NOVEMBER 2008

DRAMA & IMPROV BY THE BAY

Bayfront Theater, Landmark Building B & Magic Theatre, Landmark Building D

Rushing around during the holiday season can detract from appreciating the finer things in life – like theater. Fortunately, Fort Mason Center’s two powerhouse resident theater organizations have much to offer when it comes to drama and improvisational performance.

BATS Improv carries the torch for spontaneous performance with a full slate of improv formats throughout November. Magic Theatre unveils the second show of its 2008-2009 season during November, too.

A Touch Of Improv
The artists at BATS (Bay Area Theatresports) are ready for anything when it comes to improvisational performance. November promises to be lively at the Bayfront Theater, starting with a spooky Halloween show on Saturday, November 1 with guest improv artists True Fiction Magazine. Inspired by the hard-boiled dialogue and action in 1930s and 1940s pulp fiction novels, True Fiction shows often end up in the noir zone of humor. The show starts at 8:00 p.m. and tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door, and $15 for students and seniors.

The continuing saga of BATS Main Stage Company Theatresports Tournament fills many Fridays and Saturdays in November, culminating in an epic championship bout between the last teams standing on Saturday, November 22. Before that fateful battle, however, fierce conflicts rage between classic theatresports teams such as Mirthquake, Legends of Community Theater, and Sarah Palin and Her Boy Toyz. Shows start at 8:00 p.m. and cost $12 in advance or $15 at the door.

There’s no rest for the improv world on Sundays, when BATS Sunday Players take the stage for a series of anything goes improv free-for-alls at the popular Freestyle Impro shows. Stocked with graduates of BATS Improv School, the Sunday Players are often the freshest, edgiest performers in the field of spontaneous theater. The 7:00 p.m. Sunday night shows are a bargain at $5.00 in advance or $8 at the door. Purchase tickets for all BATS shows online at www.improv.org.

Magic Theatre Presents Evie’s Waltz
High school has never been easy, but recent developments in contemporary violence have really taken their toll on youth struggling through the halls of academia today. Magic Theatre’s second play of the 2008-2009 season, Evie’s Waltz, is a dark, hard-hitting family drama about what goes down when a couple’s son gets expelled for bringing a gun to school. Magic’s new Artistic Director Loretta Greco directs this compelling production.

Written by acclaimed playwright Carter W. Lewis, Evie’s Waltz warps in an unexpected direction when the exiled student’s girlfriend appears at a backyard barbeque. Disturbing situations develop as the gathering swiftly morphs into a pivotal game of cat and mouse. The blurred boundaries between daydreams and nightmares leave all of the characters scrambling for salvation as the stakes increase with every plot twist.

Take some time out of your busy pre-holiday schedule to sit down and watch great theater anytime in November. Magic’s preview week for Evie’s Waltz is November 8–14, 8:00 p.m. Wednesday–Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, when tickets are only $25. The regular run of the play from November 16 through December 7 offers 8:00 p.m. shows Wednesday through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets cost $40 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights and $45 on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday matinees. Seniors and students save $5 off regular ticket prices. Buy tickets online at www.magictheatre.org or call the box office at (415) 441-8822.

Images:
BATS Improv: A Touch Of Improv

Magic Theatre: Evie’s Waltz