“Festival in the Neighborhoods” | Free Theater at Five Venues

Submitted by the Event Organizer

For the first time ever, the San Francisco Theater Festival will be producing shows on the evening before our Sunday festival.  We will be moving outside of our homebase in the Yerba Buena Gardens arts complex to five venues in five different San Francisco neighborhoods on Saturday August 7th with most beginning at 7:30p.  Several of our Sunday participants as well as many who will be performing only on Saturday night are scheduled to perfrom in the Mission, the Castro, the Tenderloin, Mission Dolores and on Nob Hill.

The Mission:

The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts – 2868 Mission Street

This exciting night of theater starts at the BART station at the corner of 24th & Mission Streets with a humorous and touching performance by La Pandilla de Zancadilla.  An amazing group of drums and stiltwalkers led by Ricardo Ochoa will then pick up the party and walk it down Mission Street to the Mission Cultural Center where the indoor performances will continue the evening’s festivities.  The indoor performances will include artists from Mexico, local Latino artists and other performers participating in this year’s Sunday schedule of Festival shows.

• La Pandilla de Zancadilla – (from Mexico) A Chance Encounter : While there’s life there will be laughter
• Caila Lipovsky – Real Life Meditation–with Shakti Divine Wellspring : An audacious ceremonial guided journey.
• Thomas John – Thomas John : Comedy.  Juggling.  Masks, Machetes,  Machismo.
• Sin Luna – (from Mexico) Super Slow Raiders : A piece about being a Northern Mexican, a Chukochinochaka
• Hector Zavala – Illegal Tint : Where do we draw THE LINE?
• Joel Medina – (from Mexico) LadoaLado : A look at how the rest of the world sees the border
• Susan Sobeloff – Mermaidology : Women on a quest for mermaids; mermaids on a quest for home.

San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department – Corner of Collingwood & 18th Streets

Hosted by San Francisco Free Civic Theatre this venue will feature a wild mix of shows: An improv group, a Spanish language performance featuring projected subtitles, a solo artist, the queer-themed play lost.found, and our hosts will perform an excerpt from an O. Henry play.

North of Market – Tenderloin Community Benefit District – 134 Golden Gate Avenue

This 50 seat theatre is inside the Community Center established by the North of Market/Tenderloin – Community Benefit District.  The NMT CBD is a wonderful organization formed in 2004 to improve and vitalize this unique district in the heart of  San Francisco.  As with the venues in the Mission and the Castro districts, we’ve continued to create a wonderful night of theater by scheduling a wide variety of performance themes and types in this one venue.  The many varied shows include the classic Amiri Baraka play Dutchman performed by the resident theatre company San Francisco Recovery Theatre as well as other performances to make you laugh, cry and sigh with delight.

Nob Hill:

Cafe-Royale – 800 Post Street

This wonderful coffee & tea house and beer & wine bar is a great supporter of local artists hosting performers most evenings throughout each month. Their support of the arts has kindly extended to us this year. You’ll be able to sit on the ground floor of the cafe on a red velvet cushioned sofa or up in the balcony and while watching five of our fantastic solo performers and one fun duo.

• Zahra Noorbakhsh – All Atheists Are Muslim : Physics, a pre-pre-wedding, and a sacrificial lamb.
• Angela Neff – Picnics at the Asylum :  A humorous, and heart-breakingly profound story of the impact of madness.
• Mia Paschal – The Slaughterhouse Trapeze :  She thought death was just another one night stand….
• Kimberly Peterson – A Woman Grows in Brooklyn : A California girl’s  musical about life and love in New York
• Paolo Sambrano – “Bi-Poseur” : Paolo knows he’s going to die.
• Wegent & Page – Wegent & Page give it another try : Real life couple/comedy team!

Mission Dolores:

Martuni’s – 4 Valencia Street

This wonderful piano bar and “perfect place to go after the theatre” will be hosting four dynamic festival performances as part of our Festival in the Neighborhoods.  Performances at Martuni’s will begin at 6pm!

• Mercedes Segesvary – Comedienne Mercedes Segesvary : Improving San Francisco one laugh at a time!
• Planet Booty – Planet Booty : A ridiculous, high energy, space funk extravaganza.
• SF Recovery Theatre – Night at the Blackhawk : Life on the street for musicians, artists and residents of the Tenderloin.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.