I Look Like an Egg, But I Identify as a Cookie. In her solo show, Heather Gold recounts the journey from Niagara Falls (where she spent the first 19 years of her life) to her current role as San Francisco's resident lesbian domestic goddess -- while baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies in front of a live audience. Even as she's plunking bits of soggy dough onto a battered metal baking tray and babbling on about her rugby-playing days as a law student at Yale, Gold, wielding her remarkable improvisation skills, creates an atmosphere of cozy intimacy. Certain parts of her monologue ramble on for too long, but even during the show's most half-baked moments, it's easy to understand why the audience gets so involved: Gold makes for an endearingly slapdash cook. Each performance involves a special guest, and it's a sheer pleasure to see a food-themed show that's not about battling one's body image (as is so often the case with productions by female artists -- e.g., Eve Ensler's The Good Body) and a program stuffed with recipes for delicacies like gingersnaps and caramel chocolate squares. Through April 25 at Hotel Rex, 562 Sutter (between Powell and Mason), S.F. Tickets are $30-50; call (800) 838-3006 or visit www.subvert.com. (Chloe Veltman) Reviewed Jan. 12.
Not a Genuine Black Man. It's not easy being green, but try being a black kid in San Leandro in the early '70s. When Brian Copeland got there -- just a few months after the Summer of Love, he points out -- it was one of the most viciously racist suburbs in America. Now it's officially the most diverse. "Take that, San Francisco," Copeland chides. He's earned that attitude, not just for going through his hell of growing up, but also for extracting from it such affirmative, hilarious stuff. Copeland's rightfully popular one-man show is wrought from pain and rage but never really succumbs to bitterness. "Is that black?" he asks, and proves that it is. Some of his best stereotype-busting material doesn't feel especially new, but it does feel good. Besides, it's the stereotypes that have passed their expiration dates: Copeland's title comes from an accusation flung at him by a cranky listener who called in to his KGO radio program. This show is his response. With help from declarative lighting and David Ford's direction, Copeland creates an affecting hybrid of the dramatic monologue and the rollicking stand-up act. Through April 30 at the Marsh, 1062 Valencia (at 22nd Street), S.F. Tickets are $15-22; call 826-5750 or visit www.themarsh.org. (Jonathan Kiefer) Reviewed June 2, 2004.
One Big Lie. Getting "god-fucked," as Liz Duffy Adams so eloquently puts it in her dark musical comedy, is, despite the comedy part, no laughing matter. Divided into three acts, each representing a different era -- "The Pastoral World" of ancient Greek myth, "The Mechanical World" of 1930s America, and an unspecified, dystopian future called "The Po-Mo Mo-Fo Freakshow World" -- One Big Lie explores the myriad ways in which humans suffer at the hands of oppressors, yet don't seem able to survive without believing the lies the despots sell them. That's because the deities are just too seductive to reject. Unlike the human characters, who wallow about in sackcloth-ragged misery making dull, heroic speeches about liberty and suffering, the gods hog the best lines, have the most fun, and wear the coolest duds. Though hampered by its clunky narrative and the absence of a rhythm section to give David Rhodes' fairly nondescript musical score a bit of heat, the play is memorable for its vivid performances, punchy dialogue, and smartass humor. Through April 16 at the Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy (at Taylor), S.F. Tickets are $15-20; call 675-5995 or visit www.crowdedfire.org. (Chloe Veltman) Reviewed March 30.
Rush Limbaugh in Night School. Charlie Varon has revived and revamped his hilarious 1994 solo tour de force, a satire that may owe more than a little to Tom Stoppard's Travesties, about Rush Limbaugh and a cast of mostly still-relevant national figures from the left and right. When a conservative Latino radio host threatens Limbaugh's dominance in a Florida market, the potbellied pundit puts on a beard and enrolls in Spanish night classes (at the New School), where he falls in love with a fugitive ex-member of the Weather Underground. For obscure reasons Limbaugh also tries to play Othello in blackface, in a star-studded production featuring Garrison Keillor, directed by Spalding Gray. Things go predictably to hell. Varon's in full command of his characters; the voices are sharp, if not perfect; and his timing is hard to beat. But he and Limbaugh are both visibly older. Varon's point in 1994 was that Limbaugh had upended the whole idea of satire -- he'd turned a traditional weapon of the underprivileged into a tool of power, and the last 10 years have only shown how potent that strategy can be. Limbaugh was pretty much on his own in 1994; lately his talk-radio spawn have probably helped a) elect a new governor in California, and b) re-elect a president. Depressing. Through April 17 at the Marsh, 1062 Valencia (at 22nd Street), S.F. Tickets are $15-22; call 826-5750 or visit www.themarsh.org. (Michael Scott Moore) Reviewed Dec. 15, 2004.
Also Playing
Are We Almost There? Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter (at Powell), 433-3040.
As You Like It Curran Theatre, 445 Geary (between Taylor and Mason), 551-2000.
BATS: Sunday Players Fort Mason, Bldg. B, Marina & Buchanan, 474-6776.
Beach Blanket Babylon Club Fugazi, 678 Green (at Powell), 421-4222.
Beautiful Child Theatre Rhinoceros, 2926 16th St. (at South Van Ness), 861-5079, www.therhino.org.
Beyond Therapy Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter (at Powell), 433-3040.
Big City Improv Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter (at Powell), 433-3040.
The Blue Dress New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness (at Market), 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org.
Comedy Improv at Your Disposal Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter (at Powell), 433-3040.
Creative Drama Classes New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness (at Market), 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org.
Crimes of the Heart Actors Theatre San Francisco, 533 Sutter (at Powell), 296-9179.
Cuba Caribe Festival of Dance, Music, and Theater Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St. (at Mission), 826-4401.
Della Pancha Shotwell Studios, 3252A 19th St. (at Folsom), 289-2000.
Evita Orpheum Theater, 1192 Market (at Eighth St.), 512-7770.
F.O.B. and F.O.P. Magic Theatre, Fort Mason, Bldg. D (Marina & Buchanan), 441-8822.
For Better or Worse Berkeley Repertory's Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison (at Shattuck), Berkeley, 510-647-2949.
Free Family Series Berkeley Repertory School of Theatre, 2071 Addison (at Shattuck), (510) 647-2972, www.berkeleyrep.org.
GayProv Off-Market Studio, 965 Mission (at Fifth St.), 896-6477, www.cafearts.com.
Improv Revolution Off-Market Theater, 965 Mission (at Fifth St.), 896-6477, www.offmarkettheater.com.
Intrigue in the Mansion: Murder Mystery Dinner The Archbishop's Mansion, 1000 Fulton (at Steiner), 563-7872.
The Just The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby (at MLK Jr.), Berkeley, 510-841-6500.
Love, Chaos & Dinner Pier 29, Embarcadero (at Battery), 273-1620.
Minnie's Boys Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson (at Front), 788-7469.
Monday Night Improv Jam Climate Theater, 285 Ninth St. (at Folsom), 364-1411.
Monday Night Marsh The Marsh, 1062 Valencia (at 22nd St.), 826-5750, www.themarsh.org.
Mrs. Carroll's Alice Randall Museum Theater, 199 Museum (at Roosevelt), 554-9600.
The Shooting Stage New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness (at Market), 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org.
Teen Playwriting Workshop New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness (at Market), 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org.
Temptation Off-Market Theater, 965 Mission (at Fifth St.), 896-6477, www.offmarkettheater.com.
Throckmorton Stories 142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton (at Madrona), Mill Valley, 383-9600.
Viva Variety Buriel Clay Theater, 762 Fulton (at Webster), 922-2049.
Young Actor's Workshop Classes New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness (at Market), 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org.
