This is Drama Masks, a Bay Area performing arts column from a born San Franciscan and longtime theatre artist in an N95 mask. I talk venue safety and dramatic substance, or the lack thereof.
Alas, some bad news on the local cultural front: Dance and performance venue/troupe CounterPulse—one of the few SF-based indie theatre companies to actually own their namesake Turk Street space (which they bought outright in 2023)—sent out an announcement stating their intention to dramatically “scale back” operations and release staff. The statement, co-authored by outgoing Executive AD Julie Phelps, takes great pains to not call it a “closure” or a “shut down.”
Yet, the statement can’t help but echo similar press releases from earlier this year by Killing My Lobster, Aurora Theatre, and Oasis. It certainly doesn’t help that CounterPulse’s HQ is right around the corner from the former Taylor Street home of PianoFight and one more corner-turn from the former EXIT Theatre multiplex.
Not the jolliest news right now, but at least two shows helped brush away global terrors and local fears, and had audiences smiling through their SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in what have been unusually chilly times:
Circus Bella presents Starlight
If you ever want to know how well Circus Bella wins over their audiences, wait for something to go wrong. I’m pleased to say that I’ve never seen a mistake that resulted in any injury, but I can’t help but notice that thei local troupe’s December shows always have a few more flubs than their summer shows. But what catches my attention every time is that the audience will be so heavily invested in the success of a particular act that they’ll not only forgive, they’ll up their verbal encouragement for another try. They want to tricks to succeed even more than the performers.
Yet, the opening night moment that stands out from watching the troupe’s new big tent show, Starlight (through January 4 at The Crossing at East Cut, SF), was one of the relatively “simpler” acts of the show. A woman was seated far-audience-left with her young son and seemed to not be enjoying herself. That is, until the second-half, when Circus Bella’s resident clown trio (Calvin Kai Ku, Jamie Coventry, and Natasha Kaluza) put one of their between-set slapstick routines. This one involved a rope-length piece of string that changed sizes several times, as well as finding its way into one clown’s pants.
At one point, the string is pulled so hard out of the pants that it takes a pair of undies with it—a twist one could easily see coming, but delighted the woman in the audience. It was one of those connect-with-the-audience moments that’s pure magic to witness.
Even if you don’t show up at the Bella tent looking for red-nosed antics, there’s plenty to hold your attention for the entire 90-minute runtime. There are Bella regulars, including Elise Hing’s pretzeled contortions, Ori Quesada’s rola bola balancing, and Tony Cannon’s strongman routine, now a dance number with Mia Fan. Also bringing on a co-star is tightrope-walker Ariele Ebacher, whose adorable blonde companion performed a few quick twirling maneuvers on the same rope. Jack Weinstock’s foot-juggling may have resulted in the most hold-your-breath moments of the show, as the performer used only palms and toes to spin a large plant pot, a drum, and even a table without missing a beat.
Operating in a tent blurs the line between “indoor” and “outdoor” theatre, but it was nice to see that at least 1/3 of us attending were masked. The tent’s entrance is closed during the show, so airflow isn’t as free as it would be outside (where it was absolutely freezing). CO² levels on my Aranet4 peaked around 1,605ppm by the final bow.
I hope that every post-opening performance of the show was less prone to the occasional flub that I saw. Not that the performers didn’t recover gracefully, but you don’t want to see them flub at all. Nevertheless, they know how to capture the audience’s full focus and support on a cold December night.
CIRCUS BELLA PRESENTS STARLIGHT runs through January 4, 2026 at The Crossing at East Cut, SF. Tickets and further info here.
Ruthless! at New Conservatory Theatre Center
Has it really been just two years since this same production made me laugh my ass off? This has been an odd year for NCTC, even before founder and AD Ed Decker announced his retirement from the company he’s spearheaded for 44 years. Yet NCTC remounted two past successes at times when audiences seemed to need them most. The first was summertime return of the quirky Canadian musical Ride the Cyclone, and this one helps turn December 2025 into “Katya Smirnoff-Skyy Month” (not that I’m complaining).
That latter show is raucous showbiz musical comedy Ruthless! (through January 11 at NCTC, SF), and beloved drag performer Katya, aka J. Conrad Frank, plays talent agent Sylvia St. Croix. The camp-overload plot? “Eight-year-old Tina Denmark knows she was born to play Pippi Longstocking, and she will do anything to win the part in her school musical.” The New Conservatory production, once again directed by company mainstay Dyan McBride, provides the perfect balance of self-aware grounding and over-the-top satire without having to compromise one for the other.
That’s how you get your “grade school-aged” lead to do an impressive two-step while still sneering like the Joker as she sets her evil schemes into motion. Hell, Joel Paley and Marvin Laird’s tongue-in-cheek 1992 send-up of old Hollywood melodramas seems to resonate more these days, when childish tantrums are the raison d’etre of scandal-prone world leaders. At least here, everyone gets their comeuppance at the end.
Not that many masks were seen opening night and NCTC seem to have given up on their “Enhanced Safety Performances.” Still, their HVAC made sure that CO² levels only peaked around 1,411ppm during the two-act show. That’s good, because they show is such a reliable gut-buster that many jaws are bound to be dropped whenever you see it.
RUTHLESS! runs through January 11, 2026 at the New Conservatory Theatre Center, SF. Tickets and further info here.
