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.
I don’t know about you folks, but I had better ways to spend my weekend than watch a faux-gladiatorial match for rich racists. It’s Pride Month here in SF, so if I wanna see sweaty men roll around on the ground for the entertainment of an audience, I’m sure there are plenty of places to find it.
No, I had shows to see, performers to interview, and news to read of another theatre company going through internal re-structuring. Fortunately, The Magic Theatre won’t be shutting down, but AD Sean San José (of Campo Santo) will step down in favor of a new shared leadership consisting of Sarah Nina Hayon, Daniel Duque-Estrada, and Joan Osato.
Immediate thoughts: 1) like Berkeley’s recently-resurrected Aurora, Magic is a bold indie theatre with countless world premieres under its belt, so I’m glad to see it alive ‘n kickin.’ 2) Few things make an arts journalist feel old like documenting an artist’s full tenure, as I have for Sean San José leading The Magic. And 3) the new trio consists of two great Bay Area actors and one designer, which makes me curiously optimistic.
Maybe it’s how acting is so often a mercenary activity: one auditions; one performs; one (hopefully) gets paid; one moves on. Few actors become company members, and even fewer aspire to leading a company. Yet, doing so is a way of shaking up the ever-aging establishment that likes to gatekeep their roles.
Sure, SF Ballet is led by a former dancer, but one with few ties to SF itself. Similarly, ACT is holding a national search to replace their outgoing AD (as is African-American Shakespeare Company), so they likely won’t have any ties to the city. Whereas Crowded Fire, Killing My Lobster, the late Cutting Ball, and now Magic gave company members the chance to take a true active role in the artistic direction of both a company and the local arts scene. That says something about how the companies value the community and recognize unique local identity.
How well it pays off remains to be seen, but it speaks highly of Magic that they want their future to remain in the hands of local weirdos.
Bacchae world premiere translation by Bard Theatre
The term “Greek tragedy” is so ubiquitous that it can be easy to forget that there was an entire other genre to choose from. Greek comedies could also end in poor turns of fate, but the audience rooted for the luckier folks in the story. Just as Bugs Bunny joked to never expect a happy ending in opera, so too should you never be surprised when Greek drama in general ends with a few lifeless bodies, countless missing limbs, and, possibly, a little incest.
All are present in Emily Wilson’s new translation of Euripides’ Bacchae (world premiere adaptation through June 21 at the Victoria Theatre, SF). Naturally, a story about excess is told as a twisted bedtime story from Dionysus (Edward Leon Paddock) to the eponymous Bacchae (his hedonistic followers). It’s the story of his birth and how no one likes his cousin Pentheus (Kayla McConnell), current king of Thebes. Dionysus begins machinations to seduce the rigid Pentheus, knowing that the latter’s death will come about by the very people he rules. Very bloodily, at that.
Bard’s “crank it to 11” philosophy finds nearly every line is spoken as if the world will end in the next 15 seconds. That’s in keeping with the origins of Greek theatre, but can be trying and robs the story of nuance. It can also be hard to keep track of who’s who when you have things like the Bacchae acting as regular Thebans within the same scene. There’s an appealing sadness to Euripides’ story and Wilson’s translation, but the show needs a bit more balance in how the contrasting moods are presented.
I honestly can’t remember when last I visited the Victoria, but I’m glad to see the old building was able to handle the CO² levels of a near-full opening-night audience. My Aranet4 topped 1,016ppm at the end of the 90-minute show.
Bacchae has both the advantages and disadvantages of a classic Greek play: on the one hand, it makes downfall a fascinating watch; on the other hand, you can see why dramatists have calmed a bit over the millennia.
BACCHAE’s world premiere translation runs through June 21 at the Victoria Theatre, SF. Tickets and further info here.
Dolly! A Pride Show by SF Gay Men’s Chorus
“I feel like this is the ninth straight year when I start with ‘We are living in unprecedented times…’.”
So said SFGMC artistic director Jacob Stensberg early in Dolly! A Pride Show, which played June 13 at the Curran Theatre, SF. Indeed, it’s hard to be shocked anymore when every headline is more over-the-top than the last. So, why not pay tribute to the Tennessee songstress who revels in her over-the-top personality? If this SF native was to attend his first-ever SFGMC show, why not an homage to Miley Cyrus’ godmother in the theatre owned by the SF Giants?
It being my first show, there isn’t much to say that couldn’t be said about any other vocal recital. The Chorus’ loyal fanbase (one woman was shocked that there was no merch to buy) sustain them with or without a newbie’s input. Unlike some of the actual SF Giants, the drag queens and Dolly-lovers gathered in The Curran came to share a queer-friendly safe space, even if for a short time. The most pleasant surprise for me was the unexpected sight of SF theatre’s own Sean Fenton as both Chorus member and soloist for “Two Doors Down.”
Add in the fact that CO² levels in the Curran never rose higher than 556ppm and I can say that my first SFGMC show probably won’t be my last.
Elektra by SF Opera
SF Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’ Elektra (through June 27 at the War Memorial Opera House) actually has more in common with Bard’s production of Bacchae than one might think. Both revive Greek classics and lean into the “bigness” of their theatrical origins, both end in bloody revenge, and both could tone it down just a bit for the sake of clarity.
Set designer Boris Kudlička is the real star of this production. It’s not clear why the story is set in modern times within a transforming museum, but Kudlička’s moving set pieces are eye-catching, even in the livestsream I watched. One doesn’t envy Austrian soprano Elena Pankratova in the eponymous lead, spending nearly the entire show onstage. Yet, she gives no less than her all, and her vocal power is as appealing as the show’s creative choices are baffling.
I wouldn’t be surprise if, like me, one made a weekend of seeing both Elektra and Bacchae and compared notes. Both are admirable in their ambition and both are a bit exhausting in their execution.
ELEKTRA runs through June 27 at the War Memorial Opera House. Tickets and further info here.
