EXTREME ACTS Comes to the Marsh This Weekend

 The world premiere of Extreme Acts by award-winning playwright Lynne Kaufman, which was originally announced as a two-play production at The Marsh San Francisco has now been updated to a 60-minute standalone performance.

 Directed by Molly Noble,this new intense and innovative work – still titled Extreme Acts – follows a passionate performance artist who challenges the limits of endurance in life and love, performed by Arwen Anderson and Johnny Moreno.

 “How fortunate we are to be working at The Marsh, a breeding ground for new performances, and a theater company that supports what’s best for a new play,” said Kaufman about the change. “After writing two dozen plays about people who mostly live in their heads, this play is about two people who mostly live in their bodies. That shift called for the services of an intimacy coach and an expert sound designer, both of which are new collaborations for me. Extreme Acts called for space to build an open, sturdy, and safe structure for the actors to feel free to use their instincts and highlight the complexity and truth of their characters.”

 Extreme Acts will be presented Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 5:00pm, May 11-June 2, 2024, (press opening: 8:00pm, Saturday, May 11) at The Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia Street, San Francisco. For information or to order tickets ($25-$35 adult general admission sliding scale; $50-$100 reserved), the public may visit themarsh.org.     

In Extreme Acts, Kaufman took inspiration from Serbian conceptual artist and performer Marina Abramović, who created extreme works that tested her physical limits and invited audiences to violate her person. Extreme Acts encompasses two risk takers as they explore the boundaries of love and life through their high adrenaline adventure. This world premiere play by Kaufman introduces the strong and charismatic Sophia (played by Anderson) preparing for the last night of her performance art piece “Being Present,” where she has sat immobile for eight hours a day for three months establishing and maintaining eye contact with a thousand visitors, one at a time. As she gets ready, Sophia relives a similar piece she performed with her lover, Jasper, a former extreme sports jumper (played by Moreno). Reflecting on Jasper’s and Sophia’s tumultuous relationship, Sophia ultimately discovers what it takes to create a lasting union.  

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATIVES 

Arwen Anderson (Performer) returns to The Marsh where she worked with Lynne Kaufman on a staged reading of her musical, Map of Your Mind.  Selected regional credits include Testmatch, Men On Boats, Heisenberg, Let There Be Love, A Christmas Carol, and Tales of the City (workshop) at A.C.T.; King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and The Verona Project (world premiere) at California Shakespeare Theatre; August: Osage County, Anne Boleyn, Circle Mirror Transformation, Bellwether (world premiere), and A Streetcar Named Desire at Marin Theatre Company; An Accident, Mrs. Whitney, Expedition 6, The Rules of Charity (all world premieres), and Mauritius at Magic Theatre; A White Girl’s Guide to International Terrorism, The Fit, and 77% at San Francisco Playhouse; Miss Julie at Stanford Rep; Lobby Hero and The Shape of Things at Aurora Theatre Company; You Know When the Men Are Gone and 4 Adverbswith Word for Word; and roles with American Stage Festival, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Marin Shakespeare Company, Brava Theater, Encore Theatre Company, and Central Works Theater Company. Her film work includes Hog Island, Ashley 22, and Dark Retreat.  

Johnny Moreno (Performer) has appeared at theatres throughout the Bay Area including A.C.T., Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, San Jose Stage Company, Marin Shakespeare Company, Center Repertory Company, Marin Theatre Company, Crowded Fire Theater, Thick Description and Pacific Repertory Theatre. Favorite roles include Iago in Othello, Macheath in The Threepenny Opera (TBA Award for Best Actor in a Musical), Ralph Bates in Period of Adjustment, Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (SFBATCC Award for Best Actor in a Musical), Palo in Gibraltar, Mortimer in Mary Stuart, and Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Film and television credits include Betas, Callback (winner of the Chicago Indie Fest for Best Film), Upside Out (with Olympia Dukakis), Paradise Club, and I’m Still Here (with Joaquin Phoenix).  

Molly Noble’s (Director) recent directing projects include A Doll’s House and Twelfth Night at College of Marin, Cry It Out at Cinnabar Theater. Past directing credits include The Kepler Story (CU Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium), The Surrogate (Centenary Stage Company, NJ), Bad Dates (Cinnabar) Middletown, The Skin of Our Teeth, David Copperfield, The River Bride, Seagull, Arabian Nights, Maple and Vine, Misalliance. Almost, Maine, and Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (College of Marin), You Can’t Take It with You and The Prince and The Pauper (Conservatory Theater Ensemble/TamDrama). She has directed projects with incarcerated artists at San Quentin. Noble has acted with Shotgun Players, San Francisco Playhouse, Z Space’s Wordfor Word, Aurora Theatre Company, Cinnabar Theater, Shakespeare & Performing Arts Regional Company (SPARC), Main Stage West, and her own Porchlight Theatre Co.  

Lynne Kaufman (Playwright) is the author of 20 full-length plays that have been produced in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Louisville at such theatres as Magic Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and many more – with Extreme Acts being her most recent work. Four of Kaufman’s plays, Acid Test, Two Minds, Who Killed Sylvia Plath, and Poetic Justice have premiered on stage at The Marsh, while two others, Exposing Margaret Mead and The Smartest Woman in America have appeared on The Marsh’s digital platform, MarshStream. Who Killed Sylvia Plath went on to win Best Play in The Marsh’s 2020 MarshStream International Solo Festival. Kaufman’s plays have won many awards including the Glickman Award for Best New Play (The Couch), the Kennedy Center’s Fund for New American Plays Award (Speaking in Tongues), and the Neil Simon Festival New Play Award (William Blake in Hollywood). Kaufman has published four novels and her short stories have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and McCall’s. She was also the recipient of the Otis Guernsey Outstanding New Voice in American Theatre Award from the William Inge Theatre Festival. 

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