Mission Mission

Fall is a great time for seeing live theater, as the Indian Summer winds down and temperatures drop into that horrible 50-60° range, warm theaters are a welcome sanctuary. Katie & Brittany are on a roll, seeing all kinds, even though they’ve been overall less impressed than they hoped to be, but more on that later. Here they are with a report from Hush at Z Space:

Andrew Ward (top) and Felipe Barrueto-Cabello (bottom) perform in Hush; photo by Margo Moritz

Z Space is one of our favorite live performance venues in San Francisco, not just because it’s a beautiful warehouse theater, with not a bad seat in the house, and an art gallery in the lobby but also because there is always something new and different. Last week they premiered Hush a dance-theater piece created by the Joe Goode Performance Group. It had been featured on the cover of Theatre Bay Area and has been generally buzzed about, so we were very excited at opening night . . . maybe too excited.

Brittany: There were a lot of good things about this show. They were all really talented dancers. The foley and music was awesome. I loved watching the sound effects happen live. The set was pretty cool. The problem was the story was disappointingly trite, so the piece didn’t live up to the hype.

Like any play, once the plot was established I felt like the relationships between the characters should be driving the piece, but that didn’t happen. They established that there were specific relationships between specific actors, and that those people were playing the same roles throughout the play, but they were so focused on dancing they didn’t let the relationships develop. Great dancers don’t necessarily make great actors I guess. It felt like the piece lacked an emotional through line.

If this same story was told in 30-40 mins, instead of an hour fifteen, I would have probably walked away feeling like this was a perfect dance-theater piece, but for me it dragged.

Katie: Right! Wow, I couldn’t have said it better . . . so I won’t even try.

The Verdict: Do you love, love, love dance pieces? You need to see this show! Are you more into a well told story that happens to have beautiful movement and awesome music, then we don’t think you will be blown away by this piece as a whole.

The Drama Talk: All the elements to make an amazing dance-theater piece were there: talented people, a very awesome space, insane cool music and sound effects, however this was one time the whole was not greater than the sum of its parts. Falling short on the storyline, and indulging in few too many artsy repetitions of dance movements, made the show a little long and as a whole get a little . . . [we so don’t want to say it, because we HATE this word] boring.

The Drinks: Since the characters worked a dive bar we thought it would be best to go to the Homestead a few blocks away. We got our usuals and poured one out for unrealistic expectations.

Hush runs through 10/5 at Z Space, and tickets can be purchased through their website. Ticket prices vary. You can get seats way in the back for $15-20, but the best seats in the house will run you closer to $65-70.

[via Torrey]

Were you ever inducted into the Jejune Institute?

Back in 2008, I started seeing a bunch of Scientology-esque Memory-to-Media Center fliers around town, involving a device that could transcribe your memories and dreams onto VHS tapes, among other inconceivable claims. If you called the number on the flier, you would be led to the physical office of the Jejune Institute in the Financial District, then down a rabbit hole of scavenger hunts and mystery-solving through some of the lesser traveled nooks and crannies of San Francisco and Oakland. There was a whole host of mysterious characters and seemingly fictional organizations, including a cultish leader, a missing teenage girl, a rival organization threatening to take down the Jejune Institute, a dancing sasquatch, a bizarre low-wattage radio station broadcast from Dolores Park, and more.

It was revealed three years later that the Jejune Institute was a massive, intricate, immersive art project and alternate reality game, designed by artist Jeff Hull in order to encourage residents to explore their own city through an unlikely lens — a kind of Children’s Fairyland for adults. Around the same time, the Jejune Institute closed abruptly and left a lot of questions unanswered.

The Institute, a film by Spencer McCall, appears to be a documentary about the Jejune Institute, featuring many interviews with participants and the creator himself. However, it is not entirely clear how much of the film is real and how much of it is just another chapter to Hull’s art project. Some believe that more installments of the Jejune Institute await, and that this film is just the beginning of the next one.

The Institute is one of the most interesting and weirdly inspiring films I’ve seen lately, and it will appeal to fans of scavenger hunts, secret stairway walks, conspiracy theories, Unsolved Mysteries, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, and the like. The Institute opens on Friday, October 4 and runs through Wednesday, October 9 at the Roxie.

Brittney Gilbert reports:

Climbing aboard I saw all seats full except for one beside a little girl who was splayed across her seat and the one empty next to her. I opted to stand. That is, until the bus became so full that it was better for all involved if I took the empty seat. So, I did.

That’s when the little girl looked up at me and let out a huge smile. “Hi,” she said.

I said hello back. I smiled down at her but planned to keep listening to the music on my headphones. That’s when she offered me her hot dog.

This sweet girl, all bangs and grins, hot dog bun stuck between each of her tiny teeth, wanted to share her food with me.

I politely declined, but pulled my headphones down around my neck.

“I’m four,” she told me.

Read on.

SFist reports:

A Muni bus at 20th and Mission had a collision with car pulling out of a parking space Tuesday afternoon around 1 p.m. The crash sent three passengers aboard the bus to the hospital with non-serious injuries, and it’s unclear what happened to the driver of the car, or if he/she was injured.

Read on.

[via Carol]

Well, I suppose that’s settled.

Excited about tomorrow's Wes Burger @MojoBicycleCafe Oktoberfest burger: fresh pretzel bun, obatzda, kraut, red onion, german mustard. 6-10

— Wes Rowe (@Thewesburger) October 1, 2013

Yet another Drama Talk that I was bummed to miss. I love Sam Shepard, murky and complicated as I am. Brittany and Katie sent in this report of Buried Child at Magic Theatre:

Bradley (Patrick Kelly Jones, right) prepares a rude awakening for his father Dodge (Rod Gnapp) in Sam Shepard’s Buried Child at Magic Theatre through October 6. Photo: Jennifer Reiley

It was a rare beautiful sunny Sunday in San Francisco. America’s Cup festivities had Fort Mason abuzz with the kind of exuberance that can only come from the carefree joie-de-vivre of rich people and their fancy hobbies. After strolling along the waterfront and looking at all the beautiful things and people, we ascended the stairs into Magic Theatre to see their recently opened revival of Sam Shepard’s Buried Child. As we entered the theater we were transported to a decaying gray house in farm-town Illinois on a desperately rainy day. We knew we were in for some Drama Talk & Drinks.

Brittany: I’m a little confused, but I think that ‘s the intent of Shepard. It’s supposed to be a play you come away from feeling uncomfortable and confused. Like “OMG what did I just see? I just saw a family, or the remains of a family, crumble on stage”.  There’s something about watching something so raw, so uncomfortable, and so unhappy. I don’t know if I’d tell people to run out and go see it, unless they’re really up for a depressing evening, but I do think it was a good production. Although, I couldn’t stand the actor who played Halie (Denise Balthrop Cassidy).

Katie: Right, it felt like she was reading directly from the script half the time. Other than her, I thought all the actors were very good. Like the actor who played Dodge (Rod Gnapp), he was really remarkable. The set was really good too. I loved the porch and the real rain.

Brittany: Yeah, loved the set. Magic is such a small space, the way they built out the stairway into the wings made the space look huge, and really gave it the feeling of a big old decaying country house. The sound design was on point too. That sad guitar at the beginning had such a lonely harsh sound. With the rain, and dirty decaying set, it set the stage for the rest of the play which is just a raw look at an American family destroyed.

The Verdict: What a depressing show. Shepard really knows how to ruin a beautiful Sunday. It was a good production, with some really strong actors, great design, and good direction, but MAN. Wear a cup because Shepard is going right for the balls with this play, and the Magic cast led by Rod Gnapp as Dodge, shows no mercy.

The Drama Talk: This show is not for everyone. If you like Sam Shepard, and therefore like having your guts wrenched, you’ll probably enjoy it. Otherwise be forewarned. As the name implies, think of the most messed up depressing things that could be buried within a family. Those will be dug up and thrust in front of the audience throughout the show.

The Drinks: After watching that much desolation on stage we needed a strong drink. Since we were in the Marina, we decided to follow the advice of Mission Mission friend, Stuart Schuffman, and head to Horseshoe Tavern. There were thankfully very few Marina folk, just 49ers fans, so we could wallow freely without the company of too many crisply starched polos and gaily printed Lilly Pulitzer frocks. The whole first act transpired during a massive on-stage thunderstorm, so Katie appropriately ordered a Dark and Stormy. Brittany contemplated ordering whiskey straight up, but it was only 5pm and we had one more show to see that day, so whiskey ginger it was.

Buried Child has been extended through October 13th, so you have a few weeks to catch this show before it closes. Tickets are available on the Magic Theatre website and are $45-55 on Tues-Thurs, and $50-60 Friday-Sunday. There’s also a senior and “educator” discount available, so if you’re either of those just bring an ID.

We couldn’t find anything on GoldStar yet, and there’s no mention of student or under 30 discounts, but Magic does say “Keep checking our Facebook page, blog and website for updates and announcements on rush tickets, discounts and special promotions.” so there’s that.

[via Mills]