When you consider the best things about living in the Bay Area, most people don’t immediately think of our vibrant performing-arts scene. Yet the Bay Area is home to one of the largest theater communities in the country, with over 300 theater companies. Our theater scene has produced a number of stars, including Hamilton’s Daveed Diggs and Darren Criss of Hedwig and The Angry Inch and Glee fame. And because we have so many theaters, we often get new musicals and shows that go on to win Tonys, such as Green Day’s American Idiot, based on their album of the same name. If you’re lucky enough to live here, you should have seen a show yesterday, because you live near some of the highest-quality theater in the country.
Who am I to judge? Well, I grew up here, and I’ve been doing theater and performance professionally in the Bay Area for four years as a local director and actress. Soon, I’ll be flying off to Chicago to be the associate artistic director for the Hypocrites, but before I do that, I wanted to write about our amazing local theaters and why I think they deserve these honorable mentions. Without further ado, here are my eight recommendations for theaters to visit in the Bay Area — not ranked, but sorted by what makes them unique. (I had a little fun with the titles.)
1) Best Theater to Make You Instagram Famous: California Shakespeare Theater
Having worked in and around this theater for three years, I am constantly swept away by its beauty. There are gorgeous hills rolling in the background, and cows and blue jays provide a natural landscape for the show. Before a show, you can hike on one of the many gorgeous Orinda trails. Or if you’re like me, just hike up the tree-lined hill that leads to the theater. Bring food — there are picnic tables around the space where you can eat and listen to artistic director Eric Ting and other guest speakers talk about what you’re going to see that night.
Bottles of wine and spirits are welcome in the outdoor space as well as inside the amphitheater, so pack up that picnic basket! Dress warmly, though — it can get down to 50 degrees at night. (Thankfully, the theater does lend blankets to those who think they can muscle through the cold in a cardigan.) Whatever you do, don’t forget your iconic forest-at-sunset, theater-in-the-wilderness Insta-pic. Likes guaranteed.
2) Most Unpredictable Theater: San Francisco Playhouse
The San Francisco Playhouse has my respect because their programming is consistently risky. Many theaters won’t produce edgy work, because the dismal state of arts funding in America encourages theaters to do safe plays for a guaranteed audience. It’s remarkable for a theater of their size to do such ambitious projects. I recently took a friend, who works at Google, to an SF Playhouse production of The Nether by Jennifer Haley. The Nether investigates the intersection between morality, virtual reality and vigilante justice in the near future, and we both spent the 80-minute play on the edge of our seats. Even if a show is a swing and a miss (which is not often), I always find something fascinating and new about the way it was done and never regret attending a performance.
Its location in the center of downtown San Francisco (a brief walk from the Powell Street BART station) also makes it a great first stop on a night out in the city! If you’re truly ballin’, head next door to Morton’s Steakhouse for dinner; or if you’re ballin’ on a budget, try the delicious Sushi Boat, also located near Union Square.
3) Theater Most Likely to Keep Your Ass Woke: Campo Santo
I couldn’t dare make a list of theaters I recommend in the Bay Area without including Campo Santo. Campo Santo has made a mission of effortlessly telling stories for and about the Bay Area. They don’t have a permanent performance space, so you’ll have to catch them when they do residencies at places like the Magic Theatre or A.C.T.’s Strand Theater. Their show, H.O.M.E., or Hookers on Mars Eventually, by Star Finch, was such a massive hit that it’s bound to be produced in another space soon — hopefully in Oakland, where it takes place. H.O.M.E. is a science-fiction take on a post-gentrified Oakland where Google has set up a colony on Mars and Prince Amaru (Tupac Shakur) may roam in the caves of the Red Planet.
Founded by local theater giants Michael Torres, Margo Hall, Sean San José and the late Luis Saguar, this company has and continues to produce revelatory material by local artists. Keep your ear to the ground about Campo Santo shows — they’re always entertaining and bound to expand your mind.
4) Theater Most Likely to Make You Ponder the State of our Nation: San Francisco Mime Troupe
The San Francisco Mime Troupe asks all its audiences the question, “What’s the state of our nation?” This political-satire company’s mission describes them better than I ever could: “We do plays that make sense out of the headlines by identifying the forces that shape our lives and dramatizing the operation of these giant forces in small, close-up stories that make our audiences feel the impact of political events on personal life.”
Every summer, the SF Mime Troupe opens a new musical on Fourth of July weekend that plays for free in parks across the Bay Area. The best decision you can make is to head to Dolores Park with a bottle of bubbly, a blanket and your friends to enjoy their operatically large outdoor theatre.
5) Theater Most Likely to Dismantle the Bourgeoisie with Bourgeoisie Funding: Berkeley Repertory Theatre
I have always respected Berkeley Rep’s ability to sway rich folks’ opinions against their own interests.
Want to have a swanky night at one of the best theaters in Berkeley? Well, you’re going to have to learn how to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline over your cocktails!
Berkeley Rep offers an absurdly wide range of programming, from world premieres of MacArthur “Genius Grant” winner Sarah Ruhl’s new works to John Leguizamo’s new one-man show.
Berkeley Rep is just off the Downtown Berkeley BART stop, with plenty of restaurants and bars in the surrounding area to enjoy before the curtain rises. The Rep has a bar toward the back of the complex run by some amazing people who make a great Moscow Mule and sometimes show-themed cocktails. If you have some time after the performance, hit up Eureka!, a whiskey bar one block over. (Order the Penicillin — you’ll thank me later.)
6) The Winterfell of Theater: American Conservatory Theater
A bastion of the San Francisco theater scene, A.C.T. has been there since everyone I know has been working, and it’ll be there long after we all move on. Their prestigious main stage often houses shows that are going to or coming from Broadway, and every Christmas they put on A Christmas Carol with third-years from their renowned acting MFA program. Other facilities are a little more experimental and laid back, like the Costume Shop, where I directed the world premiere of Michelle Carter’s Rose in America with AlterTheater. No matter which A.C.T. theater you attend, you’re sure to see some quality programming.
7) Theater Most Likely to Make Your Diversity Initiative Look like Shit: TheatreFIRST
Whether or not you’ve seen a TheatreFIRST show, if you’re in theater, you’ve probably heard of Jon Tracy. He has more concepts than M. Night Shyamalan and has worked on more shows than Liza Minnelli (OK, that might be an exaggeration, but sometimes it certainly feels that way). Now the idea guy has put his brain to diversity. As the new artistic director of Berkeley-based TheatreFIRST, he has pledged that women should make up half, and people of color two-thirds, of their company and board members. You can read more about TheatreFIRST’s initiatives here in Lily Janiak’s article in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Artistically, every show they produce is an original work developed for TheatreFIRST, which should prove fruitful considering the caliber of artists they’re attracting with their values — including Bay Area darlings Rotimi Agbabiaka and Evren Odcikin. TheatreFIRST boasted a play about HeLa cells and the family of Henrietta Lacks, as well as a new musical about the first black Revolutionary War regiment to fight against their slave owners.
8) The Mecca of Oakland Theater Companies: The Flight Deck
Situated near the 12th Street BART station, the Flight Deck is a shared workspace, art gallery, black-box theater and rehearsal space in Oakland. The building at 1540 Broadway has four resident theatre companies: the Aluminous Collective, Ragged Wing Ensemble, Gritty City Repertory Youth Theatre and Lower Bottom Playaz. In addition to the reputable work these companies are putting out — Lower Bottom Playaz is the first company to do August Wilson’s famous Pittsburgh Cycle in chronological order — there are other local companies that do interesting work there.
The Flight Deck does a great job of investing in young performers and directors, making it a mecca for younger artists like myself. Rehearsal and performance space is harder to find than ever due to the housing crisis in Oakland, so it’s essential to support this versatile space, especially when it has such cool shows.
There are so many theater companies I could have listed here that are producing great work, but I hope this list gives you a running start! Go out and enjoy our award-winning theater scene so you can say you saw it here first before it goes to Broadway. Our artists are deeply talented, and the Bay Area spirit is like no other.
