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

Bourgeois at Venue 9 Venue 9, 252 Ninth St; 885-4006, www.bourgeois.homestead.com. $10. Opens Wed/5, 8pm. Runs Wed, 8pm. Through May 26. This evening of shared performance features choreographer Joe Landini's 4 Stories and Trauma Flintstone's drag cabaret Femmisphere: Songs in the Key of Angst, with special guest Tom Orr.

The Brute and A Marriage Proposal San Francisco Performing Arts Library, 401 Van Ness; 248-9371. $15 (Thurs, pay what you can). Opens Thurs/6, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through May 29. Pocket Chekhov performs two one-act farces by the Russian playwright.*Don't Make Me Look Too Psychotic Marsh (upstairs), 1074 Valencia; 826-5750, www.toopsychotic.net. $14-17 (sliding scale). Opens Fri/7, 9pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 9pm. Through May 29. Violently unhealthy relationships are the driving force behind Bruce Pachtman's hilarious solo show, which he developed after dating a particularly incendiary woman. Psychotic – which enjoyed a 68-week local run after premiering in 2000 and is now back for a brief revival run – is gut-bustingly funny, which is no small feat considering the seriousness of the material. (Joshua Medsker)

Dr. Techno's Traveling Vaudeville Medicine Show Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 242-4433. $12-17. Opens Wed/5, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Fri-Sat, 10pm); Sun, 6pm. Through May 23. Circus acts, black-light theater, and original music highlight this all-ages show.

Hungry Like the Monkey Venue 9, 252 Ninth St; www.drunkenmonkeycomedy.com. $15. Opens Fri/7, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through May 22. Improv and sketch comedy group Drunken Monkey performs its latest show.

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change Marines Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter; 1-877-771-6900, www.tickets.com. $40-55 (previews, $35). Previews Fri/7 and Mon/10, 8pm; Sat/8, 5 and 9pm; Sun/9, 2 and 7pm. Opens Tues/11, 8pm. Runs Tues-Fri, 8pm (no show May 12); Sat, 5 and 9pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through June 6. An off-Broadway hit, Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Robert's musical comedy takes on dating and other aspects of modern relationships.

'A Pinter/Albee Duet' Theatre Rhinoceros, 2926 16th St; 861-5079, www.therhino.org. $15-30 (previews, pay what you can). Previews Thurs/6-Fri/7, 8pm. Opens Sat/8, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through May 30. Theatre Rhinoceros presents a pair of one-act plays: The Collection, by Harold Pinter, and The Zoo Story, by Edward Albee.

Southern Baptist Sissies New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $18-28 (opening night, $38). Previews Wed/5-Sat/8 and May 12-14, 8pm; Sun/9, 2pm. Opens May 15, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; starting May 23, also runs Sun, 2pm. Through July 11. New Conservatory Theatre Center performs Del Shores's comedy-drama about four Texas gay men raised in the Baptist church.

Bay Area

Martha Stewart in Hell APE Space, 2525 Eighth St, Berk; hypedrama@aol.com. Free. Opens Sun/9, 7pm. Runs June 13 and every second Sunday of 2004 (except in July), 7pm. Through Dec 12. Acme Players Ensemble performs a monthly serial comedy about the rise and fall of Martha Stewart.

Oh My Goddess Oakland Box Theater, 1928 Telegraph, Oakl; (510) 451-1932, www.oaklandbox.com. $11-15. Opens Wed/5, 8pm. Runs Wed, 8pm. Through May 26. Sherry Glaser revives her multicharacter solo show.

Ongoing

After the Fall Actors Theatre of San Francisco, 533 Sutter; 296-9179, www.actorstheatresf.org. $5-20. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through May 22. Actors Theatre presents Arthur Miller's highly autobiographical play, set inside the mind of Quentin (Christian Phillips), a lawyer in midlife existential crisis, wrestling with personal and political disillusionment. Facing the audience, Quentin addresses an unseen friend about his tribulations. Memories trigger the appearance of various characters and scenes in a nondescript mental landscape where the only permanent feature seems to be Quentin's (or Miller's) towering ego. Despite some able performances, directors Keith Phillips and Kenneth Vandenberg's relentless on-again, off-again blocking hints at the main defect here, namely that the long-standing relationships presented only rarely appear plausible. (Avila)

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.

'BATS Improv Long-Form Festival' Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center, Bldg B, third fl, Marina at Laguna; 474-8935, www.improv.org. $12-15. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through May 29. BATS Improv hosts its second annual festival of long-form improvisational theater. This week: "The Swashbuckler" (Fri) and "Special Guest: True Fiction Magazine" (Sat).

*The Cabaret Girl Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson; 978-2787, www.42ndStMoon.org. $17-30. Thurs-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 7pm (also Sat/8, 1pm); Sun, 3pm; May 12, 7pm. Through May 16. P.G. Wodehouse's long-standing obsession with the English class system finds a playful Jeeves and Wooster-style outlet in The Cabaret Girl, a 1922 musical comedy combining the author's daffy wit with Jerome Kern's toe-tapping tunes. Set against the backdrop of a London music publishing emporium run by Gripps and Gravvins, a couple of curmudgeonly old stooges, toffy-nosed aristos pop in for catchy tunes to play on the parlor pianoforte while working-class vaudeville types make the audition rounds hoping to pick up work. Despite the cartoonish cast of characters and a decidedly silly plot in which, among other things, a rabble of lowly performers descend on the twee Hertfordshire village of Woollam-Chersey to stage an elaborate cover-up for a clandestine marriage, 42nd Street Moon's fun-loving production is anything but anachronistic. Accompanied by skillfully arranged piano, violin and winds, euphoric performances by the entire ensemble make Wodehouse and Kern's 82-year-old teaser feel like it was penned yesterday. (Veltman)

*Cabaret Rebel Exit Theatre Cafe, 156 Eddy; 751-5922, www.sffringe.org. $12-20. Fri/7-Sat/8, 8:30pm. Art Street Theater presents cofounder Beth Wilmurt's outré cabaret, a reprise of the widely hailed performance piece she conceived for Exit Theatre's 2003 DIVA Fest. Wryly off-kilter but never off-key, the show begins with a faintly frazzled songstress, in jeans and T-shirt, unhitching her backpack and attempting what she readily acknowledges is the necessary stage banter, before sailing off into an eclectic 60-minute set that runs the gamut from Rodgers and Hart to Nick Lowe (with a liberal, leavening dose of Harry Nilsson thrown in for several good measures). Accompanied by the versatile David Malloy (piano, accordion) and David Babich (percussion, guitar, clarinet) – with additional piano accompaniment by Natalie Grant-Villegas – Wilmurt imbues her clear, competent voice with a range of dramatic color and musical nuance. (Avila)

'Comedy on the Square' Shelton Theatre, 533 Sutter; 522-8900. Most shows $15. Upcoming performances include Oakland Playhouse Improv Troupe (Fri, 10pm, through May 28); "A Celebration of Silliness," with Fred Anderson (Sun, 3 and 7pm, ongoing); "Bush Bash 2004," political comedy show (Sun/9, 8:30pm); "Comedy Showcase," (May 16, 8:30pm); "Strange and Treacherous Comedy," with Jason McPherson (May 23 and 30, 8:30pm).

Dirty Blonde New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $18-28. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through June 26. The New Conservatory Theatre Center performs Claudia Shear's romantic comedy about two New York loners who bond over their Mae West obsession.

Disney's The Lion King Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market; 512-7770, 356-LION, www.bestofbroadway-sf.com. $26-82. Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Sat and June 23, 25, 28, and 30, 2pm); Sun, 1 and 6:30pm (no shows June 27 and July 4). Through Sept 5. Apparently director and designer Julie Taymor didn't win those Tonys for nothing. The Bay Area premiere of her staged interpretation of Disney's The Lion King, courtesy of Best of Broadway, works so well you're liable to forgive the residual Disney that clings to this singular spectacle. The plot – a lion cub grows up in exile until he can assume his rightful place on the usurped throne of his late father – must be familiar to nearly everyone by now; the characters are the stock ones recycled by Disney. They're animated, however, by a superb cast. (Avila)

*Dybbuk Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida; 285-8080, www.atjt.com. $18-30. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through May 23. (Also May 27-29, 8pm; May 30, 2 and 7pm, Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College, Berk.) Among the wandering spirits of the unhappy dead, Jewish folklore calls the one who possesses the body of a living person a dybbuk. Traveling Jewish Theater closes its 25th-anniversary season with a captivating revival of Bruce Myers's 1977 adaptation of the internationally prized ghost story by S. Ansky. A young wife (Karine Koret), beginning what becomes a deceptively straightforward layering of tales, tries to assuage the existential qualms of her husband (Keith Davis) by telling him the story of a religious scholar who challenges all orthodoxy with dreams of ultimate knowledge and power. By turns romantic, funny, wise, creepy, and haunting, the play makes use of an exquisitely distilled theatrical lexicon (set off gloriously in David Robertson's stark lighting design), wherein the actors' nimble transformations into a succession of characters subtly overlaps with the transfiguration and immateriality of the theme. In the sure hands of director and TJT cofounder Corey Fischer – veteran of the play's New York City premiere as well as two previous TJT productions – Dybbuk's marvelously pure theatricality, its synthesis of modern and traditional forms, marks the company's milestone with a fitting illumination of the very nature and import of storytelling. (Avila)

Eubie! The Music of Eubie Blake Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 620 Sutter; 474-8800, www.ticketweb.com. $25-32. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through May 16. The Lorraine Hansberry Theater closes its season with a revival of the 1978 Broadway review, a celebration of the music of American composer and musical pioneer Eubie Blake (1883-1983). In the course of a momentous century, Blake, the son of former slaves, became part of the African American struggle against racial inequality as the composer who, together with lyricist and vaudeville partner Noble Sissle, helped bring the first African American musical to Broadway in 1921. After the ground-breaking Shuffle Along, Blake continued for decades to shape a wonderful slice of American musical theater history as both a producer and a composer of more than 300 songs, including the irresistible "I'm Just Wild about Harry." A talented and charming seven-member cast, under the direction of Stanley E. Williams and director-choreographer Danny Duncan, brings two dozen of these songs to life, in a catchy and alluring program whose mix of blues, ragtime, and gospel themes comes backed by a boisterous four-piece band. (Avila)

Hairspray Golden Gate Theatre, One Taylor; 512-7770, www.ticketmaster.com. $39-81. Opens Wed/5, 8pm. Runs Thurs/6-Sat/8, 8pm (also Thurs/6 and Sat/8, 2pm); Sun/9, 2pm. Starting Tues/11, runs Tues-Sat, 8pm (also Wed and Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through June 20. Starting June 21, runs Mon-Sat, 8pm (also Wed and Sat, 2pm). Through July 3. The touring version of the popular Broadway hit, based on the John Waters movie about a dance-crazed teen in 1960s Baltimore, stars Bruce Vilanch as Edna Turnblad.

'The Hot House: Three New Plays in Rep' Magic Theatre, Northside Theater, Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, Marina at Laguna; 441-8822, www.magictheatre.org. $20-38 (three-play pass, $72). Through June 20. Magic Theatre presents three world premiere plays, performed in rotating repertory (check Web site for schedule): Steven R. Culp's Thirteen Hallucinations of Julio Rivera, Stephen Belber's Drifting Elegant, and Cassandra Medley's Relativity. See "Mixed Magic."

*Not a Genuine Black Man Marsh, 1062 Valencia; 641-0235. $15-22. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through May 15. What, asks the unapologetically middle-class Brian Copeland, is the real meaning behind the phrase, "a genuine black man"? By way of an answer, the stand-up comic and KGO radio host offers up a simultaneously funny and disarmingly frank story about growing up African American in the racist suburb that was San Leandro in the early 1970s. Developed in collaboration with director David Ford, Copeland's first solo show relates how his mother moved him, his sisters, and his grandmother away from Birmingham, Ala., and his abusive father, only to find they were personae non grata in their new Bay Area community. Letting his narrative bounce back and forth between his boyhood memories and a period of depression that overtook him as a parent in 1999 – and interlarding the autobiography with verbatim utterances from both sides of the fight his family joined to desegregate the city – Copeland brings admirable chops as a comedian to bear on some difficult and disturbing, if ultimately hopeful, material. The clash between the two can occasionally be jarring, but this well-crafted and engaging piece leaves no doubt that the particular confusion and tension over belonging that it confronts is, above all, a genuinely American story. (Avila)

'San Francisco Improv Festival' Next Stage, 1620 Gough; and Climate Theatre, 285 Ninth St; (415) 863-1076, www.sfimprovfestival.com. $15. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through June 26. This week, the Climate Theatre hosts improvisational movies by Bare Witness Productions.

Slaughter City Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy; 675-5995. www.crowdedfire.org. $15-20. Thurs/6-Sat/8, 8pm. On the processing line of a Kentucky slaughterhouse, three workers – Maggot (Ellen Scarpaci), Roach (Mollena Williams), and Brandon (John Atwood) – jab and cut away in unison at a steady stream of carcasses. They pass the time talking in their own playful, salacious way: language is a weapon at their side sharper than any blade. In such daily drudgery – where a worker has more in common with the cow than with management – it's a whole other dance that unfolds. There's a nice precision to Naomi Wallace's choice of setting for Slaughter City – the killing floor of economic necessity and greed. And her somewhat diffuse but darkly lyrical, passionately revolutionary play receives a timely and intelligent treatment from Crowded Fire Theater Company in this West Coast premiere. (Avila)

*The Smell of the Kill Playhouse, 536 Sutter; 677-9596, www.sfplayhouse.org. $30. Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through May 15. Three suburban housewives (Stacy Ross, Zehra Berkman, and Susi Damilano) confer in a remodeled kitchen, while their drunken husbands run childishly amok in another room. In the course of some catty posturing – interlarded with intercom faux pas – they slowly unveil their miserable married lives to one another. When they discover their loveless husbands have trapped themselves in with the frozen deer and rabbit meat downstairs, they have a moral dilemma ahead of them. New York playwright Michelle Lowe's black comedy trades on some pretty hoary stereotypes about men as beer-soaked, sports-obsessed savages with hunting rifles and walk-in meat lockers, gross generalizations that will no doubt continue to plague us until men stop behaving like sports-obsessed savages with guns and walk-in meat lockers. In the meantime, three terrific comic turns and good stage chemistry turn a mildly enjoyable script into a very funny and entertaining California premiere, expertly guided by SF Playhouse artistic director Bill English. And we have no problem hanging out the whole time in English's elegantly constructed set either, a seriously swank and colorful art deco success story unto itself. (Avila)

*Strange Travel Suggestions Marsh, 1062 Valencia; 826-5750. $15-22 (May 12, $25-50). Wed, 8pm. Through May 26. This vicarious journey with affable and offbeat travel writer Jeff Greenwald (Shopping for Buddhas; The Size of the World) offers inspiration to the globe-trotter within. A detailed plot summary is hard to give; like the open-minded traveler he is, Greenwald's show obeys Fortune's Wheel (this particular version appealingly reinvented by Jim Kelly and artist Mark Wagner). Funny, keen-eyed, utterly engaging tales surface strictly by association with any of 30 ideograms lining the wheel, given a throw by a random audience member, as Greenwald's thoughtful, well-crafted storytelling belies (along with Holly Johnston's alert lighting work) the easy spontaneity of the evening. Wherever it leads, it adds up to quite a trip. (Avila)

Stretchmarks: Growing into Motherhood Phoenix Theatre, sixth fl, 414 Mason; 289-2289, www.primamommas.com. $20-22. Thurs/6-Sat/8, 8pm; Sun/9, 1pm. The Primamommas presents a return engagement of its show about new mothers.

The Sweet New Exit Stage Left, 156 Eddy; 648-3091, doverdprod@earthlink.net. $15-20. Thurs/6-Sat/8, 8 p.m. Destiny Over Duration presents Raymond Rea's play about three generations of an Italian American family.

Talking with Angels Actors Center of San Francisco, 3012 16th St; 389-8975, www.talkingwithangels.com. $17-25. Extended run: Fri/7-Sat/8, 8pm. Shelley Mitchell performs her solo play, drawn from the diaries of four young women living in Nazi-occupied Hungary.

A Transylvanian in Silicon Valley Actors Theatre of San Francisco, 533 Sutter; 820-3929, 1-866-468-3399, www.atransylvanian.com. $10-24. Fri-Sat, 8pm; starting May 20, runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through June 19. Silvian Centiu performs his solo comedy about his unusual life in Romania and America.

*Uncle Jacques' Symphony Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna; 441-8822. $25. Wed-Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 3pm. Through May 16. See "Mixed Magic."

Va Va Voom Room Plush Room, York Hotel, 940 Sutter; 885-2800, www.vavavoomroom.com. $20-25. Fri-Sat, 11pm (also Sat, 8pm). Open-ended. The New York City-based ensemble performs a burlesque and vaudeville cabaret.

*Valparaiso Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor; 1-866-GOT-FURY, www.foolsfury.org. $15-25 (sliding scale; Thurs/6, pay what you can). Thurs/6-Sat/8, 8pm. No American writer limns the metaphysics of this runaway technological age quite like the author of White Noise and Underworld. Valparaiso, Don DeLillo's second play, which premiered in 1999, continues his research into the chaos and dissociation, the gathering apocalypse, attendant on the "systems" that support the illusory landscape of the mundane. And foolsFURY artistic director Ben Yalom and his cast seem genuinely if fitfully inspired by the material. With a physical rigor and nervy humor all their own, they bring to DeLillo's sardonic interrogation of the postmodern self a series of animated performances, grounded in an imaginatively stylized form of physical theater that at times gives striking visual shape to the play's central tensions. (Avila)

Bay Area

Antigone Falun Gong Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org. $34-36. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through May 16. The Aurora Theatre Company presents local playwright Cherylene Lee's world premiere adaptation of Sophocles' classic tragedy. In modern-day China, a strong-willed woman identified only by the letter A defies the orders of her uncle, the governor, by practicing the forbidden Falun Gong exercises in a public square. Her fearful sister attempts to dissuade her, and her fiancé (the governor's son) tries to win her over with love. But as in Sophocles' original, personal conviction on the part of A and a fierce devotion to her brother (who may have been murdered by the state for his own Falun Gong practice) lead to tragedy when pitted against state power. The dialogue plods a bit through the first half, but the stellar cast remains eminently watchable. (Shalson)

Money and Run La Val's Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid, Berk; (510) 464-4468, www.impacttheatre.com. $10-15. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through June 5. Impact Theatre performs Wayne Rawley's three-episode send-up of TV action-adventure shows, presented each week in consecutive order (Thurs, Episode One; Fri, Episode Two; Sat, Episode Three).

*Mooi Street Moves Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, Berk; (510) 436-5085, www.theatrefirst.com. $18-22. Extended run: Thurs/6-Sat/8, 8pm; Sun/9, 3pm. With renowned South African playwright Paul Slabolepszy's Mooi Street Moves, a one-act post-apartheid duet, TheatreFIRST artistic director Clive Chafer introduces Bay Area audiences to another well-wrought drama from the greater English-speaking world. This contemporary urban tale, engagingly presented and buoyed by an understated humor, takes place in a once affluent and segregated district of Johannesburg now transformed by the fall of apartheid into an inner-city hodgepodge marked by poverty and crime. Henry Stone (Joseph Foss), a naive white bumpkin, meets Stix Letsebe (David Skillman), a streetwise black man who teaches Henry the rules of life on the lively Mooi Street. The play has its melodramatic and sentimental side, but Skillman and Foss fix our attention immediately and hold it to the end. (Avila)

*The Mystery of Irma Vep Berkeley Rep's Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org. $43-55. Tues and Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Thurs/6, May 15, and 20, 2pm); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm). Through May 23. Berkeley Rep's revival of Charles Ludlam's gothic horror spoof pops out after all these 20 years like the entombed mummy in the second act – just as fresh as a daisy. At Mandercrest, Lord Edgar Hillcrest (Erik Steele) has brought home his new bride, Lady Enid (Arnie Burton), but his dead first wife still haunts him, overshadowing any postnuptial bliss. Enid learns the tragic tale from the dyspeptic housekeeper, Jane Twisden (Steele), as well as about the curse of the wolf, somehow unnaturally associated with Lord Edgar's peg-legged manservant Nicodemus (Burton) ... you get the idea. Director Les Waters's razor-sharp staging and Annie Smart's lovingly detailed costume and set design give full play to two virtuoso quick-change performances by Burton and Steele. (Avila)

The Sisters Rosensweig Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 649-5999, www.aeofberkeley.org. $10. Fri-Sat and May 13, 8pm. Through May 15. Actors Ensemble of Berkeley performs the Wendy Wasserstein comedy.

dance

Galumpha Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida; 392-4400, www.cityboxoffice.com. Opens Fri/7, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through May 30. $15-25. See 8 Days a Week.

June Watanabe in Company Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission; 978-2787, www.junewatanabeincompany.com. Wed-Thurs, 8pm. $20-25. See 8 Days a Week.

Robert Moses' Kin Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, Kanbar Hall, 3200 California; 292-1233, www.jccsf.org. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. $18-26. The company presents the world premiere of three new works, including collaborations with Youth Speaks and the Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble.

'Sagamam (Confluence)' ODC Theater, 3153 17th St; 863-9834, www.lasya.org. Sun, 2pm. $15-20. This performance features classical Indian dance styles, including Odissi and Bharatanatyam.

San Francisco Ballet War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness; 865-2000, www.sfballet.org. Wed, 7:30pm; Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. $8-132. SFB performs the world premiere of Mark Morris's full-length Sylvia. See "Unerring Eros."

Smuin Ballet Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theatre, 700 Howard; 978-2787, www.smuinballet.org. Wed-Sat and Tues/11, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun/9, 2pm; May 16, 3:30pm (anniversary gala). Through May 16. $43-55 (Wed, pay what you can; gala, $50-250). Using live dance and film clips, the company presents its 10th-anniversary retrospective.

Stephen Pelton Dance Theater Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St; 273-4633. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. $15-20. The company presents a new evening-length work, September for Sale.

Bay Area

Diablo Ballet Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic, Walnut Creek; (925) 943-SHOW. Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm). $26-38. The company closes its season with a revival of Nikolai Kabaniaev's Carmen, as well as Victor Kabaniaev's world premiere Opus for a Table.

Nina Haft and Company Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont, Oakl; (510) 595-8388. Sat, 4pm. Free. The company performs the site-specific Mountain Views: Still/life with Dancing, featuring a cast of 38 dancers and musicians.

performance

'CAFE Presents' Off-Market Theater (and Studio), 965 Mission; 896-6477, www.cafearts.com. $8-15. This week: "Improv Revolution" (Thurs, 8pm); "Evil Dead: Live!" (Thurs-Fri, 8pm); "The Howard Stone Show" (Fri, 10pm, through May 28).

'Child of War' SomArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan; 353-5732, www.asianimprov.com. Fri, 8pm. $12. See 8 Days a Week.

'Continental Drift' SomArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan; 353-5732, www.asianimprov.com. Thurs, 8pm. $12. Poet Arlene Biala performs in collaboration with musician Jimmy Biala and his ensemble, Search 5; samba troupe SambAsia also performs.

'An Evening with Paul Krassner' Marsh, 1062 Valencia; 826-5750. Sun, 8pm. $15. The satirist riffs on the presidential campaign, Michael Jackson's legal troubles, and other current events.

'Fauxgirls!' Marlena's, 488 Hayes; 864-6672. Sat, 10pm. Free. Victoria Secret and Alexandria host a drag cabaret.

Flash Family Blue Bear Performance Hall, Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, second fl, Marina at Laguna; 863-9500. Sat, 8:30pm. $7-14. The improv theater company performs.

'Songs of the Scarlet Temple' Lodge at Regency Center, 1290 Sutter; 581-0005, 902-4176, benefit.kintera.org/cabaret. Sat, 8pm. $25 (VIP reception, $75). Chanteuse Veronica Klaus performs with special guests at this benefit for Equality California/Marriage Equality California.

'The Lady with the Torch' Plush Room, York Hotel, 940 Sutter; 885-2800, www.plushroom.com. Tues-Fri, 8pm (also Fri, 10:30pm; no show May 21); Sat, 7 and 10pm (no show May 22); Sun, 3pm (no show May 23). Through May 30. $55. Patti LuPone performs in her Bay Area cabaret debut.

'Performance Showcase 2004' St. Aidan's Episcopal Church, 101 Gold Mine; 584-3526. $18-22. The new venue debuts with three weeks of performances. This week: "Opening Night," with theater, jazz, and dance (Fri, 8pm); spoken word with Charlie Varon, Wayne Harris, Ron Jones, and Mark McGoldrick (Sat, 8pm); and opera and musical selections (Sun, 3pm).

'Women in Jewish Theater' Fisher Family Hall, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California; 292-1233. Wed, 7:30pm. $10-12. This week's selection in this series of staged readings is Kendra Falconi's One That Got Away, about a girl's investigation into her Jewish identity.

'The Yard Dogs Road Show' 12 Galaxies, 2565 Mission; 970-9777, www.12galaxies.com. Fri, 9pm. $8. The traveling performers present their mix of "saloon vaudeville and noir burlesque."

Bay Area

'INsight' McClymonds High School Auditorium, 2607 Myrtle, Oakl; (510) 597-1619. Fri-Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 3pm. $6-12. Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company presents its newest full-length production.

'Showtime at the Apollo on Tour' Zellerbach Hall, Bancroft at Telegraph, UC Berkeley, Berk; (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. Sat, 8pm. $20-42. The legendary amateur showcase comes to town, featuring finalists culled from Bay Area auditions.

comedy

Climate Theatre 285 Ninth St; 863-1076. Mon, 8pm: "Monday Night Improv Jam," presented by the San Francisco Improv Co-Operative, $5. Tues, 8pm: "Tuesday Night Improv Special: Night of 1000 Games," short-form improv jam, $5.

Cobb's Comedy Club 915 Columbus; 928-4320, www.cobbscomedy.com. Wed, 8pm: "All-Pro Comedy Showcase," $7. Fri-Sat, 8 and 10:15pm: Cedric the Entertainer with J.J., $40.

Dark Room 2263 Mission; 401-7987. Sat, 10pm: "Ha Bloody Ha," live talk show with Harmon Leon, $5-10. Through May 29.

Mock Cafe 1074 Valencia; noychromosome@yahoo.com. Fri, 9pm: "No 'Y' Chromosome Comedy Showcase," $7.

Purple Onion 140 Columbus; 956-1653, www.purpleonioncomedy.com. Wed, 9pm: Warren Thomas and friends, $6.

San Francisco Comedy Club 50 Mason; 505-4995. Sat, 7:30pm: stand-up comedy, $7.

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

Uptown 200 Capp; 206-9997. Wed, 8:30pm: "Uptown Comedy Open Mic," hosted by Eric Peterson, free. Through June 9.

Bay Area

La Peña Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 849-2568. Fri, 8pm: "Sia Amma's International Comedy Showcase," benefit for abused women, $8-10.

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, SF; (415) 440-5530. "Spoken Word Salon," with host Diamond Dave Whitaker, 8pm, free. Canvas Cafe 1200 Ninth Ave, SF; (415) 504-0060, mike@westcoastvideo.net. "Open Mic Talent Showcase," 7:30pm, free. Unit 3 All Purpose Rm 2400 Durant, UC Berkeley, Berk; (510) 642-2743. "Poetry for the People," reading with Mohja Kahf, 3:15pm, free.

Thursday: Mediterranean Cafe 2475 Telegraph, Berk; (510) 526-5985. "Word Beat Reading Series," featuring Très Santos, followed by open mic, 7pm, free. Hotel Cosmo 761 Post, SF; www.artworksf.com. "Poetry (and More) at the Cosmo;" this week, journal release party for Caveat Lector, 6pm, $3. 16th Street/Mission BART Plaza 16th St at Mission, SF; (415) 255-9881. "CAI Street Arts Workshop," open mic, 8:30pm, free. Morrison Library Doe Library, UC Berkeley, Berk; (510) 642-0137. "Lunch Poems Reading Series" hosts its annual student reading, 12:10pm, free.

Saturday: Koret Auditorium San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin, SF; (415) 512-8812. Center for Art in Translation presents a reading from the "Poetry Inside Out" program (featuring students in second through eighth grades), as well as a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Pablo Neruda's birth, 2pm, free.

Sunday: Cody's Books 2454 Telegraph, Berk; (510) 845-7852. "Poetry Flash," with D.A. Powell and Mark Bibbins, 7:30pm, $2.

Cafe Prague 584 Pacific, SF; (415) 433-3811. Mark Schwartz hosts featured reader Constance Taylor, plus open mic, 4pm, free. La Peña Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck, Berk; (510) 849-2568. Reading and celebration for Maganda magazine, 5pm, $7-10. Takara Sake Factory 708 Addison, Berk; (415) 512-8812. Center for Art in Translation presents a Japanese-English reading in celebration of sake by Ian MacDonald, 3pm, free. Change Makers Bookstore 6536 Telegraph, Oakl; (510) 655-2405. "Mothers Remembered," poetry and prose reading in celebration of Mother's Day, plus open mic, 2pm, free.

Monday: Priya Indian Cuisine 2072 San Pablo, Berk; berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com. "Poetry Express," open mic hosted by Mark States; this week, featured reader Christina Hutchins, 7pm, free. Rockin Java Cafe 1821 Haight, SF; (415) 440-5530. "Open Mike Spoken Word Singing Word," hosted by Diamond Dave Whitaker, 7:30pm, free. Canvas Gallery 1200 Ninth Ave, SF; (415) 504-0060. "Left Coast Writers: An Evening of Soul, Spirit, and Scansion," with Chun Yu, Elizabeth Weaver, Ann Garret, and Eva Schlesinger, 7pm, free.