Playwright Shaleeha G’ntamobi’s new work about an alcoholic black mother and her slick son struggling to get out of the projects is suddenly winning accolades and being embraced by a revered theater festival.
The twist? G’ntamobi isn’t real. She only exists in the mind of gay (and white) playwright Danny Larson, who wanted to give birth to a nom-de-plume that smacked of affirmative action. Read More
Eli, the gay, teenage protagonist in erstwhile local playwright-actor Daniel Talbott’s new drama “Slipping,” onstage at the New Conservatory Theatre Center, is indeed “slipping.” Or, more accurately, he has already slipped — into a morass of masochism followed by cruelty mixed with self-pity and rage. Read More
The Laramie Project: 10 Years LaterThrough April 29. $24-$45. Members of the Tectonic Theatre Project return to the town of Laramie, Wyo., to explore the effects of the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard. [New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness Ave., S.F., (415) 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org]Sugar Read More
Almost one hundred years ago, homosexuality was outlawed in Great Britain. That may have been the impetus for E.M. Forster to pen “Maurice,” a novel he began in 1913 that remained unpublished until after his death in 1971. The stage version is now making its U.S. debut at New Conservatory Theatre Center in The City. The wonderfully crafted “boy loves boy, boy loses boy, boy learns to love” endeavor was something director George Maguire says he “jumped at.” Read More
The number of different characters that San Francisco actor/clown Sara Moore inhabits – and I mean completely channels, right down to the last, telling detail – in her new solo show “Sho Ho” is astounding. You’ve probably never seen a performer take on such a variety of funny, quirky personae and segue so fluidly among them. Read More
“In the beginning there was the word,” intones WM. Hunter in the riveting opening moments of the world premiere of local literary luminary Jewelle Gomez’s new “dream play,” “Waiting for Giovanni” onstage at New Conservatory Theatre Center. Hunter is not only an entrancing actor, but he’s also a startling James Baldwin look-alike and embodies that central character in authentic and impassioned ways. Read More
Human rights issues are not simply cultural and political. They sometimes are fodder for creative works that, in turn, inspire others to make a difference. Read More
Be careful what you wish for. That’s one of the themes you can find floating around “Wish We Were Here,” now in its West Coast debut in The City at the New Conservatory Theatre.The new comedy, written by award-winning playwright and solo performer Michael Phillis, might be one of the more hilarious tales to emerge out of Pride month. Read More
Nature and nurture are opposing forces in Henry Murray’s intriguing but somewhat unsatisfying “Treefall,” now on the Walker stage at New Conservatory Theatre Center. Flynn, August and Craig live together, isolated on a mountaintop in a cinematically post-apocalyptic world where everything is dirty, resources are dwindling and sunlight is lethal. Read More
While not as deliciously convoluted as his previous comedy seen locally, “As Bees in Honey Drown,” Douglas Carter Beane’s “The Little Dog Laughed” is quite funny enough, thank you very much. Read More
