OUR 2007-2008 Season

APRIL 16, 2007 —Bill English, Artistic Director of The SF Playhouse, announced plans today to present six new productions as part of the fifth season from the award-winning SF Playhouse. Following in the eclectic style of previous seasons, the shows selected for the 2007-2008 season feature comedies, dramas, a musical, and both a West Coast premiere and a World premiere.

Multi-Award-winning theatre to present

“The theme of the new season will be ‘Connections’,” remarked English, “We want to look at how we connect to each other, to ourselves and to the community around us. In the world today, we tend to retreat to a little splinter group, a cubicle, or a narrow circle of friends.  We want to break those boundaries down using the power of live, intimate theatre.  I hope these six great shows help to explore and forge new connections, not just between actors and audience, but to break down the rituals that keep us from connecting in our lives

English will launch the season by directing John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation, a cautionary tale that reminds us that all humans are connected across race, generation, and time. English plans to open up the SF Playhouse to an “in the round” staging and double and triple cast to further underscore the connectedness in the circle of humanity.

For the holidays, SF Playhouse will play host to Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge.  This zany Christopher Durang play turns Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol on its ear, systematically and hilariously deconstructing the turgid holiday rituals that stand in the way of true connections. Joy Carlin, a veteran of countless Christmas Carols at ACT will bring her vast experience to this affectionate send-up of the Dickens masterpiece. 

Theresa Rebeck's The Scene, a thoroughly modern, sharply written black comedy, was the scene-stealer at the 2006 Humana Theater Festival. It is full of people in 'the scene,' on 'the scene' and desperate for 'the scene.' If you have ever done something despite your better judgment, maybe chose to follow the crowd instead of following your gut to avoid hard, emotionally painful work, then you will understand Charlie, the provocative and complex protagonist in this fierce, edgy, raw and scathing new comedy.

Coronado, a thriller from the pen of Dennis Lehane, author of “Mystic River” (made into the Clint Eastwood film), will ring in 2008.  This Film Noir ride through the lives and passions of Middle Americans explores the dark side of the child-parent connection and our connection to our past and future selves. Unpredictable plot twists and a surprise ending complete this compelling script.

And adding heat to our foggy summer will be Cabaret, one of the seminal musicals of the twentieth century - a musical that, for all of its great, hummable songs, is ultimately about the connections and disconnections of individuals stuck in a controlling, roiling society on the verge of collapse. In a country where civil rights are systematically being undermined – where every human connection is spied upon and regulated –  how can the individual survive? Artistic Director Bill English plans to bring out the gritty naturalistic edge to this tuner.

The SF Playhouse founded by Susi Damilano and Bill English in 2003 has quickly grown to become one of the leading, intimate professional theatres in the Bay Area.  Using Equity actors and world class design, The SF Playhouse, about which the San Francisco Chronicle raved, “San Francisco’s newest theatre isn’t just another tiny stage carved out of a storefront . . . its an enticing introduction to a new company,” has become an intimate theatre alternative to the traditional Union Square theatre fare, garnering multiple Bay Area Theatre Critic awards, Best off Broadway Theatre from the Bay Guardian, and listing in the top 10 ‘Best of’ list for several of the local papers. Providing a creative home and inspiring environment where actors, directors, writers, designers, and theatre lovers converge, The SF Playhouse, hailed as a “small delicacy” by SF Weekly and “eclectic” by the San Francsico Bay Guardian, strives to create works that celebrate the human spirit.

SUBSCRIPTIONS are on sale now and available online or by calling the box office at 415-677-9596.  Ticket prices are increasing next season, but subscription prices are not, so now, more than ever before, the savings are incredible.  Save 25% to 50% by subscribing!

TICKETS Tickets can by purchased at TicketWeb.com, TIX box office on Union Square or at the Theatre’s box office.  Senior, group and TBA discounts available.  For reservations, call the Playhouse at (415) 677-9596 or e-mail [email protected].

LOCATION  The SF Playhouse is located one block off of Union Square at 533 Sutter Street, San Francisco between Powell & Mason Streets.  Easiest parking is at the Sutter/Stockton garage, and closest BART is Powell Street Station.