2019 in Theater- and Opera-Going
Justin Howard and Chris Ginesi in Shotgun Players’ Fall 2019 production of The Flick. Photo by Ben Krantz Studio.
I think the saddest document on my laptop right now is a Word doc called “Theatergoing 2020,” with four measly entries on it and very little chance of increasing that number any time soon, at least when it comes to live theater. (I do hope to take advantage of the streaming videos offered by several Bay Area theaters as well as by larger institutions like the Met Opera or the UK National Theatre.)
But this enforced shelter-in-place is giving me the chance to tie up loose ends from the past several months, including posting a very belated roundup of the plays, etc., that I saw in 2019.
Here they all are, in chronological order by category, with links to a few previous blog posts where appropriate.
Plays
The Dos and Don’ts of Time Travel, by Nicholas Wardigo, at Quantum Dragon Theater
When We Were Young and Unafraid, by Sarah Treem, at Custom Made Theatre
Never-Ever Land, by Sang S. Kim, at Awesome Theatre
King of the Yees, by Lauren Yee, at San Francisco Playhouse
Metamorphoses, by Mary Zimmerman (adapted from Ovid), at Berkeley Rep
How Does That Make You Feel, by various authors (head writer: Molly Sanchez), at Killing My Lobster
Helen, by Ellen McLaughlin, at Theatre of Yugen
American Hero, by Bess Wohl, at Custom Made Theatre
La Ronde, by Arthur Schnitzler, translated by Eric Bentley, at Cutting Ball
Undiscovered Country, adapted from Shakespeare’s Hamlet et al by We Players
Vanity Fair, by Kate Hamill (adapted from Thackeray), at ACT
Life Sucks, by Aaron Posner (adapted from Chekhov), at Custom Made Theatre
A History of Freaks, by Katie May, at PlayGround
Anna Considers Mars, by Ruben Grijalva, at PlayGround
Oedipus El Rey, by Luis Alfaro, at Magic Theatre (my thoughts)
As You Like It, by Shakespeare, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
All’s Well that Ends Well, by Shakespeare, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Indecent, by Paula Vogel, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Cambodian Rock Band, by Lauren Yee, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Kill Move Paradise, by James Ijames, at Shotgun Players in collaboration with Lorraine Hansberry Theater
The Flick, by Annie Baker, at Shotgun Players
Free For All: A New Miss Julie For a New World, by Megan Cohen (inspired by Strindberg), at Cutting Ball
Unholy Trinity, by Stuart Bousel (adapted from H.P. Lovecraft), at EXIT Theatre
Let’s Kill Jessica, by Claire Rice, at Awesome Theatre
Dance Nation, by Clare Barron, at San Francisco Playhouse
Cloud 9, by Caryl Churchill, at Custom Made Theatre
Musicals
Come From Away; book, music, and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein; national tour of Broadway production
A Little Night Music; music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler; at Lamplighters
Violet; music by Jeanine Tesori, book & lyrics by Brian Crawley; at Bay Area Musicals (my thoughts)
Hamilton; book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda; national tour of Broadway production
Passion; music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine; at Custom Made Theatre
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; music & lyrics by Michael Friedman, book by Alex Timbers, at Custom Made Theatre
Pride & Prejudice; book, music, & lyrics by Paul Gordon; at TheatreWorks
Operas
Howards End America, by Allen Shearer, at Z Space
Carmen, by Bizet, at SF Opera
Orlando, by Handel, at SF Opera
Rusalka, by Dvorak, at SF Opera
Roméo et Juliette, by Gounod, at SF Opera (my thoughts)
Billy Budd, by Britten, at SF Opera
The Marriage of Figaro, by Mozart, at SF Opera
Ermelinda, by Domenico Freschi, at Ars Minerva
Manon Lescaut, by Puccini, at SF Opera
Hansel & Gretel, by Humperdink, at SF Opera
Staged Readings
Cernunnos, or The Death of Ruby Slippers, by Stuart Bousel, at the San Francisco Olympians Festival
Deirdre by Ai and Maeve by Elizabeth Flanagan, at the Olympians Festival
The Morrigan, by Meg and John Elison, at the Olympians Festival
To All A Good Knight, short plays by Marissa Skudlarek, Alan Coyne, Sunil Patel, Alandra Hileman, and Carson Beker, at the Olympians Festival
Wyrd Sisters, short plays by Jessica Chisum, Nirmala Nataraj, Lucy Knight and Elaine Gavin, at the Olympians Festival
Arthur, Lancelot, & Guinevere, by Brian Allan Hobbs, at the Olympians Festival
Filmed Theater
Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, Comédie-Française production
The King and I; music by Richard Rogers, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein; Broadway/West End production
Much Ado About Nothing, by Shakespeare, Public Theater production
By the numbers…
In 2019, as in 2018 and 2017, I still averaged about 1 live-theater event per week (there are a combined 49 live plays/musicals/operas/readings on this list). This was a bit of a surprise, since I cut back on theatergoing in the first half of the year in order to save time and money while I attended a coding bootcamp. My first trip to Ashland (OSF) in over a decade helped make up the deficit, though — I saw 4 plays in 2 days!
This is the year my operagoing exploded! I made a conscious effort to see all of SF Opera’s offerings and even attended opening night (even if the opening-night opera turned out to be one of their more lackluster productions this year).
The balance between male-authored and female-authored plays that I saw returned to about 50:50 this year, after an anomalously male-heavy 2018.
I used to be really adventurous about going to staged readings of both new and classic plays at lots of different venues, but now it seems that that has narrowed to just the Olympians Festival.
Previous year-end theatergoing reports: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010