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

The Complete Condensed History of the Bay Area: Seafarers to Silicon Valley Aboard the Balclutha, Fisherman's Wharf, Hyde St. Pier; 561-6662, ext 11. $10-15. Opens Sat/23, 8pm. Runs Sat, 8pm (no show Sept. 6); Sept 7, 7pm. Through Sept 20. See 8 Days a Week.

Kilt New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $18-38. Previews Wed/20-Fri/22, 8pm. Opens Sat/23, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Oct 12. The New Conservatory Theatre Center presents Jonathan Wilson's romantic comedy.

ManLady New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $18-28. Previews Wed/20-Fri/22, 8pm. Opens Sat/23, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 7. The New Conservatory Theatre Center and she group present George Weiss Vando's solo show about the paradox of drag masculinity.

Spanked! New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $15-20. Previews Wed/20-Thurs/21, 8pm. Opens Fri/22, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 10pm; no 10pm show Sat/23); Sun, 2pm (also Sept 14, 4pm). Through Sept 14. The New Conservatory Theatre Center presents real-life couple Ian MacKinnon and Aaron Hartzler in their play about their relationships with their fathers.

Bay Area

'Impact Briefs 6: Shock and Awe' La Val's Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; (510) 464-4468. $10-15 (preview, pay what you can). Previews Thurs/21, 8pm. Opens Fri/22, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 27. Impact Theatre presents an evening of ultrashort comedic plays.

Ongoing

Are We Almost There? Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 345-7575. $20-22. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. Travel is the theme of this musical comedy revue.

The Beat Baha'i Center Theater, 170 Valencia; 431-9870, ext 99999, www.universalarts.org. $15-20. Fri/22-Sat/23, 8pm (also Sat/23, 3pm). Universal Arts presents a new dance-theater work created by veterans of Stomp and Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk.

Chicago Golden Gate Theatre, One Taylor St; 512-7770, www.bestofbroadway-sf.com. Wed/20-Sat/23, 8pm (also Wed/20, Sat/23, 2pm); Sun/24, 2 and 7:30pm. Bob Fosse, Fred Ebb, and John Kanders's salty satire on the nature of fame, infamy, and the public's inability to distinguish between the two remains as piquant today as it was in 1926, during its original incarnation as a nonmusical play by Maurine Dallas Watkins about two Chicago murderesses who spun their crimes into success stories. The current touring production of the musical, directed by Walter Bobbie, is economically staged. Fresh-faced Kevin Richardson (of pop group Backstreet Boys) is not very credible as smarmy lawyer Billy Flynn, but as the vaudeville villainesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, Brenda Braxton and Bianca Marroquín ooze delicate vulgarity. Anyone looking for a bit of the ol' razzle-dazzle could do worse than spend a couple of hours in the company of these assorted pimps and molls, yet for all the fishnet stockings, disappearing hemlines, and splayed crotches, Chicago is one of the most curiously sexless shows around. (Veltman)

'Comedy on the Square' Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 522-8900. $15. Performances this month include "Harmon Leon and Friends," with performer Harmon Leon (Sat/23, 10pm); "A Celebration of Silliness!," with Fred Anderson (Sun, 3 and 7pm; through Sept 28); "Salsa with Chopsticks," sketch comedy with Uphill Both Ways (Sun, 8:30pm, through Aug 31; Fri/22, 10pm); Oakland Playhouse Improv Troupe (Aug 29, Sept 19-20, and 26-27, 10pm).

The Fall River Axe Murders Magic Theatre, Northside stage, Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, Marina at Laguna; 437-6775. $27. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through Sept 7. The United States didn't invent the axe murder, of course, but then it didn't invent the automobile either. Why does nobody do it better? Word for Word's verbatim staging of gothic writer Angela Carter's take on Lizzie Borden, America's own gothic sweetheart, casts light on the question in the darker regions of the Protestant ethic and on the spirit of decapitation. A subtle and darkly funny tale unfolds in a sweltering New England town in 1892 that, in probing the enduring mystery of the motive, fingers not only the deranged Lizzie (a dangerous-looking Stephanie Hunt), her voracious stepmother (Amy Kossow), and her miserly but indulgent father (an impressively severe John Balma), but also a patriarchal order as stifling as those preposterous Victorian outfits. While not quite explaining Lizzie, Carter does make her of our world, not some ghost story. The real mystery is why the piece doesn't grip us more, given an exceptional ensemble cast and the seemingly perfect match of company and material. Still, as a spooky bit of social excavation, vibrantly staged by director Amy Freed (in collaboration with Jeffrey Bihr), Fall River has its finger on the cutting edge. (Avila)

The Graduate Curran Theatre, 445 Geary; 512-7770, www.bestofbroadway-sf.com. $37-75. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Wed and Sat, 2pm). Through Sept 7. Jerry Hall stars as Mrs. Robinson.

The House of Yes Venue 9, 252 Ninth St; 979-9980. $15-20 (Thurs, pay what you can). Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Aug 30. San Francisco StageWorks presents Wendy MacLeod's tale of a young man who brings his unsuspecting fiancée home to meet his unusual family, including his Jackie O-obsessed sister.

Phantom of the Opera Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market; 512-7770, www.bestofbroadway-sf.com. $30-85. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Wed, Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 7. Andrew Lloyd Webber's irrevocable musical theater juggernaut returns to San Francisco for a limited engagement in a new touring production. The show is, of course, based on Gaston Leroux's novel about a masked musical maniac (Brad Little) hovering along the flies and under the floorboards of the Paris Opera House, wreaking mischief and worse, who falls recklessly in love with his protégée, a beautiful soprano (Lisa Vroman). Directed by Harold Prince, Phantom wields quite an array of eye-widening sets, costumes, and effects (including, in addition to the infamous chandelier, the elaborate opéra bouffe, the spooky boat ride across a foggy lagoon, and the impressively decked-out "Masquerade" sequence). Given the limits of the story and the music (and why, anyway, would a creature laden with musical genius indulge so many sappy songs?), it is the spectacle that haunts. (Avila)

'Plays on Words' Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 810-7304. $15-17. Thurs/21-Sat/23, 8pm. A guy seduces a woman by "demonstrating" a mathematical impossibility. A janitor reveals his hidden acting virtuosity only to have his 15 seconds of fame denied at the last minute. An emotionally impaired loser wins back his girlfriend by whining that he only put her down because he loves her so much. And several would-be writers lament the difficulties of coming up with anything worthwhile to write. If only the writers behind this octet of shorts didn't suffer the same limitations as their characters. The vignettes strike one as immature, striving toward profundity without apparently having any idea where to find it. Too many are reducible to one-liners, and the attempts at social commentary seem to derive more from vague yet familiar notions than from any experience or thoughtful observation. Only Yuri Baranovsky's Back to Eden, with its Waiting for Godot absurdism, is provocative enough to garner interest. (Shalson)

R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida; 626-DOME, www.foghouse.com. $25-35. Thurs/21-Sat/23, 8pm; Sun/24, 2pm. 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 Rover Dolores Park, 19th Ave at Dolores; (510) 420-0813, www.womanswill.org. Free. Sat/23-Sun/24, 1pm. Aphra Behn, larger-than-life 17th-century playwright and first Englishwoman to make her living by writing, set this rollicking comedy during the English Civil War, when supporters of the monarchy (called Cavaliers) sometimes fled, at least temporarily, to foreign climes. In Behn's play three such Englishmen, acting as mercenaries in the Spanish colony of Naples, find themselves in the topsy-turvy world of the Carnival, where otherwise respectable maidens may go out hunting for the men of their choice. The virtuous lovers Belvile (Emily Rosenthal) and Florinda (an excellent Lianne Marie Dobbs) form one thread in a story that weaves in far bawdier company, especially the title character, named Willmore (Rami Margron), a lusty lad who keeps falling in love with the women he meets, including a proud Spanish courtesan (the powerful Bernadette Quattrone). He finds his true match, however, in the quick-fire minx Hellena (Kendra Chell), a heroine whose wit and independence approach Shakespearean proportions. Woman's Will presents this roaming Rover in free, outdoor venues through the summer. With a plucky cast and spirited direction by Erin Merritt, it's a fun, accessible play by a once forgotten Restoration master only recently restored herself. (Avila)

Scabaret! (Scab in the Family) Xenodrome, 1320 Potrero; 285-9366. $10-15. Fri-Sat, 9pm, through Aug 30; Sept 3-6, 10-13, 19-20, 26-27, 9pm. Through Sept 27. The performance troupe presents their eponymous "shock-rock opera," an exploration of the dark side of America.

*Urinetown: The Musical Geary Theater, 415 Geary; 749-2228. $16-66. Extended run: Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Sat/23, Aug 26, and 30, 2pm); Sun, 2pm (also Sun/24, 7pm). Through Aug 31. Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis's subversive fringe-fest-to-off-Broadway-to-Broadway production (presented here by American Conservatory Theater) has reaped vast praise despite its unlikely premise. Set in a "Gotham-like city" in the aftermath of "the Stink Years" (vernacular for a worldwide ecological disaster that delivered the last few wells of fresh water into the hands of a mighty corporation), Urinetown imagines a world where, for the majority of people, micturition takes place in public pay-per-pee facilities. Worth the hype, Urinetown is devastatingly clever musical theater, spoofing conventions while paying inspired homage to the form, with everyone from Bertolt Brecht to Bob Fosse passing through its depression-era tableaux. (Avila)

Bay Area

A Comedy of Errors Shakespeare at Stinson, Hwy 1 at Calle Del Mar, Stinson Beach; (415) 868-1115, www.shakespeareatstinson.org. $16-23. Fri-Sat, 7pm; Sun, 6pm. Through Aug 31. Shakespeare at Stinson performs the Bard's mistaken identity comedy.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Kofman Auditorium, 2200 Central, Alameda; (510) 864-2256. $14-23. Fri/22-Sat/23, 8pm; Sun/24, 2pm. Alameda Civic Light Opera performs Stephen Sondheim's comedy set in ancient Rome.

John Muir's Mountain Days John Muir Amphitheater, Martinez Waterfront Park (at Ferry), Martinez; (925) 798-1300, www.johnmuirmusical.org. $10-35. Thurs-Sat, Aug 31, 8pm. Through Aug 31. The Willows Theatre Company presents its annual outdoor musical production about the life of the Sierra Club founder.

Love and Taxes New venue: Berkeley Rep's Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2949, www.zspace.org. $25-40. Opens Wed/20, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2:30 and 7pm (Sun/24, no 2:30pm show). Through Sept 14. Bay Area "outsider" Josh Kornbluth premieres his latest monologue, recounting the famed nonconformist's "detour into the system" through the U.S. tax code. In his familiar conversational style, replete with acute observations, Spaulding Gray-like epiphanies, and visual aids, Kornbluth revisits his relationship with his beloved father, the eccentric communist celebrated in Red Diaper Baby. Unfortunately, in measuring the distance he must travel from his father's ideals to cope with a new relationship and new responsibilities, the show ends up dwelling on a less interesting cast of characters. (Avila)

Love's Labour's Lost Memorial Park Amphitheater, across from De Anza College, Stevens Creek between Mary and N. Stelling, Cupertino; www.sfshakes.org. Free. Sat/23-Sun/24, 7:30pm. (Aug 30-Sept 21, runs Sat-Sun and Sept 1, 1:30pm, Golden Gate Park, West of the Conservatory of Flowers, S.F.) Show continues at various Bay Area parks through Oct 5. The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival presents its annual "Free Shakespeare in the Park" offering.

Master Harold ... and the Boys Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakl; (510) 534-9529, www.oaklandmetro.org. $10-18. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Sept 7. Oakland Public Theater and Second Wind Productions present Athol Fugard's antiapartheid drama.

Measure for Measure Bruns Memorial Amphitheater, off Hwy 24 at Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit, Orinda; (510) 548-9666, www.calshakes.org. $13-49. Tues-Thurs, 7:30pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 4pm. Through Aug 31. See A&E review.

*Mother Courage and Her Children John Hinkel Park, Southampton between San Diego and Somerset, Berk; (510) 704-8210, www.shotgunplayers.org. Free. Sat-Sun, 4pm (Sept 13 show at Live Oak Park, Berryman between Shattuck and Walnut, Berk). Through Sept 14. Judging by Shotgun Players' terrific production, Bertold Brecht's antiwar masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children remains as fresh and vital to our day as it was to the war-wracked 1940s. The play, set in the wasting decades of the 17th century's Thirty Years War, focuses on Anna Fierling (a witty and commanding Trish Mulholland), a merchant woman known as "Mother Courage" because she once raced her canteen wagon across a battlefield to rescue her perishable inventory. The opening scene, with its foreshadowing of death, already summarizes the central dilemma of the title character and the play. As the recruiting sergeant (Dave Maier) puts it to her: "You're doing very nicely out of the war. How's it supposed to go on without soldiers?" If Mother Courage will feed on war, in other words, war will in turn feed on her children. Offering Mother Courage as its annual free outdoor performance, Shotgun Players knows what it's doing with Brecht, both politically and aesthetically. Under the astute care of artistic director Patrick Dooley, Mother Courage resists the maudlin and, for all of the genuine sadness the play evokes, conveys a stirring wit. (Avila)

San Francisco Mime Troupe's 'Veronique of the Mounties' People's Park, Telegraph at Haste, Berk; (415) 285-1717, www.sfmt.org. Sat/23, 2pm (live music at 1:30pm). (Also Sun/24, 2pm with live music at 1:30pm, Willard Park/Ho Chi Minh, Hillegass and Derby, Berk.; Aug 30-Sept 1, 2pm with live music at 1:30pm, Dolores Park, 18th St between Church and Dolores, S.F.) Free. Inaugurating their 42nd year of free theater in the park, the Mime Troupe serves up Michael Gene Sullivan and Bruce Barthol's punchy tale, which posits the inevitable redirection of the war on terror northward to Canada. The country's only hope is the Ameri-phobic super-Mountie Veronique Du Bois (Velina Brown) and her American contact, a rebel librarian (Keiko Shimosato). Complete with half a dozen musical numbers (backed by composer-musical director Jason Sherbundy's cookin' three-piece band), the wacky but wise story suggests that peace lies in international solidarity as much as homegrown opposition to flag-waving pseudopatriots. (Avila)

Twelfth Night, or What You Will Old Mill Park, 375 Throckmorton, Mill Valley; (510) 845-4007. Free. Sat-Sun and Sept 1, 2pm. Through Sept 7. Curtain Theatre takes Shakespeare's cross-dressing comedy outdoors.

dance

Courage Group, Joe Landini, Alma Esperanza Cunningham Movement Shotwell Studios, 3252 19th St; 621-3066. Fri-Sat, 8pm. $10. The dancers present "Afternoon of a Form," a collaborative evening of dance that includes contemporary ballet, postmodern dance theater, and other styles.

Karl Gillick, Rosemary Hannon, and Ralf Jaroschinski 848 Community Space, 848 Divisadero; r_jaroschinski@gmx.de. Thurs, 8pm. $10-15. The dancers perform an improvised work, Can You Entirely Be?, set to improvised music by Sean Feit and with painting by Lino Laure.

Robert Henry Johnson Buriel Clay Memorial Theater, African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton; 621-3778, ext 2. Fri-Sat, 8pm. $20. See Critic's Choice.

Smuin Ballet Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission between Third and Fourth Sts; 543-1718, www.ybgf.org. Sun, 2-4pm. Free. The company performs To the Beatles Revisited 2001 and Carmina Burana.

'Ten Bay Area Choreographers' Yerba Buena Gardens (various sites), Mission between Third and Fourth Sts; 543-1718. Wed-Fri, 12:30pm. Free. Performers include Rebecca Pappas and Janice Garrett and Dancers (Wed), Maxine Moerman Dance Theatre and Mark Foehringer Dance Project (Thurs), and Zaccho Dance Theatre and Navarrete x Kajiyama (Fri).

performance

'AfroSolo Arts Festival: An Evening of Comedy' Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission; 978-2878, www.afrosolo.org. Sat, 8pm. $18. Donald H. Lacy Jr. hosts this evening of comedy, featuring André "the Wonder Woman," Carla Clayy, Tony Sparks, and William Wesley Walls. Proceeds benefit the Love Life Foundation, a youth violence prevention program.

'BATS Improv Ninth Annual Summer Festival' Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 474-8935, www.batsimprov.com. $8-15. This week: "Aussie Rules Theatresports" (Thurs, 8pm), "Double Feature" (Fri, 8pm), "BATS vs. LATS Theatresports" (Sat, 8pm), "Micetro" (Sun, 8pm).

'Being on the Outside' Noh Space, 2840 Mariposa; 621-7978. Mon-Tues, 8pm. $10-15. (Also Sept 13-28, Sat-Sun, 8 p.m., Jon Sims Center for the Arts, 1519 Mission, S.F. $12-15. 415-771-0696). See 8 Days a Week.

'Goin' Dot Com!' Eureka Theater, 215 Jackson; www.goindotcom.com. Wed-Fri, 7:30pm. $26. The dot-com eras – boom and bust – are skewered in this satirical comedy.

'Guantánamo Palace' Bannam Place Theater, 50A Bannam Place; 986-4607. Aug 24-28, 8pm. Free. Attilio Maggiulli's political play is about prisoners being held by the United States in Cuba.

'Holograms of Love' 848 Community Space, 848 Divisadero; 642-1108. Fri-Sat, 8pm. $10 suggested donation. In this dark comedy, three wayward souls (named Phat Girl, Absolut Rock Star, and Modern Geisha) search for love.

'Ka Wä Hula: Hula Through Time' Cowell Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 345-7575, www.ticketweb.com. Sat, 2 and 7pm. $25. Hälau Aloha Pumehana o Polynesia performs songs and dances from Hawaii.

'Korczak's Children' Zeum Theater, Howard at Fourth St; 749-2228, www.act-sf.org. Previews Thurs/21-Fri/22, 7:30pm; Sat/23, 2pm. Opens Sat/23, 7:30pm. Runs Sun/24, Aug 27-30, 7:30pm (also Sun/24 and Aug 30, 2pm). $10-15. The ACT Young Conservatory presents Jeffrey Hatcher's true story of World War II orphans.

'Magic Stage Competition' James Lick School, Auditorium, 1220 Noe; 566-2180. Fri, 7:30pm. $20-25. Bay Area magicians perform in this competition to name "San Francisco's Best Stage Magician."

'Matty and Lenny at the Edge of a Sunday Dawn' Jon Sims Center for the Arts, 1519 Mission; 508-1808. Fri-Sat, 7:30pm. Through Aug 30. $10. RubberMatchSeriez presents Rey Carolino's work-in-progress play about a hitman and an agoraphobic woman living in the same apartment building.

'Pacific Playback Theatre: Improvisation and Intuition' Randall Museum Theater, 199 Museum; 282-8558. Sat, 8pm. $12-20. The improvisational theater company performs works based on stories from the lives of audience members.

'Viva Karaoke! Searching for Wayne' Climate Theater, 289 Ninth St; www.ticketweb.com. Fri-Sat, 9:30pm. Through Aug 30. $15. "All-girl boy band" 2good4u performs its all-karaoke musical.

Bay Area

'The Guests' Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College, Berk; (510) 658-0967. Thurs, 7:30pm. $8-15. Opera Piccola performs the final work in its Folk Tale Opera Cycle, a new fusion piece that mixes music, dance, and theater from the United States and Iran.

comedy

'Blue Blanket Improv' Check Web site for times and locations. www.blueblanketimprov.com. Blue Blanket Improv presents a free workshop and improv show. Ongoing.

BrainWash Café 1122 Folsom; 861-3663. Thurs, 8pm: Comedy open mic hosted by Tony Sparks, free.

Double Play 2401 16th St; 821-3601. Sat, 8 and 9:45pm: "Hyena Comedy All-Stars," $5.

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

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

Marsh 1062 Valencia; 826-5750. First Annual Marsh Comedy Festival performances Thurs-Sat, 8pm: "Main Stage Comic Monologues," with Phyllis Dantzler and Liz White-Salk, $15-22; Fri-Sat, 8:30pm: open mic at the Mock Cafe (1074 Valencia), $7; Fri-Sat, 10pm: Late-night sketch and stand-up comedy, $10-15.

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

Bay Area

Kimball's East Emery Bay Public Market, 6005 Shellmound, Emeryville; (510) 658-2555. Sun, 8pm: "Pull My Finger: Top Sirloin Stand-Up with a Teriyaki Twist," stand-up comedy with Asian and Filipino American performers, with host Al Manalo, $12.

Shoreline Amphitheater One Amphitheater Pkwy; (415) 421-TIXS, www.ticketmaster.com. Sat, 7pm: "Doghouse Comedy Jam," with Dave Chappelle, Tommy Davidson, and others, $33.50-63.50.

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 host Diamond Dave Whitaker, 8pm, free. La Peña Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 849-2568. "Cafe Poetry" and open mic hosted by Paradise, 7:30pm, free. Canvas Cafe 1200 Ninth Ave; 504-0060, mike@westcoastvideo.net. "Open Mic Talent Showcase," 7:30pm, free. Il Piccolo Cafe 1219 Broadway, Burlingame; (650) 631-5732. "Il Piccolo/Saturday Poets Reading Series," poetry reading and open mic with featured poet Amy Miller, 7pm, free.

Thursday: Coppa D'Oro Cafe 3166 24th St; 826-8003. "Poetry on the Patio," spoken word and acoustic music open mic with host Charlie Getter, 6:30pm, free.

Saturday: Caffe Sempione 641 Vallejo; 362-6317. "Caffe Sempione Reading Series," with featured reader Tim Donnelly, followed by open mic, 7pm, free. Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut, Berk; (510) 527-9753. "Rhythm and Muse," with featured reader Mack Dennis and open mic, 7pm, free.

Sunday: 21 Grand 449B 23rd St; (510) 444-7263. "New Brutalism Poetry: Noah Eli Gordon vs. K. Silem Mohammad," 7-9pm, $4.

Monday: Perry's Joint 1661 Fillmore; 931-5260. "Celebration of the Word," open mic hosted by Jeanne Powell, with featured reader Jennifer Sweeney, 7pm, free.