SF Theater Festival, July 23 - Yerba Buena arts complex

An outpouring of live theater will take place next month when 70 theater groups and solo performers mount 10 stages at the Yerba Buena arts complex in a marathon-style event called the San Francisco Theater Festival, to be held on Sunday, July 23, 11 - 5 p.m. Many of the performers are part of the Bay Area's vibrant under-the-radar theater scene. Most important, the event is entirely free.

"This is the only theater festival that allows you to sample a huge variety of Bay Area theater in one place, on one day, and with no admission charge. It's truly a people's festival— it's casual, fun, and exciting and makes theater truly accessible to everyone. It harkens back to theater's roots when theater was not exclusive or pricey, but a people's art form. And many people will be surprised to find how much live theater there is going on in the Bay Area," said producer Bill Schwartz.

The festival consists of short performances, one-acts, and excerpts, at seven outdoor and three indoor stages that are all within a short walk of each other. The Yerba Buena Gardens, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and Zeum are located in downtown San Francisco at 3rd and Mission Street and 4th and Howard Streets.

There are 36 theater companies with presentations that range from Shakespeare performed to Beatles songs to Rough & Tumble's 43 Plays for 43 Presidents, from SF Free Civic Theatre's one-act in verse Aria da Capo by Edna St. Vincent Millay to SF Recovery Theatre's story of love in the hood. Emperor Norton—The Musical, an original musical will be featured along with Aces Wild Theatre of CSU East Bay's version of Moliere's Scapin, The Cheat, which it will perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in August.

In addition, there are 10 improv groups, including the San Francisco Improv Alliance's Best of the SF Improv Festival, Warth & Todd and Waiting for Ennis Cotter plus Oui Be Negroes and BATS Theatersports competition.

The solo performance side of the festival includes 14 talented individuals such as Ismail Azeem, who becomes Johnny Burke, a struggling and troubled Jamerican, and Carolyn Doyle who performs Bonne Bell Lip Smacker, a comedy that examines that first kiss.

Finally, there are 10 shows for children, ranging from puppet theater, colorful international folk dancing, the amazing Bubblesmith, the SF Clown Conservatory's Circus Finelli, and Oren & the Hiccups who entrances children with his music.

It's all part of the funny, poignant, gritty, transporting, engaging, and unique San Francisco Theater Festival,

"This event provides excellent exposure for theater companies, while providing attendees a crash course in local theater. They really get a sense of what's going on in Bay Area theater," said Chris Smith, Artistic Director of the Magic Theatre.

This year's printed program will include a clip-out discount coupon that theater groups will honor as another way of building audience. Many theater groups will staff tables in Yerba Buena Gardens for promotional literature and subscription sales.

Information: www.sftheaterfestival.org; 415-543-1718; or email producer@SFTheaterFestival.org.

Participants in 2006 Festival:
^{Aces Wild Theatre of CSU East Bay, African American Shakespeare Company, …And Still Dancing, Arthur Ballesteros/Robert Cheifetz, Artship Dance/Theater, Asian American Theater Company, AtmosTheatre, Aurora, Azeem, BATS Improv, Balé Techlorico, Big City Improv, Blockworks Children's Theatre, Blue Blanket Improv, Brian Shapiro's Culture Works, Bubblesmith, CAP Productions, Carolyn Doyle, Channing Sargent, Children's Musical Theater 'Morning Stars', Colored Ink, Crooked Family, David Meth, Emperor Norton's San Francisco, Encore Theatre Company, Erin Blackwell's 10-Minute Play CLINIC, Fool's Fury, 42nd Street Moon, Gillian Summers, Harry V. Scott, Jr., Heather Gold, How We First Met, II Teatro Calamari, Jeremy Bautista & Yadira de la Riva, Jodama, Julia Jackson, Jump! Theatre, Kathleen Antonia, La Vache Enragee, Lamplighters Music Theatre, Magic Theatre, Michael Phillis, Mountian International Dance Company, Mortified, No Nude Men Productions, Oren & the Hiccups, O.R.C.A., Pangs Theater Ensemble, P&T Puppet Theatre, Playground, Ray of Light Theatre, Rhythmic Fusion, Richter Scale, Rough and Tumble, S.F. Clown Conservatory, San Francisco Free Civic Theatre, SF Improv Alliance presents: Best of San Francisco Improv Festival, SF Recovery Theatre, SF Shakespeare Festival, SF Youth Ballet Theatre, Shanique S. Scott, Sheilah Morrison, SPF 7, Spellbinder Entertainment, StageBridge Senior Theatre, Teatro Nahual, The Ashcan Players, the beatnik syndicate, The Makeshift Ensemble, The One Act Players, Theatre of the Blacklisted, Three Wise Monkeys Theatre Company, Trailer Park Productions, Un-scripted Theater Company, Young People's Teen Musical Theater Company, Youth for Asian Theater, Youth Speaks, ZGI Productions.}

- Press release from http://www.sftheaterfestival.org/press/releases.htm