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 Barbecue Murders Theatre Rhinoceros, 2926 16th St; 861-5079, www.therhino.org. $5-15. Opens Wed/22, call for time. Runs Wed-Sat, 8:30pm. Through Nov 1. Theatre Rhinoceros' Studio season kicks off with John Fisher's creepy work in progress.

Five Women Wearing the Same Dress Venue 9, 252 Ninth St; 863-1940, www.ticketweb.com. $10-15. Opens Thurs/23, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Nov 15. Actors Anonymous Theatre Company performs Alan Ball's bittersweet comedy set at a Tennessee wedding reception.

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.

Blood Poet Lorca! Actors Theatre of San Francisco, 533 Sutter; 273-5164. $15-20. Extended run: Fri-Sun, 8pm. Though Nov 2. In Luis Oropeza's lyrical solo show, the celebrated Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca relives moments from his life, mingling memories of his family and his thirst for writing with the rise of Franco's dictatorship and his own murder at the hands of nationalists. While the narrative lacks focus, and the prose – in an effort to mimic Lorca's bravura dramatic style – often seems more overwrought than a matador's costume, the mise-en-scène and performance are often engaging. As Oropeza, dapper in a dickey bow, plays piano on a chair and stages a puppet show on a tabletop, so John Maloney's fluid direction, Cliff Caruthers's ghostly sound effects, Christopher Kristant's metaphoric use of a derelict house setting, and Rob Robertson's strong lighting similarly demand the audience's full attention. (Veltman)

Blue Window Exit Stage Left, 156 Eddy; 440-4913. $16-25. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Nov 8. When Libby invites a hodgepodge of thirtysomething urbanites over for a dinner party – most of whom don't know each other – she hopes to forge the human connections that have eluded her since tragedy struck her life four years ago. However, from the opening montage of this play by Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss) in which the hopelessly awkward Libby rehearses the conversations she hopes to have with her various guests – an eclectic group of professionals, all of whom are alienated in their own way – we know we're in for a less-than-harmonious evening. The Chameleon Theatre Company does a good job staging Lucas's montage scenes in a tight space; however, it's the party that is the crux of this play. The difficulty with this uncomfortable encounter is that the forced humor and overcompensation of the guests look much like overacting, and the mutual irritation of the partygoers can too easily become our own. (Shalson)

The Book of Liz Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 273-4115, www.unidentifiedtheatre.org. $15-35. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Nov 30. Unidentified Theatre Company performs David and Amy Sedaris's comedy about a woman who leaves her cheese ball-making religious community to seek a more satisfying life as a waitress.

A Bright Room Called Day Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor; 721-9682. $20. Fri-Sat and Mon/27, 8pm. Through Nov 8. "Welcome to Germany." Agnes (Libby O'Connell), ever the gracious hostess, finds her tongue at last and welcomes Mr. Swetts (John Craven), the Devil, to her home. It's the final moment of a particularly memorable scene in La Luna Theatre Collective's strong, if uneven, production of Tony Kushner's first play, an exuberant piece of theater whose uncanny mix of politics, ebullient dialogue, lively intellectualism, dramatic playfulness, and moral seriousness presages his monumental Angels in America. And though inspired, like Angels, by the excesses of the Reagan era, A Bright Room Called Day seems crazily, depressingly, eerily to have grown more precisely contemporary in its audacious look back at the final months of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolf Hitler. (Avila)

'Cafe Project: Triple Espresso' Canvas Cafe and Gallery, 1200 Ninth Ave; www.taconspiracy.org. Free (donations requested). Sun, 7pm; Mon-Tues, 8pm. Through Nov 4. Theatre Artists' Conspiracy performs a festival of one-act plays by local authors.

'Comedy on the Square' Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 522-8900. $15. Upcoming performances include "Macaroni Art Theater" (Fri/24-Sat/25, 10pm); "A Celebration of Silliness!," with Fred Anderson (Sun/26, 3 and 7pm); "True Fiction Magazine improv troupe (Sun/26, 8:30).

The Dog Problem Actors Theatre of San Francisco, 533 Sutter; 296-9179, www.actorstheatresf.com. $20. Thurs/23-Sat/25, 8pm; Sun/26, 5pm. David Rabe's play, presented by the Actors Theatre, is part testosterone fest (complete with mobsters, random acts of violence, and onstage pissing and puking), and part meditation on questions of fate, karma, faith, and the ability to know who your friends are. The piece fluctuates somewhat uncomfortably between depth and frivolity, terror and hilarity (the combination showing up in the actors' inability to conceal their mirth during the mobster scenes on opening night). However, strong performances by the principle cast members (often taking their caricatured characters to extremes) are a real source of pleasure in this production. (Shalson)

18: The White Album Climate Theatre, 285 Ninth St; 646-0868. $12-14. Thurs/23-Sun/26, 8pm. In their new show, 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors, the Bay Area-based Asian American comedy troupe, explores tensions between Asian group culture and American individualism through an intentionally fractured project of competing initiatives that, like the Beatles album, may or may not form a coherent whole. The smaller-than-usual cast of regulars offers the company's trademark charisma and comedic skill, singing, dancing, wrestling, hopping, and humping their way through with aplomb. But the invariably fun sketches are not equally worthy. (Avila)

In Our Names Exit Theater, 156 Eddy; 364-1801, www.twoplustwoequalsix.com. $12-18. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Nov 8. Vanessa Clark's dark comedy explores the allure of power through a cast of eclectic characters.

Last Act for Walter Gordon and other plays Costume Studio Stage, 1119 Market; 433-7827, 552-6672. $20. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Nov 16. Local ventriloquist performer Ronald E. Coulter and his partner, Sidney Star – together in showbiz for the past 50 years – take the stage with a trio of original plays.

A Midsummer Night's Dream Zeum Theater, Fourth St at Howard; 749-2228, www.act-sf.org. $10-15. Wed/22, 8pm. American Conservatory Theater unleashes its master's of fine arts program's class of 2004 in Shakespeare's fantastical, warm-hearted treatment of love in all its irrationality. King Oberon (Adriean Delaney) and Queen Titania (Marilee Talkington) are on the rocks, and woe to those who enter the woods when fairy royalty feud: eloping lovers Hermia (Stephanie Weeks) and Lysander (Jeff Galfer), spurned ones Demetrius (D.J. Lapité) and Helena (Stacey Jenson), or the amateur thespians rehearsing a wedding-day play for Duke Theseus (Nicholas Dominick Sweeney) and bride Hippolyta (Crystal Noelle). Given its capacity to make everyone its fool, there's some comfort in thinking that it's mischievous spirits like Puck (a sprightly Lisa McCormick) playing with us when we play at love. A talented young cast makes an impressive debut in a wise and lively production directed by Giles Havergal. The comical play-within-the-play is particularly effective, with Rob Seitelman excellently placed as the loudly overenthusiastic, amiably innocent Nick Bottom – supreme object of the play's humor and its trusty anchor. (Avila)

Nickel and Dimed Brava Theater Center, 2789 24th St; 647-2822. $18-32. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through Nov 9. TheatreWorks and Brava! For Women in the Arts copresent the northern California premiere of Bay Area playwright Joan Holden's stage adaptation of Barbara Ehrenreich's 2001 best-selling exposé of low-wage work in America. An ambitious, kinetic if flawed production, it centers on a fiftysomething left-wing journalist named Barbara (a charming Sharon Lockwood), who at the behest of her editor (Darren Bridgett) takes a succession of minimum- and low-wage jobs to see firsthand how people get by on the strange planet of the working class. While the play infuses this bleak but marvelously peopled landscape with lots of humor and some stimulating insights, the desire to entertain and the urge to earnestly confront sometimes feel at cross purposes. (Avila)

No Exit Studio 210, 3425 Cesar Chavez; 267-7687. $11-13. Fri/24-Sat/25, 8pm. GTX performs Sartre's classic about one man, two women, and three chairs.

*Out at Sea and The Party Next Stage Theater, 1620 Gough; 1-866-GOT-FURY, www.foolsfury.org. $12-20 (pay what you can, previews and Thurs). Thurs/23-Sun/26, 8pm. If you like your satire spicy, foolsFURY has a bill not to be missed: a program of two very funny one-acts by the internationally renowned short-story writer and playwright Slawomir Mrozek. In Out to Sea, three hungry men adrift in a raft – Fat (Gwen Loeb), Thin (Emilie Miller), and Medium (Alexander Lewis) – discuss who among them should rightfully sacrifice himself to the appetite of the others. In The Party, three friends (Lewis, Loeb, and Miller) show up to an empty room prepared for what they had thought was supposed to be a party. The initial confusion and disappointment turn to a questioning of the nature of the party they thought they had been invited to. Is it a wedding or a funeral? And what's the difference again? Clever direction and excellent performances bring nimble physical comedy and a range of thematic colors to these rarely seen theatrical gems. (Avila)

Salam Shalom ... a Tale of Passion New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $18-38. Wed/22-Sat/25, 8pm; Sun/26, 2pm. Playwright-actor Saleem's contemporary tale of love across enemy lines makes its Bay Area premiere in a New Conservatory Theatre Center production directed, with added material, by Mike Ward. Nabeel (warmly played by Saleem), a newly arrived Palestinian instructor at UC Berkeley, finds himself assigned a Jewish roommate, Yaron (Bradford Cooreman), an openly gay American Israeli grad student. With a mix of humor and social insight, the Arab-Israeli conflict gets transposed into a battle over the run of the apartment's mutually occupied territory – and in a twist unlikely at Camp David, the two men fall in love. Heartfelt and timely, the production nonetheless suffers from uneven performances, while the script's stick-figure characterizations and sometimes heavy-handed exposition contribute to a slack pace. Still, Salam Shalom pleads sympathetically for universal respect and understanding. (Avila)

Son of Drakula New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $18-38. Wed/22-Sat/25, 8pm; Sun/26, 2pm. New York actor-playwright David Drake (The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me) stars in the West Coast premiere of his 2002 solo show. Directed by Kathleen Brant, the play chronicles Drake's real-life quest to discover whether his family name, Drakula, leads back to the 15th century's half-historical, half-legendary figure Vlad Dracula, a.k.a. Vlad the Impaler. Son of divorced parents and a decidedly fuzzy paternal pedigree, Drake's inherent thirst for a bloodline takes him to the annual meeting of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula in Romania, the ruins of Vlad's fortress in Poenari, and the war-scarred coastline of his immigrant great-grandfather's Croatian boyhood. But the journey across an ocean and six centuries is in large part a son's circuitous route to an emotionally distant father. Along the way, the assorted weirdos and misfits presented by the dexterous and magnetic Drake can seem bloodless, if amusing, caricatures alongside the troubled yet tenderly drawn relationship with his father, and the moving embrace of a long-lost family that is its bittersweet inheritance. (Avila)

StretchMarks: Growing into Motherhood New venue: Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor; www.dramamamas.com. $17-22. Opens Nov 13, 8pm. Runs Nov 14-15, 20-22, Dec 4-6, 11-13, 8pm. Through Dec 13. Four Bay Area moms perform their show about parenting.

*Thursday Thick House, 1695 18th St; 821-4849. $15-20. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through Nov 2. The world premiere of Adam Bock's Thursday offers a pleasant excursion into a spotless, TV-toned, pastel neighborhood – where no one seems to be doing much in the way of real work and the day flies by in a series of sharply stylized comical encounters and pantomimes among a circle of quirky characters. The story revolves around Marcy (Chloe Broznan), who returns to her hometown via rehab after a failed career as a TV starlet. Encore Theatre Company's sleek production knowingly imbues Bock's high-energy buffoonery with choice snippets of pop music, a spare but eye-catching pop-art set, and a disarmingly sharp and charming cast. (Avila)

Waiting for Godot Geary Theater, 415 Geary; 749-2228, www.act-sf.org. $11-56. Opens Wed/22, 8pm. Runs Thurs/23-Sat/25, Oct 29-Nov 1, Nov 4-8, 11, and 12-15, 8pm (also Sat/25, Oct 29, Nov 1, 8, 12, and 15, 2pm); Sun/26 and Tues/28, 7pm (also Sun/26, 2pm); Nov 2, 9, and 16, 2pm. American Conservatory Theater performs the 50th-anniversary revival of Beckett's existential classic.

Wheel of Fortune Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia; 626-3311. $9-15 (Thurs and Nov 10, pay what you can). Opens Thurs/16, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sun and Nov 10, 8pm. Through Nov 10. Campo Santo performs John Steppling's latest drama.

Windows and Mirrors: Stories by Paley, Malamud, and Biller A Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida; 285-8080. $18-30. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Nov 2. (Also, Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College, Berk. Runs Nov 6-8, 8pm; Nov 9, 2 and 7pm). A Traveling Jewish Theatre and Word for Word team up again (after 2000's Jewbird and Goodbye and Good Luck) to present verbatim stage plays of works by master short story writers Bernard Malamud and Grace Paley, with the addition this time of a Jewish author of a newer generation, Germany's Maxim Biller. Word for Word's JoAnne Winter directs Paley's funny and penetrating New York stories, Wants and A Conversation with My Father, each set against the aftermath of the antiwar movement of the 1960s; and Malamud's Spring Rain, a wistful portrait of a middle-aged urban patriarch's loneliness and alienation on the eve of World War II. Z Space's David Dower directs Biller's piece of mock noir about a German Jewish writer who meets his doppelgänger in Manhattan, Finkelstein's Finger, a darkly humorous, irreverent examination of the Holocaust's effects on the descendants of both perpetrators and victims. An enjoyable ensemble (featuring ATJT founders Naomi Newman and Corey Fischer, along with Karine Koret and Michael Smith) gets the most from these small, human tales emerging from a social landscape scarred by cataclysm. (Avila)

Worse than Chocolate Theatre Rhinoceros, 2926 16th St; 861-5079. $15-25 (previews, pay what you can). Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Nov 8. Theatre Rhinoceros presents "lesbian misfit" Jaeson Post's sitcom-style comedy about queer love and lust at a San Francisco law firm.

Bay Area

Eat La Val's Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; (510) 704-8210, www.shotgunplayers.org. $10. Mon/27-Tues/28, 8pm. Shotgun Players' Theatre Lab presents an original work – created through interviews, improv, research, and other methods – all about eating.

Lionheart Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, Berk; (510) 848-7800. $8-20 (Thurs/23 and Oct 30, pay what you can.) Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through Nov 23. Central Works presents Gary Graves's new take on the legendary king.

My Gypsy Del Valle Theatre, 1963 Tice Valley Blvd, Walnut Creek; (925) 943-7469. $20-25. Fri/24-Sat/25, 8pm; Sun/26, 2pm. A young Roma woman struggles with accepting her upcoming arranged marriage.

No Ghost Hamlet Transparent Theater, 1901 Ashby, Berk; (510) 883-0305, www.transparenttheater.org. $25 (Thurs, pay what you can). Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Nov 23. Transparent Theater presents its experimental take on Shakespeare's classic, with a female Hamlet, a live rock band, and other modifications.

Othello New venue: Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College, Berk; (510) 420-0813, www.womanswill.org. $12-25. Thurs/23, 8pm. (Also Fri/24, 8pm, Solano College Theatre, Suisun Valley Rd, Suisun City. Sat/25, 8pm; Sun/26, 2pm, Pear Avenue Theatre, 1220 Pear, Mtn View). Its wartime setting, treatment of fear of ethnic and racial "others," and insistence that sometimes the real enemy is the person claiming to act in your best interest all give Shakespeare's classic tragedy continuing relevance. In this vein, Woman's Will performs the original text in (mostly) contemporary dress, with soldiers outfitted in U.S. Army uniforms. But despite politically oriented program notes that encourage us to relate this play to our contemporary situation, this production, while succeeding in drawing us into its well-executed drama, doesn't manage to raise too many questions. (Shalson)

Phaedra Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut, Berk; (510) 234-6046. $8-12. Thurs-Sat, 8pm (no shows Sat/25 and Nov 6). Through Nov 21. Subterranean Shakespeare performs Deborah Rogin's adaptation of Euripides' tale of forbidden love.

The Water Principle Eighth Street Studio, 2525 Eighth St, Berk; (510) 704-8210. $12-20. Extended run: Fri/24-Sat/25, 8pm. Shotgun Players presents playwright Eliza Anderson's darkly humorous fable of exploitation. In a setting of desolation and purity, a half-starved woman named Addie (Kate Sheehan) lives a hard but fiercely independent life on a plot of desert land coveted by an unctuous neighbor named Weed (John Thomas), a businessman and self-proclaimed "man of action" with Faustian dreams of development under the heading "Weed's Wonderland." What starts out maybe a little too reminiscent of Samuel Beckett ends a little more like Sam Peckinpah, with dialogue that at its best has a bite to it but often belabors its own significance. The strength of the production lies in a committed cast, who, with director John Warren, do a nice job straddling the decidedly fuzzy line between absurdist nihilism and the moralism of melodrama. (Avila)

dance

'Dance/Screen: Introducing Kenneth Kvarnström and Co.' Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission; 398-6449, www.performances.org. Tues, 7pm. $4-7. San Francisco Performances presents films about choreographer Kenneth Kvarnström and his work.

Kate Corby and Dancers 848 Community Space, 848 Divisadero; 771-4787. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. $10-15 (no one turned away for lack of funds). The company performs While I Wait: Dances from the Homefront, Past and Present; the evening also includes works by Megan Nicely and Company and Nora Stephens.

Motion Lab ODC Theater, 3153 17th St; 863-9834. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. $18. The program "As Above, So Below As" explores "natural magic" with five premieres: Enchante, Wanderlust, Bounceback, The Swooning Room, and The Longing Cycles, with choreography by Kathleen Hermesdorf. See "Alchemists."

Smiun Ballet Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 978-2787, www.smuinballets.org. Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through Nov 2. $20-60 (pay what you can Wed/22). Michael Smuin's company opens its 10th-anniversary season with the world premiere Tango Palace: Tangos, Fados, and Other Curios, plus Suite Gershwin and Les noces.

Bay Area

Aywah! Ethnic Dance Company Dance Palace, Fifth St at B St, Point Reyes Station; (415) 663-1075. Fri, 8pm. $10-15. (Also Sat, 7:30pm, Open Secret, 921 C St, San Rafael; 415-457-4191. $15). The company performs music and dance from Egypt, Turkey, and the Turkish and Balkan Roma.

Nancy Karp + Dancers Bay Street Center, 5616 Bay, second fl, Emeryville; (510) 653-1195, www.nancykarp.org. Fri, 10 and 11am, noon; Sun, 2pm. Free. The company performs the site-specific work La Traversa as apart of the 17th annual Emeryville Art Exhibition.

'Moon Fire: East Bay Butoh Bazaar #2' Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St, Oakl; (510) 601-7494. Fri-Sun, 8pm. $15. Bay Area Butoh artists Hiroko Tamano (Sun. only), Shinichi Momo Koga, Kinji Hayashi, Paige Sovillo, Judith Kajiwara, Leigh Evans (Fri. only), and Christina Braun perform.

performance

BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; www.batsimprov.com $8-12. This week: "Improvised Shakespeare" (Fri, 8pm); "Improv and a Movie" (Sat, 8pm); "Sunday Players: Theatresports" (Sun, 8pm).

'Ex-Centris' Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission; 978-ARTS. Thurs, 6pm. Free with gallery admission ($3-6). This "living museum" explores why certain cultural "others" are romanticized, while others are demonized; performers include Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Juan Ybarra, Michelle Ceballos, Ansuman Biswas, and Violeta Luna.

Lucky Dog Theatre Blue Bear Performance Hall, Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, Marina at Laguna; 564-4115, www.joyacory.com. Fri/24, Nov 7 and 14, 8pm. $12. The improv theater company performs.

'Or-A-Trix' Jon Sims Center for the Arts, 1519 Mission; 554-0402. Thurs, 8pm. $7-12. The all-female collective of slam performers, fiction writers, and poets performs its touring show "All Girl. All Word."; the evening also includes burlesque troupe the Chainsaw Chubbettes, plus local spoken word performers and host Sini Anderson.

Bay Area

'Ain't Misbehavin', Direct from New York' Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College, Berk; (925) 798-1300.

Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm). $27.50-50. Original Broadway cast member Vivian Jett stars in this musical salute to Fats Waller.

'California Revels' Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College, Berk; (925) 798-1300. Sun, 2pm. $5-10. Get a jump start on the holidays with this musical, participatory celebration of the winter solstice starring Geoff Hoyle.

'Conscious Fools' Western Sky Studio, 2525 Eighth St, Berk; (510) 848-4133. Sat, 8pm. $5-15. Minoo Hamzavi curates an evening of "performance, poetry, and fools."

comedy

Hyena Playhouse 2390 Mission, #304; 821-3601. Sat, 8:30pm: "Hyena Comedy All-Stars," $6.

Monticello Inn Library 127 Ellis; 394-0661. Wed, 5:30pm: Comedian and "empowerment sage" Richard Stockton performs, free.

Punchline 444 Battery; 397-4337. Sat, 9 and 11pm: Christopher Titus performs, $20.

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, S.F.; (415) 440-5530. "Spoken Word Salon," with host Diamond Dave Whitaker, 8pm, free. Canvas Cafe 1200 Ninth Ave, S.F.; (415) 504-0060, mike@westcoastvideo.net. "Open Mic Talent Showcase," 7:30pm, free.

Thursday: Coppa D'Oro Cafe 3166 24th St, S.F.; (415) 826-8003. "Poetry on the Patio," spoken word and acoustic music open mic with host Charlie Getter, 6:30pm, free. Mediterranean Cafe 2475 Telegraph, Berk; (510) 549-1128. "Word Beat Reading Series," with featured readers Carol Hochberg and Ruth Levitan, 7pm, free. Dalva 3121 16th St, S.F.; (415) 753-8091. "Poetry Mission," with featured reader Jason Mateo and open mic, 7pm, free. Canvas Cafe 1200 Ninth Ave, S.F.; www.artspan.com. "Spoken City," youth poetry reading, 5pm, free.

Friday: Small Press Traffic Timken Lecture Hall, California College of Arts, 1111 Eighth St; 338-3401. kari edwards and Gail Scott read, 7:30pm, $5-10. Dwinelle Hall Rm 145, UC Berkeley, Berk; (510) 388-3587. "ENDependence Spoken Word Tour," 8pm, $5-8.

Sunday: Cody's Books 2454 Telegraph, Berk; (510) 845-7852. Mark Turpin and Aliki Barnstone read poetry, 7:30pm, $2. Edinburgh Castle Pub 950 Geary; 885-4074. "A Night with Robin Robertson and Irvine Welsh," 8pm, $6.

Monday: Priya Restaurant 2072 San Pablo, Berk; berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com. "Poetry Express," open mic hosted by Mark States; this week's theme is "Things that Scare You," 7pm, free. Canvas Cafe 1200 Ninth Ave; getbooked@yahoo.com. "Lit at the Canvas," readings by Jeff Greenwald, Anhoni Patel, Horehound Stillpoint, Linda Watanabe McFerrin, and host Kevin Smokler, 7:30pm, $5.