cannibalistic theme. Still, the energy flags until the second half of the single act, when plot and theme dovetail in Catharine's climactic recounting of Sebastian's death in a Mexican seaside village, recapitulating the play's central image of a cruel, ravenous Nature. The gothic scenario cloaks the homoerotically charged martyrdom of (Saint) Sebastian in a racially overdetermined image of brown-black savagery – a jarring effect that feels suddenly last century – but Duffy nevertheless builds this scene to a riveting crescendo. (Avila)

dance

Arte y Compás La Tasca, 1772 Market; 863-3516. Sat, 8 and 9:30pm. Call for price. The flamenco company performs ongoing dinner shows.

Dance Brigade Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St; 273-4633. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 6pm. $20-25. The company performs CaveWomen ... The Next Incarnation!

Bay Area

Alonzo King's LINES Ballet Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, Mtn View; (650) 903-6000. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. $15-25. The company performs its 20th anniversary career retrospective program.

Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph, Berk; (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 3pm. $26-48. The company has a 10-performance run that includes four different programs of new works, revivals, and classics (check Web site for schedule).

performance

BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; www.batsimprov.com. Thurs-Sun, 8pm. $6-12. This week's shows: True Fiction Magazine, improv comedy (Thurs-Sat); "Micetro" (Sun).

'The Carnival of Chaos Lives and Breathes' Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 522-8900. Fri/28-Sun/2, March 7-9, 14, 16, 23, 30, 8:30pm. $15. This show includes "extreme vaudeville" acts and live music.

'Cosmic Blood' Bindlestiff Studio, 185 Sixth St; 974-1167. Fri-Sat, 8pm. $7-15. Artist-activist Gigi Otálvaro-Hormillosa uses videos, soundscapes, sculptures, and movement to explore the message of "mestizaje."

'Divided We Fall' Jon Sims Center for the Arts, 1519 Mission; 554-0402. Fri, 8pm. $5-10 sliding scale. Jon Sims artists in residence the SF Buffoons perform a commedia dell'arte-style exploration of love and mayhem.

'EROShambo Surreal Robotic Cabaret' OmniCircus, 550 Natoma; 701-0686. Sat, 9:30pm. Ongoing. $10-15. A cast of musicians, performance artists, and robots appears in this original cabaret show.

'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' Bethany Theatre, 1268 Sanchez; 701-7011. Fri-Sat and March 6, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 9. $12-15. Bethany Theatre Project performs the Sondheim musical farce.

'The Hootchie Cootchie Cabaret' Odeon Bar, 3223 Mission; 550-6994. Fri, 9pm. $10. Slymentra Hymen and other sideshow and burlesque artists perform.

'The Lysistrata Project' For more information go to www.lysistrataproject.com. See 8 Days a Week, page 60.

'The Original Fat-Bottom Revue Mardi Gras Party' Luna Sea, 2940 16th St; 756-5593. Sat, 8pm. $10-15. Dance troupe Big Moves performs at this celebration.

Les Percussiones de Guineé Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness; 392-4400. Fri, 6pm. $65. The West African group, comprised of percussionists, musicians, and dancers, performs following a gala reception.

'The Ramayana' The Marsh, 1074 Valencia; 826-5750. Fri, 10:30am, 6:30pm; Sat, 2pm. $5-8 (no one turned away for lack of funds). The Marsh Youth Theater (ages 9-14) performs the Indian epic.

'Technomania Circus' Hotel Utah Saloon, 500 Fourth St; (510) 832-6333, www.technomaniacircus.com. Fri, 8pm. $7. The Oakland company performs a vaudeville circus, followed by their "Blacklight Theatre Cabaret Show."

'Things Unsaid' Jon Sims Center for the Arts, 1519 Mission; 554-0402. Sat-Sun, 8pm. $10-15. The Jon Sims Center presents Duy Nguyen's play about two men who fall in love amid the dramas of the extended Vietnamese American "family of choice" that surrounds them.

'True West' Voice One Studio Theatre, 1119 Mission; 826-1087. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. $10-15. Voice One Studio Theatre performs Sam Shepard's tale of two brothers.

'Zero Point Field' Xenodrome, 1320 Potrero; 285-XENO, www.xenodrome.com. Fri-Sat, 9pm. Through March 22. $10-20. Xeno and Climate Theater present the final weeks of their ensemble show, a mix of dance, circus arts, original music, and more.

Bay Area

Michael Katz Dance Palace, Fifth St at B St, Point Reyes Station; (415) 663-1075. Sun, 3pm. $4-7. The storyteller performs multicultural tales for kids and families.

'A Package for Max' Pear Theater, 1220 Pear, Mtn View; (650) 254-1148. Fri, 7:30pm. Free. The Pear Theater presents a staged reading of John Angell Grant's rueful comedy set in the post-dot com Silicon Valley.

comedy

BrainWash Café 1122 Folsom; 861-3663. Thurs, 8pm: Comedy open mic hosted by Tony Sparks, free. Mon, 8pm: San Francisco Improv Co-Operative presents "Monday Night Improv," free.

Caffe Sapore 790 Lombard; 474-1222. Fri, 8pm: "Comedy at Cafe Sapore," $5.

Double Play 2401 16th St; 821-3601. Fri, 8pm: "Hyena Comedy Showcase," $7.

The Field 524 Union; 377-1662. Wed, 8pm: "Comedy Club," with host Ian Jensen, $5.

Fort Mason Center Marina at Laguna (check daily events sandwich board to see exact location); 453-9092. Sat, 1-4pm: Improv workshop with Jim Crenna, $10. Ongoing.

Java Source 343 Clement; 387-8025. Fri, 10:30pm and Sat, 10pm: Comedy open mic hosted by Tony Sparks, free.

Luggage Store 1007 Market; 255-5971. Tues, 8pm: Comedy workshop with Tony Sparks, $3.

The Mock Café 1074 Valencia; plethorashow@yahoo.com. Fri, 8:30pm: Comedy troupe Plethora performs sketch comedy with musical interludes and stand-up, $7. Fri, 10pm: "Puppet Slam" with Lunatique Fantastique, call for price.

Spanganga 3376 19th St; 821-1102. Fri-Sat, 8pm: The Bitter Show performs sketch comedy, $7.

Bay Area

Café Eclectica 1309 Solano, Albany; (510) 964-0571. Sat, 8pm: East Bay Improv performs, $5.

Black Box 1928 Telegraph, Oakl; (510) 451-1932. Thurs, 8pm: The Oakland Playhouse improv troupe performs improv comedy, $6.

spoken word

Open mics take place almost every night in cafés throughout the Bay Area. If you want to perform, show up about half an hour before start time to put your name on the list. A day-by-day guide to spoken word events and featured readers:

Wednesday: BrainWash Café 1122 Folsom; 440-5530. "Spoken Word Salon," with featured reader Rachel Flood and open mic with host Diamond Dave Whitaker, 8pm, free.

Thursday: Coppa D'Oro Cafe 3166 24th St; 826-8003. "Poetry on the Patio," spoken word and acoustic-music open mic with host Renaldo Ricketts, 6:30pm, free. Dalva 3121 16th St; 931-4551. "Poetry Mission" with featured reader Monolith, 7pm, free.

Saturday: Berkeley Public Library West Branch, 1125 University, Berk; (510) 527-9905. The Bay Area Poets Coalition hosts an open reading, 3pm, free.

Monday: Pegasus Books Downtown 2349 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 649-1320. "The Last Word" poetry reading with Ralph Dranow and Therese Baumberger, plus open mic, 7pm, free. San Francisco Art Institute 800 Chestnut; www.sfsu.edu/~poetry. The Poetry Center presents a reading by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, 7:30pm, $6.