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

Cinghiale! Exit Stage Left, 156 Eddy; (650) 712-9850, www.ticketweb.com. $15-20. Opens Fri/16, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Feb 14. Bay Area performer-playwright Emilie Miller presents her multi-character, solo work about a group of women, all wild-boar hunters, who form a support group.

Citizen of Trees Noh Space, 2840 Mariposa; 621-7978. $15-20. Opens Fri/16, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sun, 8pm. Through Feb 1. Cassie Terman performs her "physical-theater fable," a blend of monologues, movement, and music.

No. 11 (Blue and White) Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason; 386-2373, www.abydostheater.org. $15-20. Opens Thurs/15, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Jan 31. Abydos Theater presents Alexandra Cunningham's drama, set in the cliquey world of affluent, suburban high school seniors.

Spray Theatre Rhinoceros, 2926 16th St; 861-5079. $15-25 (previews, pay what you wish). Previews Thurs/15-Fri/16, 8pm. Opens Sat/17, 8pm; Sun/18, 7pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm (also Jan 25 and Feb 1, 3pm). Through Feb 7. New York City monologist and "pop culture prophet" Mike Albo performs his latest show.

Strange Love Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy; 567-8211, www.ticketweb.com. $15-25. Opens Thurs/15, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Jan 31. Perry Alley Puppet Theatre performs three musical plays that offer humorous looks at relationships. (Suitable for audiences ages 12 and up.)

'Women on the Way Festival' Venue 9, 252 Ninth St; 289-2000, www.venue9.com. $15-20. Opens Thurs/15, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sun, 8pm. Through Feb 1. Emerging talent and well-established writers, performers, choreographers, and directors are highlighted at this festival; programs vary each night, so check Web site for schedule.

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.

Broke Marsh, 1062 Valencia; 826-5750, www.themarsh.org. $15-22. Extended run: Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through Jan 31. Writer-performer Merle Kessler, in the guise of his nationally known alter ego, cranky radio and TV commentator Ian Shoales, takes stock of the new century – the only stock, needless to say, a cash-poor dot-com dreamer can put his hands on these days – in an evening of song and shtick humorously structured as a desperate PowerPoint-enabled business pitch. There's plenty of unevenness to this nervy, nerdy material – especially around the stale subject of the rapidly receding dot-com era. But Kessler rants against the aughts with well-established charisma (not to mention an undeniable dread), and the harmonies are always solid. (Avila)

'Comedy on the Square' Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 522-8900. Most shows $15. Upcoming performances include "A Celebration of Silliness" with Fred Anderson (Sun, 3 and 7pm, ongoing); Oui Be Negroes in "Coal Black Tales," sketch and improv comedy (Jan 23-24, Feb 13-14, 20-21, and 27-28, 10pm); magician Eric Masters in "Artifice, Ruse, and Deception" (Jan 25, 8:30pm); and "Out the Box!" with comedians Stan Stone and Jivoni Jordan (Jan 31, 10pm).

A Doll's House Geary Theater, 415 Geary; 749-2228, www.act-sf.org. $11-68. Opens Wed/14, 8pm. Runs Thurs/15-Sat/17, Jan 21-24, 27-31, and Feb 3-7, 8pm; Sat/17-Sun/18, Jan 21, 24-25, 31, Feb 1, 4, and 7-8, 2pm. Through Feb 7. American Conservatory Theater premieres a new translation of Ibsen's 1879 drama about a suffocated wife and mother who must decide whether or not to take charge of her own destiny.

H.M.S. Pinafore Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 700 Howard; 978-2787, www.lamplighters.org. $25-40 (Wed/14, pay what you can). Wed/14-Sat/17, 8pm (also Sat/17, 2pm); Sun/18, 2pm. Also: Jan 22-24, 8pm (also Jan 23, 2pm); Jan 25, 2pm, Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic, Walnut Creek. $27-42. (925) 943-7469. Lamplighters Musical Theatre performs the Gilbert and Sullivan classic.

Noises Off Marines Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter; 1-877-771-6900. $40-60. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Open-ended. In Michael Frayn's popular comedy, a troupe of third-rate actors rehearse and perform a third-rate play three times. Revolving, like a typical French farce, around a multi-doored set, flying props, and the whirligig antics of a bunch of half-wit characters, this virtuosic piece of meta-theater demands absolute precision from the cast. But that's not all: with repetition being something of an obsession of Frayn's (the plot of his later play, Copenhagen, displays similar Groundhog Day tendencies), the director's challenge is to go beyond the ostinato of the action and sustain the audience's interest through every repetition. Although immaculately choreographed to milk the script's funniest moments, Richard Seyd's production often flags. As energetic as the performances are – Jane Carr is particularly adorable as daffy actress/housekeeper Dotty Otley/Mrs. Clackett – the lack of variety in the pace and pitch of the production sacrifices the subtleties of Frayn's work for a hectic melee of frenzied voices, flailing limbs, and flying sardines. (Veltman)

Talking with Angels Actors Center of San Francisco, 3012 16th St; 389-8975, www.talkingwithangels.com. $17-25. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through March 6. Shelley Mitchell performs her solo play, drawn from the diaries of four young women living in Nazi-occupied Hungary.

*Triptych Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, Marina at Laguna; 441-8822, www.magictheatre.org. $24-38. Extended run: Fri-Sat, 5 and 8:30pm; Sun, 2:30pm. Through Jan 25. On the surface, Irish novelist and playwright Edna O'Brien's Triptych is about three women in love with the same man; the three being his American wife (Julia Brothers), his teenage daughter (Tro M. Shaw), and his Irish mistress (Lise Bruneau). The object of devotion, Henry, is a famous Irish writer-playwright living in New York City, brilliant and suave, with graying temples and expensive shoes. That's what we're told about him, anyway. And as we never see him, there's no reason not to form a picture of the consummate lady-killer. What we do see, in director Paul Whitworth's engaging world premiere presented by the Magic Theatre, unfolds as part domestic drama, part poetical allegory, and part postmodern psychoanalysis. In addition to being darkly passionate, O'Brien's work is playful, and in more than one sense: it's witty, brimming with literary allusion, and, not least, built so as to call into question the very meaning of the play itself. (Avila)

Bay Area

*The Death of Meyerhold Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College, Berk; (510) 704-8210, www.shotgunplayers.org. $10-18. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through Jan 25. Shotgun Players' production of Mark Jackson's Death of Meyerhold is an extravagant and multifaceted examination of the career of the revolutionary Russian theater director Vsevolod Meyerhold. And not least because Meyerhold was a revolutionary in the fullest sense; there's no escaping a contemporary resonance in its fraught mixture of art and political action. The young Meyerhold (Cassidy Brown), an original actor-member of Konstantin Stanislavsky's (Richard Louis James) Moscow Art Theater, soon outgrew the artistic and political limitations of the naturalistic style Stanislavsky was developing. His consequent foray into a more abstract, stylized form of staging and performance took early inspiration from Chekhov (Reid David) as well as the political turmoil surrounding Russia's 1905 revolution. Writer-director Jackson, cofounder of San Francisco's experimental Art Street Theater, moves beyond melodrama and historical biography in tackling his larger-than-life subject, ingeniously putting Meyerhold's radical stage techniques into a stimulating conversation with competing styles and conventions. Even with its occasional lopsidedness, The Death of Meyerhold earns our attention for its consistent intelligence and flashes of brilliance. (Avila)

Dreamgirls San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255 Almaden, San Jose; 1-888-455-SHOW, www.amtsj.org. $44.50-75.50. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 1pm (also Sun/18, 6:30pm). Through Jan 25. Frenchie Davis (American Idol) stars in the Tony-winning musical about a girl group that rises to stardom.

The Last Schwartz Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; (415) 388-5208, www.marintheatre.org. $28-45 (Tues, pay what you can). Tues and Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Jan 22 and 29, 1pm; Sat/17 and Feb 7, 2pm); Wed, 7:30pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Feb 8. Marin Theatre Company performs the West Coast premiere of Deborah Zoe Laufer's poignant comedy about four Jewish siblings who gather to mark the one-year anniversary of their father's death.

dance

'Coital Canvas' ODC Theater, 3153 17th St; 863-9834, www.odctheater.org. Sat, 7 and 9:30pm. $12 (both shows, $20). Dandelion Dancetheater, jazz quartet Patrick Cross' Telepathy, and performance painter Nancy Ostrovsky collaborate on two shows: the first is a lecture-demonstration with each performing individually, followed by a discussion; the second is an avant-garde, cabaret-style performance incorporating the art of all three participants.

'San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival Auditions' McKenna Theater, Creative Arts Bldg, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway; 474-3914, www.worldartswest.org. Sat-Sun, 10am-6pm. Through Jan 25. $5. The upcoming San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival (June 12-27) holds open-to-the-public auditions for troupes performing dances from China, Tahiti, Mexico, India, Korea, and beyond.

Yaelisa y Caminos Flamencos ODC Theater, 3153 17th St; 863-9834, www.odctheater.org. Sun, 7pm. $10-17. The company performs the opening show of its fourth "Cafe Flamenco" season.

Bay Area

Diablo Ballet Zellerbach Hall, Bancroft at Telegraph, UC Berkeley, Berk; (510) 642-9988. Sat, 8pm. $27-32. The company performs a "best of" show featuring Nikolai Kabaniaev's Magic Toy Store, KT Nelson's Petites, and Balanchine's Tarantella pas de deux.

RoCo Marin Veterans' Memorial Auditorium, Avenue of the Flags at Civic Center, San Rafael; (415) 472-3500. Sun, 6:30pm. $13-16. The company presents its annual winter concert, featuring a wide variety of styles performed by more than 300 students of all ages, plus professional dancers.

Ultra Gypsy Dance Company The Crucible, 1260 Seventh St, Oakl; (510) 444-0919, www.thecrucible.org. Fri, 6:30pm, $125; Sat, 7:30pm, $20-25. The belly dance troupe performs – along with members of the San Francisco Opera, American Back Soloists, and others – as part of the Crucible's benefit production of A Fire Opera in Three Acts: Dido and Aeneas, by Henry Purcell.

performance

BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; www.batsimprov.com. $8-12. This week: "Smells Like a Song" (Fri, 8pm); "Rock n' Roll Theatresports" (Sat, 8pm); "Sunday Players: Micetro" (Sun, 8pm).

'Bringing the Noise for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.' Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission; tickets: 978-ARTS, www.yerbabuenaarts.org; information: (415) 255-9035, www.youthspeaks.org. Mon, 7:30pm. $4-10. See 8 Days a Week.

'CAFE Presents' Off-Market Theater (and Studio), 965 Mission; 896-6477, www.cafearts.com. $5-10. This week: "Techno Jam," improv, music, and multimedia performance (Thurs, 8pm, ongoing); poet Lyrikenesis and films by Ezra Chowaki and Rebecca Salzer Dance Theater (Fri, 8pm); Mary Ann Tidwell-Broussard's Mirrors of the Past/Shadows on the Wall, an evening of words, music, and movement (Fri-Sat, 8pm); improv with the Legal Briefs and poetry by Lyrikenesis (Sat, 8pm).

'Circus Head' Spanganga, 3376 19th St; 794-7057. Thurs, 8pm. $7. Satirist Will Franken performs his solo show, featuring absurdist monologues, comedy sketches, and film.

'Flash Family!' Blue Bear Performance Hall, Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, second fl, Marina at Laguna; 885-5678. Sat, 8:30pm. $7-14. The improv theater company performs.

'In Bed with Fairy Butch for Women, Transfolks, and their Pals' Club Galia, 2565 Mission; 339-8000, www.fairybutch.com. Sat, 9:30pm. $10-15. This ongoing "campy, queer, erotic cabaret" features a post-show dance party with music by DJ Atomic Pop.

'Mid-Month Cabaret Variety Night' Center of Variety Arts, 608 Taraval; 242-4433, www.technomaniacircus.com. Sat, 8pm. $8. Performers include Dr. Techno's Traveling Minstrel and Medicine Show Band, strange musical and vaudeville acts, black-light puppetry, and more.

'Poets' Theater Jamboree' Timken Lecture Hall, California College of the Arts, 1111 Eighth St; www.sptraffic.org. Fri, 7:30pm. $10. Small Press Traffic kicks off a series of plays featuring poets as playwrights, directors, producers, and actors; this week's participants include Laynie Browne, kari edwards, Danil Kharms, Rodney Koeneke, John Wieners, Stephanie Young, and others.

David Sedaris First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1187 Franklin; 392-4400, www.cityboxoffice.com. Wed-Tues, 7:30pm. $30. The author and commentator reads from works in progress slated to appear in his upcoming book, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.

'Sex Workers Art Show' Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market; 861-5016, www.cafedunord.com. Mon, 9pm. $7. Sex educator Ducky DooLittle performs burlesque-inspired comedy.

'Shifting the Candles' St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, 500 De Haro; 642-4384. Sat, 8pm. $5. God's Friends, a journal of writing and artwork, hosts this multimedia show by artist and musician Tim Lowly.

'Va Va Voom Room' Plush Room, York Hotel, 940 Sutter; 885-2800, www.vavavoomroom.com. Fri, 10:30pm. Through Feb 27. $20. The New York City-based ensemble performs a burlesque and vaudeville cabaret.

Bay Area

The Garden of Jezebel La Val's Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; (415) 675-5995, www.crowdedfire.org. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Jan 24. $10. Crowded Fire Theater Company performs a workshop production of Peggy Powell's retelling of the tale of Adam and Eve.

Peking Acrobats Marin Veterans' Memorial Auditorium, Avenue of the Flags at Civic Center, San Rafael; (415) 499-6800, www.ticketmaster.com. Sat, 8pm. $18-30. The renowned troupe of tumblers, contortionists, jugglers, gymnasts, and musicians performs.

'PlayGround's Monday Night PlayGround' Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison, Berk; (415) 704-3177, www.playground-sf.org. Mon, 8pm. $6-12. In this series, six brand-new, 10-minute plays written on the same assigned topic are given fully staged readings by pro actors and directors.

comedy

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

Climate Theater 285 Ninth St; 863-1076. Mon, 8pm: "Monday Night Improv Jam," presented by the San Francisco Improv Co-Operative, $5.

Cobb's Comedy Club 915 Columbus; 928-4320, www.cobbscomedy.com. Wed and Tues, 8pm: "All-Pro Comedy Showcase," $7. Thurs, 8pm: "On Your Feet Project Presents Charity Comedy Jam," with Arj Barker, Clark Taylor, Joe Klocek, and others, to benefit the Centre for Living with Dying, $10. Fri-Sat, 8 and 10:15pm: Stuttering John and friends, with Greg Fitzsimmons, Joe Klocek, and Laura House, $20-22.

Edinburgh Castle Pub 950 Geary; 885-4074, www.castlenews.com. Sat, 9pm: "Dark Blue: Possibly, a Night of Scottish Humor," with Irvine Welsh, Alan Black and the Hooligan Tenors, and Amy Itzert; classic Scottish comedy on the big screen; bagpipes; and more, $10.

Java Beach 1396 La Playa; 665-5282. Wed, 8pm: "Doug Ferrari and Friends," stand-up comedy, free.

'S.F. Sketchfest' Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson; and Cobb's Comedy Club, 915 Columbus; 1-866-468-3399, www.sfsketchfest.com. This week at Eureka Theatre: "Emerging Sketch," with the Disclaimers, I Can't Believe It's Not Comedy, Ludlow and Canal, Uphill Both Ways, and host Jaspar Reed (Wed, 8pm, $10); Will Durst and Sequel 4000 (Thurs, 8pm, $15); Will Durst and 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors (Fri, 8pm, $17); Sequel 4000 and Trev and the Rev (Fri, 10:30pm, $17); Killing My Lobster and Trev and the Rev (Sat, 8pm, $17); Killing My Lobster and Brick (Sat, 10:30pm, $17); the Animal Club and Uphill Both Ways (Sun, 8pm, $15). At Cobb's: "SF Sketchfest Tribute: Amy Sedaris in Conversation" (Sun, 2pm, $25).

Uptown 200 Capp; 355-9932. Wed, 8:30pm: "Uptown Comedy Open Mic," with host Eric Peterson, free.

Bay Area

'Oh That Sit Was Funny' Comedy Club 380 Embarcadero West, Jack London Square, Oakl; (510) 228-7038. Thurs, 9pm: Dijon hosts featured performer AJ Jamal, $10.

Rooster T. Feathers Comedy Club 157 W. El Camono Rl, Sunnyvale; (408) 736-0921. Jan 20-25, 8pm (also Jan 23, 24, 10:30pm): "First Annual Women's Comedy Festival," performers vary each night, $10-16.

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. Beanery 2925 College, Berk; (510) 549-9093. "Whole Note Poetry Series," hosted by Jesse Beagle, with featured readers Albert Wolmer and Sparrow13, 7pm, free. Open Secret Bookstore 923 C St, San Rafael; (415) 457-4191. "An Evening of Ecstatic Poetry," with Roger Housden and Kim Rosen and friends, 7pm, $10. Modern Times 888 Valencia, S.F.; (415) 282-9246, www.nomediakings.net. "Perpetual Motion Roadshow," indie press tour with readings by Jack Saturn, Cynthia Gould, and E. Belew, 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. Hotel Cosmo 761 Post, S.F.; www.artworksf.com. "Poetry (and More) at the Cosmo," with hosts Jeanne Powell and Philip T. Nails and featured readers Constance Taylor, Thadra Sheridan, and Shane Hawley, 6pm, free. Oakland Box 1928 Telegraph, Oakl; (510) 451-1932, www.oaklandbox.com, www.oaklandpoetry.net. "Oakland Poetry Slam and Verbal Kre-â'shen," open mic and featured readers, plus slam competition, 8pm, $10.

Friday: Fellowship Hall Cedar at Bonita, Berk; (510) 540-0898. "Fellowship Cafe and Open Mike," with poet and KPFA reporter Dennis Bernstein, 7:30pm, $5-10.

Sunday: Cody's Books 2454 Telegraph, Berk; (510) 845-7852. Eve Wood and Rafaella Del Bourgo read, 7:30pm, $2. Cafe Prague 584 Pacific, S.F.; (415) 433-3811. Mark Schwartz hosts featured reader Jesse Beagle, plus open mic, 4pm, free.

Monday: Priya Indian Cuisine 2072 San Pablo, Berk; berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com. "Poetry Express," with open reading theme night: "OPP: Other Peoples' Poems," 7pm, free.