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

'Pandemonium! An Evening in Hell with David Mamet and Gertrude Stein' Theatre Rhinoceros, 2926 16th St; 861-5079. $12-15. Opens Fri/29, 8:30pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8:30pm (no show Sept 4); Sun, 7:30pm. Through Sept 14. Custom Made Theatre Company performs Bobby Gould in Hell (by David Mamet) and Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights (by Gertrude Stein).

Thirst Thick House, 1695 18th St; 401-8081, www.thickdescription.org. $15-25 (previews, audience members paid $1 to attend). Previews Thurs/28-Fri/29, 8pm. Opens Sun/31, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sun, 8pm. Through Sept 21. Thick Description performs the world premiere of Neena Beber's play set in the world of contemporary art collecting (loosely based on the Henry James novel Roderick Hudson).

A Thunderbird Night of Terror Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason, Ste 601; 289-6766, www.ticketweb.com. $17. Opens Thurs/28, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Mon, 8pm. Through Sept 20. See 8 Days a Week.

Bay Area

A Midsummer Night's Dream Forest Meadows Outdoor Amphitheater, Grand Ave, Dominican University, San Rafael; (415) 499-4488. $13-25. Opens Fri/29, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sun, 8pm (also Sun, 4pm). Through Sept 7. Marin Shakespeare Company performs Shakespeare's romantic comedy, with a cast that includes a trained canine named Bonzer as Starveling's Dog.

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.

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

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. Sat, 8pm (no show Sept 6); Sept 7, 7pm. Through Sept 20. Michael and Renee Oakes of Live Oakes Educational Theatre lead a fast-paced historical journey "from Ohlone to dot commers."

Daughter of the Floods Embarcadero Auto Showroom, Sansome at Broadway; 263-0414. $20-28. Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Sept 14. Tearany Theatre performs Marilee Talkington's site-specific play about a woman's journey toward enlightenment.

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/28-Sat/30, 8pm. San Francisco StageWorks presents Wendy MacLeod's buoyantly macabre comedy about a dysfunctional clan of haut bourgeois eccentrics, the Pascals, doing their best to keep up with the Kennedys (their next-door neighbors, as it happens). As a hurricane batters the ancestral home in McLean, Va., eldest son Marty (Peter Matthews) has arrived home for Thanksgiving with a surprise guest, his fiancée, Lesly (Arwen Anderson), a working-class girl and Marty's ticket to what he hopes will be a "normal life." But the lovebirds will first have to survive a night with Mrs. Pascal (Pamela Whipp), kid brother Anthony (Jason Baeten), and Marty's twin sister, Jackie-O (Ann Lawler), all of whom are unstable and none of whom are keen on having Marty leave again because of his soothing effect on his highly erratic, Kennedy-obsessed sister who is at her best when Marty is acting out JFK's assassination with her. Sharp and zany, the play has a kinky, necrophilic edge and a sweetly melancholic note (complimented by Michael Davison's original score) that nicely fleshes out what would otherwise be a one-dimensional comedy. But it's the vital performances mustered by director John Dixon's terrific ensemble cast that bring this play powerfully to life. (Avila)

Kilt New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $18-38. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Oct 12. Jonathan Wilson's romantic comedy reconciles a mother and son through their mutual acceptance of the past. Esther (Cheryl Smith), a stern Scottish dance instructor and Canadian immigrant, drags her culturally Canadian son, Tom (Colin Stuart), away from his job as a kilt-clad table dancer at a gay nightclub, to the Glasgow funeral of his grandfather, a war hero he never knew. Esther, betraying a flair for the symbolic, wants her father buried in the kilt Tom inherited. Meanwhile, briefed by extroverted Aunt Mary (Kristi Scott), Tom finds his mother's prim picture of the family tree a lot trashier in real life and discovers the constructed nature of Mom, the unreconstructed Scot. Esther cedes little ground, however, as the action shifts to an African battlefield in 1941, where intrepid grandfather Mac (Stuart) captures the heart of his commanding officer (Douglas Giorgis/John Hutchinson), a battle-shy lieutenant who later turns up for the funeral. There are few real surprises under Kilt's colorful but predictable patterns. Moreover, the relationships don't always feel credible, and the second act sprawls a bit. But director Stephen Rupsch gets a lot from the snappy dialogue thanks to five sharp, sympathetic performances, especially Smith's proud but well-meaning Esther. (Avila)

Love's Labour's Lost New venue: Golden Gate Park, West of the Conservatory of Flowers; www.sfshakes.org. Free. Sat-Sun and Sept 1, 1:30pm. Through Sept 21. Show continues at various Bay Area parks through Oct 5. The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival presents its annual "Free Shakespeare in the Park" offering.

ManLady New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $18-28. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 7. In his autobiographical solo, George Weiss Vando demonstrates his talent for moving between multifarious identities: from himself as a boy running around in a Superman cape (which in his imagination is really a Wonder Woman cape), to the mother who wants to understand her son, to himself as an attractive, seven-feet-tall-in-heels drag queen lip-syncing to Alanis Morissette. Weiss, with the help of Sue Hamilton's direction, displays a keen awareness of the subtleties that form an integral part of anyone's outward personality. But while Weiss shifts adroitly between accents, postures, facial expressions, and gestures to tell his stories, the anecdotes themselves don't always come together as smoothly. The first third of the show, despite a tender portrayal of maternal angst, is a familiar coming-out narrative. Things pick up when Weiss, donning a sexy red dress and showing off his pole-dancing skills from years of professional drag, talks about misogyny in the gay community and seeks new definitions of masculinity. His answers aren't revolutionary, but the questioning itself adds something worthwhile to a familiar genre. (Shalson)

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)

San Francisco Mime Troupe's 'Veronique of the Mounties' Dolores Park, 18th St between Church and Dolores; (415) 285-1717, www.sfmt.org. Free. Sat/30-Mon/1, 2pm (live music at 1:30pm). 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)

Scabaret! (Scab in the Family) Xenodrome, 1320 Potrero; 285-9366. $10-15. Fri/29-Sat/30, 9pm; 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.

Spanked! New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $15-20. Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 10pm); 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.

*Urinetown: The Musical Geary Theater, 415 Geary; 749-2228. $16-66. Extended run: Wed/27-Sat/30, 8pm (also Sat/30, 2pm); Sun/31, 2pm. 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/29-Sat/30, 7pm; Sun/31, 6pm. Shakespeare at Stinson performs the Bard's mistaken identity comedy.

'Impact Briefs 6: Shock and Awe' La Val's Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; (510) 464-4468. $10-15. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 27. Impact Theatre presents an evening of ultrashort comedic plays.

John Muir's Mountain Days John Muir Amphitheater, Martinez Waterfront Park (at Ferry), Martinez; (925) 798-1300, www.johnmuirmusical.org. $10-35. Thurs/27-Sun/31, 8pm. The Willows Theatre Company presents its annual outdoor musical production about the life of the Sierra Club founder.

Love and Taxes Berkeley Rep's Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2949, www.zspace.org. $25-40. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2:30 and 7pm. 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)

*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. Based on an incident from his childhood in the early days of apartheid, Athol Fugard's most personal play is also one of his most supple: the story of a fateful day in the relationship between a white South African teenager and the two black family servants who raised him; a damning portrait of a barbaric social system; a subtle and compelling exploration of the psychology of power; a meditation on parenting, the nature of social reform, and the role of education, and more. Not least, it's a difficult play to get right. Happily, the fruitful collaboration between Oakland Public Theater and Second Wind Productions has resulted in a powerful, altogether impressive treatment that shows small theater at its best. On a stormy Port Elizabeth afternoon in 1950, Hally (Greg Ayers) falls to the temptation offered by his skin color to channel his own pain into the sadistic exercise of authority over the two grown men who are his best friends, Sam (Ian Walker) and Willie (Norman Gee). Director Manu Mukasa coaxes beautifully measured performances from his fine cast, capturing the humor, compassion, and unswerving honesty of the play, while building seamlessly to its wrenching climax and wistful, agonized denouement. (Avila)

Measure for Measure Bruns Memorial Amphitheater, off Hwy 24 at Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit, Orinda; (510) 548-9666, www.calshakes.org. $13-49. Wed/27-Thurs/28, 7:30pm; Fri/29-Sat/30, 8pm (also Sat/30, 2pm); Sun/31, 4pm. This funny, chilling, and romantic production of Measure for Measure gets a smartly hip, vivifying treatment by director Daniel Fish and his fine cast – Cal Shakes' best so far this season. Audiences often focus on the issue of capital punishment in Shakespeare's darkest comedy, but the brutally harsh sentence leveled at the young lover Claudio (T. Edward Webster), who, with his fiancée (Crystal Noelle McCreary), has made a child out of wedlock, only points to a more extreme and fundamental plight in Shakespeare's Vienna. Duke Vincentio (the excellent Michael Emerson), ruler of Vienna, concerned about the moral laxity of his subjects but himself weak-willed, takes leave of the city under a false pretext so that vice laws gathering dust for 19 years might again be exercised under his appointed deputy Angelo (the powerfully on-edge Bruce McKenzie), a cold-blooded model of virtue and stringency. If justice, that much abused term, gets a thorough trouncing in Shakespeare's Vienna, its perversion into the hypocritical cudgel of puritanical authority registers as strongly today as in Shakespeare's time, since the very word has become a harshly sibilant slur in the mouth of our own chief executive/executioner. (And if you think I'm forcing the analogy, watch for the cameo in the second act.) (Avila)

*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)

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

dance

'House Special' ODC Theater, 3153 17th St; 863-9834, www.odcdance.org. Fri-Sat, 8pm. $12 (sliding scale). See 8 Days a Week.

performance

'Drop Dead Gorgeous in a Down to Earth Bombshell Sort of Way' Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St; 863-7576. Sat, 8pm. $25. Comedian Alex Borstein (MADTV) performs her solo show about searching for female role models on television.

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

'Korczak's Children' Zeum Theater, Howard at Fourth St; 749-2228, www.act-sf.org. Wed-Sat, 7:30pm (also Sat, 2pm). $10-15. The ACT Young Conservatory presents Jeffrey Hatcher's true story of World War II orphans.

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

'A Room with the View' Broadway Studios, 435 Broadway; 928-2888. Sat, 9 and 11pm. $25-30. Sweet Willie Productions presents this "male revue for women only."

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

Bay Area

'Notre Dame de Namur University Labor Day Theatre Festival' 1500 Ralston, Belmont; (650) 508-3623. Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm (also Sat, 1:30pm). $3-6. Three full-length plays and a program of short plays comprise this festival of works by local playwrights, including Notre Dame de Namur University alumni and Bay Area theater critic John Angell Grant.

comedy

Bazaar Cafe 5927 California; 831-5620. Tues, 8pm: "Doug Ferrari and Friends," stand-up comedy, free.

'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.

Buriel Clay Theatre 762 Fulton; 863-0741. Sun, 8pm: "Scott Capurro – En Fuego!", $15.

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.

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. Savoy Tivoli 1434 Grant; 905-8837. "Savoy Tivoli Reading Series," with host Mark Schwartz and featured reader Kristyan, 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 Charlie Getter, 6:30pm, free. Dalva 3121 16th St; 753-8091. "Poetry Mission" with featured reader Jennifer Sweeney and open mic hosted by Elz, 7pm, free.

Saturday: Caffe Sempione 641 Vallejo; 362-6317. "Caffe Sempione Reading Series," with featured reader Owen Dunkle, followed by open mic, 7pm, free.

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