Theatergoing (and Theatermaking) 2013

I've already seen one play and one staged reading in 2014, which means it's time that I posted my annual round-up of shows that I saw in 2013!

As for what my favorites among these were, I won't be making an official "best of" or "top ten" list, but I did write up five of my most memorable 2013 theatergoing moments for the Theater Pub blog.

Links are to other reviews or pieces that I have written about these shows.

FULL PRODUCTIONS

1. Troublemaker, by Dan LeFranc, at Berkeley Rep 
2. Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them, by Christopher Durang, at Custom Made Theatre Co.
3. Manic Pixie Dream Girl, by Katie May, at ACT’s Costume Shop 
4. In and Out of Shadows, by Gary Soto, at the Marsh Youth Theater 
5. The Boy Friend, by Sandy Wilson, performed by the Bay School of San Francisco
6. The Heart Plays, adapted by various contributors from Heiner Muller's original, at Theater Pub 
7. Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, at Theater Pub 
8. Fallaci, by Lawrence Wright, at Berkeley Rep 
9. Eurydice, by Sarah Ruhl, at Custom Made 
10. Shipwreck, by Tom Stoppard, at Shotgun Players 
11. Pericles, by William Shakespeare, at Berkeley Rep 
12. The Arsonists, by Max Frisch, at Aurora Theater 
13. You’re Going to Bleed, by Melissa Fall, at DIVAfest 
14. The Helen Project, by Megan Cohen and Amy Clare Tasker, at DIVAfest 
15. Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard, at ACT 
16. Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, adapted by Dave Malloy from Tolstoy's War and Peace, at Kazino 
17. The Explorers Club, by Nell Benjamin, at Manhattan Theatre Club 
18. Prelude to a Kiss, by Craig Lucas, at Custom Made 
19. By and By, by Lauren Gunderson, at Shotgun Players 
20. ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, by John Ford, adapted by Oren Stevens, produced by Bigger than a Breadbox Theatre 
21. Dear Elizabeth, adapted by Sarah Ruhl from the letters of Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, at Berkeley Rep 
22. Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, at Cal Shakes 
23. Sea of Reeds, by Josh Kornbluth, at Shotgun Players 
24. Pint-Sized Plays IV, short plays by Christian Simonsen, Sang Kim, Kirk Shimano, Peter Hsieh, Carl Lucania, Dan Ng, Megan Cohen, and Stuart Bousel, at Theater Pub 
25. A Maze, by Rob Handel, at Just Theater 
26. The Fantasy Club, by Rachel Bublitz, produced by All Terrain Theater 
27. The Age of Beauty, by Stuart Bousel, produced by No Nude Men 
28. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, by Stephan Elliot and Allan Scott, national tour
29. Lady Windermere’s Fan, by Oscar Wilde, at Calshakes 
30. StormStressLenz, adapted by Martin Schwartz from J. M. R. Lenz, at SF Fringe 
31. Babies, the Ultimate Birth Control, by Rachel Bublitz and Tracy Held Potter, at SF Fringe
32. O Best Beloved, adapted by the cast from Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, at SF Fringe
33. Philia, adapted by Evangeline Crittenden from a short story by Traci Chee, at SF Fringe
34. Volcano, by Aram Krikorian, at SF Fringe
35. Cinnamon and Cigarettes, by Jenny Newbry Waters, at SF Fringe
36. A Man, a Magic, a Music, by Movin' Melvin Brown, at SF Fringe
37. Serving Bait to Rich People, by Alexa Fitzpatrick, at SF Fringe
38. Next to Normal, by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, at Custom Made
39. Everything Go Boom, by John Pennington, at SF Fringe
40. With Held, by Jeremy Greco, at SF Fringe
41. Bonnie and Clyde, by Adam Peck, at Shotgun Players
42. Bay One-Acts Program 1, featuring plays by Tracy Held Potter, Sam Leichter, Daniel Holloway, Bennett Fisher, William Bivins, and a piece adapted by Allison Combs from T. S. Eliot's "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
43. Bay One-Acts Program 2, featuring plays by Nancy Cooper Frank, Lauren Gunderson, Michael Phillis, Megan Cohen, Daniel Hirsch, Jeff Carter, and Ignacio Zulueta
44. What Every Girl Should Know, by Monica Byrne, at Impact Theatre
45. Scamoramaland, by Eve Edelson, at Performers Under Stress
46. Strangers, Babies, by Linda McLean, at Shotgun Players 
47. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, produced by the Bay School of San Francisco
48. Peter/Wendy, adapted by Jeremy Bloom from J. M. Barrie, at Custom Made
49. Troilus and Cressida, by William Shakespeare, at Impact Theatre
50. Tristan and Yseult, adapted by Emma Rice, Carl Grose, and Anna Maria Murphy from folklore, by Kneehigh Theater at Berkeley Rep
51. The 4th Annual San Francisco One-Minute Play Festival, featuring 90 short plays by 52 writers.

STAGED READINGS

1. Pajanuary, by various contributors and adaptors, at Theater Pub 
2. The Showdown, short plays by Susan Jackson, Charles Lewis III, Ignacio Zulueta, Patricia Milton, Jaene Leonard, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Kirk Shimano, and Marissa Skudlarek, at Wily West Productions
3. The Actual Stuff, by Megan Cohen, produced in SF Playhouse’s “Our Voices, Our Stories” Festival 
4. In the Wings, by Meghan O’Connor, part of the "Behind the Curtain" Festival
5. The Rose of Youth, by Marissa Skudlarek, part of the "Behind the Curtain" Festival
6. Pastorella, by Stuart Bousel, part of the "Behind the Curtain" Festival
7. Orphée, by Jean Cocteau, translated by Marissa Skudlarek, at Theater Pub 
8. The Pub from Another World, short plays by Timothy Kay, Audrey Kessinger, Sang Kim, Allison Page, Sunil Patel, Bridgette Dutta Portman, Kirk Shimano, and Marissa Skudlarek, at Theater Pub
9. The Dead, adapted by Jeremy Cole from James Joyce, at Theater Pub 
10. The Carmine Lie, by Claire Rice, at the Garage 
11. Greeks Bearing Gifts, short plays by Charles Lewis III, Barbara Jwanouskos, Robert Estes, Joel Street, Daniel Hirsch, and Marissa Skudlarek, at the Olympians Festival
12. Megan Cohen’s Totally Epic Odyssey, by Megan Cohen, at the Olympians Festival
13. Under the Gods’ Golden Cleats, by Rachel Bublitz, at the Olympians Festival
14. Trojan Women, short plays by Patsy Fergusson, Carol Lashof, Peter Hsieh, Ashley Cowan, Sarah McKereghan, Tonya Narvaez, and Marissa Skudlarek, at the Olympians Festival
15. Prince of the City by Bridgette Dutta Portman and The Judgment of Paris is Burning by Kirk Shimano, at the Olympians Festival
16. Cassandra, by Claire Rice, at the Olympians Festival
17. The Tools of War, short plays by Meghan O'Connor, Tracy Held Potter, Neil Higgins, Sunil Patel, Helen Noakes, and Allison Page, at the Olympians Festival
18. The Plains of Ilium by Jeremy Cole and The Immortal Wall of Troy by Madeline Puccioni, at the Olympians Festival
19. Ellen’s Undone, by Sam Hurwitt, at the Olympians Festival
20. See Also All, by Stuart Bousel, at the Olympians Festival

I also saw two operas this year, both at the San Francisco Opera: Tales of Hoffman and The Flying Dutchman.

And because I like seeing it all in one place and congratulating myself on a busy year, here are my personal theater-making credits of 2013:

• actor/participant in Pajanuary
• writer of "Harriet's Flying Cacti" for The Showdown
• writer, director, and producer of The Rose of Youth staged reading
• translator and producer of the Orphée staged reading
• member of the Pub From Another World reading/submissions committee and writer of "Horny"
• member of the Bay One-Acts reading/submissions committee, copy-editor of their anthology, and interviewer for their website
• writer for the SF Fringe Festival newsletter, The Daily Starr
• writer of "Teucer" for Greeks Bearing Gifts
• writer of "Laodike" for Trojan Women
• writer of "Oblivious" and "Cultural Baggage" for the One-Minute Play Festival

Plus, my play Pleiades got a staged reading at Atlantic Stage in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina!

See also my previous theater roundups: 2012, 2011, 2010