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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, recently extended for another few weeks, 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 recently 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 June 26 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.
Sacrament! Yes, Dave Eggers has written a play, too. Get over it. Even better: See it, and come out saying, "Oh yeah, I like Eggers." In collaboration with Campo Santo and director Kent Nicholson, the writer seems reinvigorated by the immediacy of theater. The tone is familiar: equal parts goofiness and gravitas, with results greater than the sum of their parts. The aesthetic is familiar as well: a handsome production, clean, controlled, and elegant in a pared-down way. And, of course, the material is familiar (from Eggers' novel You Shall Know Our Velocity!): Two young men, bearing a financial windfall and a friend's death, travel the world on impulse, grieving and giving away money. Should be easy enough. But, as Will (Sean San José) observes, "It's always so fucking complicated!" Identity, both civic and personal, is a creative act: It demands the effort of self-reflection, of converting memory into inspiration, yet the actors here pull it off. Danny Wolohan, as Hand, makes great, simple choices and is impossible not to like. He and San José have fine support from Tina Marie Murray and Michael Torres. If the cast's headlong charges into the text sometimes seem memorized beyond the prospect of discovery (and read like a phobia of stillness), it might be considered a thematic preoccupation. To discover mystery is an artist's privilege and his task, and Eggers won't let that opportunity be squandered. The show beseeches you to stay open above all; it'll leave you feeling at once wrung-out and ravenous. Through June 28 at Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia (between 15th and 16th streets), S.F. Tickets are $9-15; call 626-3311 or visit www.theintersection.org. (Jonathan Kiefer) Reviewed June 9.
Also Playing Arcadia: Tom Stoppard's comedy jumps back and forth in perspective from the inhabitants of a 19th century mansion to a pair of modern historians who study their movements, 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays, through July 11; $20-$50. Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro (at Mercy), Mountain View, 650-903-6000.
Awe About Eve: Theatre Rhinoceros stages the original uncut screenplay (filmed in the 1950s as All About Eve) written by Joseph Mankiewicz and made famous by Bette Davis' classic performance, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, through July 18; Opening night, 8 p.m. Thursday, June 24, $25; 3 p.m. Sundays, through July 18; $15-$20. Theatre Rhinoceros, 2926 16th St. (at South Van Ness), 861-5079.
The Best of Playground 8: A festival showcasing the best of local playwrights with seven short plays from Tom Swift, Jonathan Luskin, and other writers, 8 p.m. Thursday, June 24, through Saturday, June 26, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, June 27; $15-$40. Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida (at Mariposa), 285-8282.
Betrayal: Aurora Theatre Company's take on Harold Pinter's drama about marital infidelity; Previews, 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 23; 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays, beginning Thursday, June 24, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays, through July 25; $28-$40. Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison (at Shattuck), Berkeley, 510-843-4822.
"Bourgeois": A rather schizophrenic evening of experimental music, dance, and theater featuring choreographer Joe Landini's 4 Stories, a dance piece reflecting on technology's takeover of modern culture, along with Femmisphere: Songs in the Key of Angst, a "drag cabaret" performance by the inimitable Trauma Flintstone, 8 p.m. Wednesdays, through June 30, $10, 885-4006 (information). Off-Market Theater, 965 Mission (at Fifth St.), 896-6477.
Eclipsed: Patricia Burke Brogan's drama takes a critical look at Ireland's Magdalene laundries, which incarcerated so-called "promiscuous" women, 8 p.m. Thursday, June 24, through Saturday, June 26, 2 p.m. Sunday, June 27; $13-$20. Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant (at Ellsworth), Berkeley, 510-843-4822.
