March 5 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.

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

Boys' Life Actors Theatre of San Francisco, 533 Sutter; 436-9400, www.boyslifesf.com. $10-20. Previews Wed/5-Thurs/6, 8pm. Opens Fri/7, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through April 12. See 8 Days a Week, page 54.

A Delicate Balance Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason; 364-3037. $20. Previews Thurs/6, 7:30pm. Opens Fri/7, 7:30pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 5pm. Through March 29. Class Act Theatre Company performs Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

If You Ever Leave Me ... I'm Going with You Marines Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter; 1-877-771-6900. $25-45. Opens Wed/5, 8pm. Runs Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through March 16. Husband and wife team Renée Taylor and Joe Bologna perform their autobiographical comedy.

Lone Star and Laundry and Bourbon Next Stage Theater, 1620 Gough; 740-8287, www.tickets.com. $10-15. Opens Fri/7, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm; March 16, 23, 7pm. Through March 23. The Garage Door Players present a double bill of one-acts, both set in small-town Texas, by James McLure.

The Maiden's Prayer Venue 9, 252 Ninth St; 979-9980. $15-18. Opens Thurs/6, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 23. San Francisco StageWorks presents Nicky Silver's drama about five people, including a pair of newlyweds, struggling with the difference between loving and needing someone.

Opening to You A Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida; 399-1809, www.atjt.com. $12.50-25 (Thurs, pay what you can). Previews Thurs/6-Sat/8, 8pm; Sun/9, 2 and 7pm. Opens Mon/10, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through April 6. A Traveling Jewish Theatre performs an original musical play based on Norman Fischer's Zen-inspired translation of the Psalms.

The Producers Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market; 551-2020. $39-81. Opens Wed/5, 8pm. This week: runs Thurs/6-Sat/8, Tues/11, 8pm (also Thurs/6, Sat/8, 2pm); Sun/9, 2 and 7:30pm. March 12-April 20: runs Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Wed, Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. April 21-26: runs Mon-Sat, 8pm (also Wed, Sat, 2pm). Through April 26. Best of Broadway hosts the touring production of the Mel Brooks musical.

Richard 3 Thick House, 1695 18th St; 401-8081. $15-25 (sliding scale; previews, audience members receive $1). Previews Sat/8-Sun/9, 8pm. Opens Mon/10, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sun, 8pm. Through April 6. Thick Description presents a new version of the Shakespeare classic, with three actors playing all of the roles.

Ursula: Fear of the Estuary SomArts, 934 Brannan; (510) 845-2687. $12-15 (preview, audience members receive $1; opening night, $20). Previews Thurs/6, 8pm. Opens Fri/7, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through March 23. See 8 Days a Week, page 54.

Bay Area

The Game of Sides Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, Connie Barbour Rm, 1924 Cedar, Berk; (510) 524-6950. Donations accepted. Opens Sat/8, 3pm. Runs Sat, 2pm; Mon, 8pm. Through March 22. Many Rivers Theater Project presents Terry Lamb's physical comedy.

Scab La Val's Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid, Berk; (510) 464-4468. $10-15. Opens Fri/7, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through April 5. Impact Theatre presents Sheila Callaghan's dark comedy about an unusual love triangle.

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 Chosen New venue: Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 399-1809. Starting March 13: 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, which 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. (Veltman)

The Dazzle Geary Theater, 415 Geary; 749-2228. $11-61. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 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. 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 ACT's production, director Laird Williamson strikes a precarious balance between sentiment and sediment. (Avila)

8 Bob Off Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 441-8822, www.magictheatre.org. $10-50. Wed/5-Sat/8, 8:30pm; Sun/9, 2:30pm. The "bob-off" of the play's title, alluding to builders' slang for something out of balance ("plumb-off"), equates Bob Plum (Howard Swain) with the rental property he's working on for his Aunt Edith. A 45-year-old drifter with nothing but long-distance relationships, he's a frustrated Mr. Fix-It. Enter next-door neighbor Donna (O-Lan Jones) and her boyfriend, Bobby (Luis Saguar). Donna and Bob begin a strange flirtation that includes Donna assuming the roles of Bob's ex-lovers in replays of failed relationships. Playwright Gary Leon Hill's partly autobiographical work gets a boost from three seasoned performers under David Dower's able direction. (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)

Ladies and Gentlemen Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy; 999-8870, www.theshee.org. $15-20 (previews and Mon/10, pay what you can). Thurs-Sat and Mon/10, 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)

*A Night with Dame Edna Curran Theatre, 445 Geary; 512-7770. $25-62. Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Thurs/6, March 12-13), 8pm; Sat-Sun, 2pm (also Sun/9, March 16, 7:30pm). Through March 16. Beloved Australian matriarch and confessed "megastar" Dame Edna Everage (a.k.a. Barry Humphries) brings her Broadway show to San Francisco. For three decades the quick-witted Mr. Humphries has used his inimitable creation to spoof, onstage and on television, the outrageous pomposity of the rich and famous, and Edna's brilliance as an unrelentingly jovial socialite of prey has not dimmed in the least. Simple in design, the show wows by virtue of her indefatigable way with repartee. Accompanied by nimble Wayne Barker at the piano, and flanked by two leggy "Ednaettes" (Teri DiGianfelice and Michelle Pampena), occasional musical numbers include the courting "I'm Forcing Myself to Love San Francisco." But Edna devotes the bulk of two hefty acts to regaling us – always with impeccably questionable taste – with details from her extraordinary life as "probably the most popular and gifted woman in the world today," while simultaneously delighting in her audience of San Francisco "possums," some of whom are bound to find themselves the object of her penetrating gaze. (Avila)

No Exit Theatre Rhinoceros, 2929 16th St; 861-5079. $15. Thurs/6-Sat/8, 8:30pm; Sun/9, 7:30pm. 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)

*The Ramayana Zeum Theater, Yerba Buena Gardens, Fourth at Howard; 749-2228. $12-15. Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Sat/8, March 15, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through March 15. A universal story of love, war, and magic woven from many tangled narratives and a sprawling cast of characters, The Ramayana, one of Hinduism's two vast sacred texts, seems impossibly complex to stage. Yet in Ruben Polendo's masterful adaptation of one of the longest poems ever written, The Ramayana is distilled into pure theater. A collaboration between Polendo's New York-based company Theater Mitu and the American Conservatory Theater, the production combines Indonesian shadow puppet theater, mask work, and a performance style based on the southwestern Indian tradition. Treading the path of some of the West's most Eastern-inspired directors – Arianne Mnouchkine, Peter Brook, and Julie Taymor spring to mind – every element of Polendo's production reflects the otherworldliness of the story. From the carefully choreographed gestures of the characters and the eerie soundscape to the rainbow lights, costume, and makeup effects, The Ramayana transports us to a sensual plane. (Veltman)

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.

Thief River New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972. $18-38. Wed/5-Sat/8, 8pm; Sun/9, 2pm. 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.

Bay Area

The Chairs Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822. $28-38. Wed/5-Sat/8, 8pm; Sun/9, 2 and 7pm. 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)

Fräulein Else Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2929. $20-42. Tues, Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Wed, 7pm (Wed/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.

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. Oscar Wilde once said that his life was a work of art. Micheál mac Liammóir's one-person play about Wilde takes this statement to its logical conclusion, interweaving excerpts from Wilde's writings in its recounting of the artist's life. Staring in this coproduction of Wilde Irish Productions and Central Works, Arthur Scappaticci does an impressive job with a role that requires him to transition frequently between different accents, locations, and genders as he variously portrays the narrator, characters from Wilde's plays (oftentimes two at once in schizophrenic dialogue), and of course, Wilde himself. The shortcoming of this piece is that, by attempting to tell the story of Wilde's life through his writings, it neither provides a complete account of Wilde's biography nor takes us deeply enough into his work. In its fragmentary revealing, the play is thus a bit of a tease. But it's an enticing one. Slides designed by director Gemma Whelan and Adam Liberman add agreeably to this production's mystique. (Shalson)

Oedipus Rex 8th Street Studio Theatre, 2525 Eighth St, Berk; (510) 704-8210. $10-20. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through March 30. Ravaged by a terrible plague, the people of Thebes appeal for help to King Oedipus (Clive Worsley). Twelve years earlier he saved them from a similar scourge by defeating the riddling Sphinx, earning him his crown and the hand of widowed queen Jocasta (Bella Warda), recently bereft of murdered King Laius. This time the gods will not be appeased until Laius's killer is punished, a search that uncovers the implacable prophesy that topples the king. Shotgun Players try sportingly for the summit of Sophocles' high tragedy, having of late had considerable success with the Greek classics. Director Patrick Dooley, with help from Kimberly Wilday's choreography and Tim Barsky's persuasive sound design, achieves some dynamic effects in making the work vital to a modern audience, but the balance between more naturalistic performances and the sort of pageantry that successfully informed previous renderings of classic texts remains uncertain here. As a result, the strong cast can seem spread across separate productions. Worsley's doomed, prideful King is plucky but less than profound, since the considerable amplitude he reveals once or twice – especially opposite the precisely measured work of Richard Louis James as the blind seer Teiresias and the old Shepherd – remains too much in reserve. (Avila)

*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. Behind every dreary East-bloc play of meaningless pain, there lurks a far better comedy about staging it. Transparent Theater mercifully gives us the latter: in The Rehearsal, a troupe of actors struggles to rehearse The Ear, a play written by an imaginary Hungarian dissident in which people dance with beets and say lines like "this bread is as hard as life itself!" But while the play has hilarious moments in puncturing the pomposity of the megalomaniac director (a febrile David Sinaiko) and the Method actor (a Homeric Elijah Berlow), director Tom Clyde's production is really a love letter to the theater, a self-conscious passion reflected in designer Anne Goldschmidt's intricate and evolving set, and the massive foam ear which is the curse of characters in both plays. Even if it seems like there are numerous competing plays here, playwrights Mark Chappell and Alan Connor possess the real and rare talent for comic construction. (Baghdachi)

Suddenly Last Summer Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2949. $10-54. Tues and Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Thurs/6, March 15, and 20, 2pm); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm). Through March 23. Berkeley Repertory Theatre presents Tennessee Williams's darkly poetical work. A New Orleans mansion'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). 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. (Avila)

dance

'Elsewhere Here' Noh Space, 2840 Mariposa; 621-7978. Mon-Tues, 8pm. $10-15. Butoh dancer Ledoh and violinist Reverend Markus Hawkins collaborate on this performance.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum, Veterans Bldg, 410 Van Ness; 255-4800. Mon, 7pm. $5. The company performs Balinese music and dance, and discusses their work.

'Jumpstart: Generations Rising' ODC Theater, 3152 17th St; 863-9834. Sat-Sun, 2pm (also Sat, 7pm). $7-10. See 8 Days a Week, page 54.

'ODC/San Francisco Dancing Downtown 2003: Opening Night Celebration' Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 700 Howard; 863-6606. Thurs, 7pm. $35-75. This program includes Brenda Way's Bold Sally and Remnants of Song (with the San Francisco Girls Chorus), and KT Nelson's Running into Open Doors.

'ODC/San Francisco Dancing Downtown 2003: Program One' Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 700 Howard; 863-6606. Fri/7-Sat/8 and March 21, 8pm; March 23, 2pm. $15-38. Same dances as Opening Night event (above), but without the live performance by the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

'Seventh Annual City Lights Ball' Regency Center, 1300 Van Ness; 681-9083. Sat, 10am-11pm; Sun, 10am-4pm. $10-25. Professional ballroom, Latin, swing, and tango dancers compete at this event, which also features a choreographed floor show (Sat, 10pm).

Bay Area

'Collage de la Culture Africaine' Calvin Simmons Theatre, Ten Tenth St, Oakl; (510) 278-2681. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Call for price. Diamano Coura West African Dance Company hosts two different performances featuring both local groups and dance companies from Senegal, Guinea, Liberia, and Zimbabwe.

'Konark: Temple of the Sun' Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College, Berk; (415) 974-4313. Sat, 8pm. $12-25. This Odissi dance performance is choreographed by Jyoti Rout and performed by the artists of Jyoti Kala Mandir.

Yuko Kaseki Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakl; (510) 763-1146. Fri-Sun, 8pm. $15-20. The Berlin-based dancer performs a solo work, Kudan, about a mystic half-human, half-cow being.

performance

'Avatars' Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 345-7575. Fri-Sat, 8pm. $20-35. See "Down to a Science," page 38.

BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; www.batsimprov.com. Fri-Sat, 8pm. $14. This week's shows: "Spontaneous Broadway" (Fri); "Improv and a Movie" (Sat).

'Bottomless Pit: The Descent' New College Theater, 777 Valencia; 437-3487, ext 9. Fri-Sun, 8pm. Through March 16. $13. See 8 Days a Week, page 54.

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

'Come and Get it!' Peña PachMama, 1630 Powell; 646-0018. Thurs, 7-10pm. $5. Cabaret duo the Kitchenettes perform their monthly musical revue, a show promising "songs of food, love, and lust."

'The Dueling Bear' Spanganga, 3376 19th St; 821-1102. Sat, 8 and 10pm. $10. FuzzyCo presents this two-person improv show.

'From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks' Maritime Museum, Bay View Rm, Beach at Polk; 561-6662. Tues, 7pm. $5-10. Iam Ruskin performs in this show about San Francisco labor organizer Harry Bridges.

'Hello Stranger' Café du Nord, 2170 Market; 902-4176. Sat, 11pm. $8. Cabaret singer Veronica Klaus performs.

'Movement' Women's Building, 3543 18th St; 431-1180, ext 17. Fri-Sun, 7pm. $5-30. See 8 Days a Week, page 54.

'The Outside in the Homeland: Tales of Arrival and Identity' Jon Sims Center for the Arts, 1519 Mission; 554-0402. Fri, 8pm. $5-10 (sliding scale). Jon Sims artists-in-residence Dhaia Tribe perform their latest work, which uses poetry, music, and visual art to explore the idea of "the outsider" in America.

'The Spring Sing Gala and Improv Carnival' St. Boniface Church Theater, 133 Golden Gate; 869-5384, www.un-scripted.com. Sat, 7pm. $15-20. The newly formed Un-Scripted Theater Company performs an improvised cabaret.

'Women's Work' Venue 9, 252 Ninth St; 289-2000. Tues, 8pm. Through March 25. $8-10 (sliding scale). This week's performances: dancer Samantha Beers' Conspiracies of Resonance: An Inevitable; judy b.'s monologue Leftovers; Claudia Barr's one-act play 40 Cents a Minute; and Dattner's monologue So I Covered All the Mirrors.

Bay Area

'My Sister, My Sister' La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 528-8198. Sun, 7pm. $10 (no one turned away for lack of funds). The Sisters Project hosts a multimedia performance that uses photography, poetry, and dramatic reading to address problems relating to women and children across the globe.

comedy

Beale St. Bar and Grill 133 Beale; www.bealestreetsf.com. Thurs, 8pm: "Professional Comedy Showcase" with Rob Martinez, Ryan Stout, and Kristopher Tinkle, $3.

The Mock Café 1074 Valencia; 826-5750. Fri, 9pm: "No Y Chromosome Comedy Showcase," $7.

San Francisco LGBT Community Center 1800 Market; 865-5633. Mon, 8pm: "Monday Night Gay Comedy" with host Pippi Lovestocking, $8-15 (sliding scale).

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: International Day of Poetry Against the War" with host Diamond Dave Whitaker, 8pm, free. Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Arts 2868 Mission; 821-1155. Spoken word featuring Camincha, plus open mic, 7:30pm, free. La Peña Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 849-2668, ext 11. Chicano poets Tammy Gomez and Edwin Torres read to benefit Pochos Unidos, 7:30pm, $5.

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. The Unitarian Center 1187 Franklin; www.sfsu.edu/~poetry. The Poetry Center presents Chris Daniels and Nathaniel Tarn, 7:30pm, $5. New College of California Cultural Center 766 Valencia; 933-6825. "Emerging Artists Series" with featured readers Etel Adnan, Stephen Ratcliffe, and Kat Jensen, and dancer Alena Cawthorne, 7:30pm, free. Morrison Library Doe Library, UC Berkeley, Berk; (510) 642-0137. Luis Rodriguez reads poetry, 12:10pm, free.

Friday: Small Press Traffic 1111 Eighth St; 551-9728. Cedar Sigo and Edwin Torres read their poetry, 7:30pm, $5. Escape from New York Pizza 333 Bush; poetryandpizza@yahoo.com. "Poetry and Pizza" with Selene Steese and Ken Siegmann, 7:30pm, $5 (suggested donation).

Saturday: The Unitarian Center 1187 Franklin; www.sfsu.edu/~poetry. The Poetry Center presents Anselm Hollo and Joanne Kyger, 7:30pm, $5.

Sunday: Intersection for the Arts 446 Valencia; 626-2787. Preliminary round for the seventh annual Youth Speaks poetry slam, 2pm, free (teens can register at 415-255-9035, www.youthspeaks.org).

Monday: Perry's Joint 1661 Fillmore; 931-5260. "Celebration of the Word" with featured reader Madeline Moore, 7pm, free.