DOODLER, Based on Unsolved SF Homicides, to be Presented at Theatre Rhinoceros

About two years before the inception of Theatre Rhinoceros, a serial killer known as “The Doodler” was responsible for multiple murders in the Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park area of San Francisco. All of his victims were gay men. He picked them up in the Castro and Polk Gulch neighborhoods, had sex with them in the Outsidelands, and then stabbed them to death. When he met each man he presented him with something, something that charmed him. This is the story of a gay man who is determined to find the Doodler and avenge the death of one of his victims. 

Fifty years later, the case is still open, and the yet unidentified “Doodler” is the subject of Theatre Rhinoceros Executive Artistic Director John Fisher’s latest one-man show, the fourth show of Rhino’s 47th season. 

In a unique “take” on the on the one-man show format, for the four weeks of Doodler’s performance run, John Fisher will truly be a one-man show - running his own lights and sound from the stage, house managing, even selling concessions and merchandise, while enacting a complex, true San Francisco story with a still-beating heart, for the Doodler case was recently re-opened.  

Doodler was presented as a two-part E.S.P. (Essential Serviced Project) performance on Zoom and Facebook Live during the Pandemic. It was a production of Theatre Rhinoceros. Doodler was developed as a live performance piece and presented in a workshop production at The Tank in New York City in January 2025. 

Theatre Rhinoceros was founded in 1977, and is the longest running LGBTQ+ theatre in the nation. We develop and produce works of theatre that enlighten, enrich, and explore both the ordinary and the extraordinary aspects of our queer community. Our emphasis is on new works, works about under-represented members of the larger queer community, and revivals of lesser known queer classics. 

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