ACT's First Look New Plays Festival, Jan. 16 - 27

Three plays by three internationally renowned playwrights directed by three leading theater artists will take the stage at American Conservatory Theater's First Look New Plays Festival, running January 16 through January 27 at Zeum Theater.

The festival kicks off January 16 and 17 with Perloff and Caniparoli's The Tosca Project, directed by Perloff. First developed in a series of workshops conducted earlier this year with international actors and members of SF Ballet, The Tosca Project is a groundbreaking blend of theater, movement, and music that toasts the rich history of Tosca's Café, the famed nightspot located in San Francisco's North Beach district that has been a favorite of opera singers, Beat poets, Russian émigrés, and other eclectic characters since the 1920s.

On January 19 and 20, the festival proudly presents Brainpeople, the newest play from José Rivera, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of The Motorcycle Diaries. The play unfolds as a surreal dinner party taking place in an unnamed totalitarian state, where three women reckon with the complexities of their pasts. Brainpeople is directed by Erica Gould, who recently directed the world premiere of Neil Labute's autobahn at the Studio Theatre and Labute's Stand-Up at New York's Circle in the Square Theatre.

The festival concludes January 26 and 27 with a sneak peek at Constance Congdon's world premiere adaptation of Molière's The Imaginary Invalid. Set to close ACT's 40th-anniversary mainstage season June 7 through July 8 in a production directed by Ron Lagomarsino (ACT's The Gamester), The Imaginary Invalid is a rollicking satire about a hopeless hypochondriac who believes in nothing and no one--except the dubious diagnoses his quack doctors keep delivering.

THE FIRST LOOK NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL
January 16-27, 2007
Zeum Theater, 4th and Howard Streets, San Francisco

The Tosca Project – January 16 & 17 at 8PM
Created by Carey Perloff and Val Caniparoli
Directed by Carey Perloff

Brainpeople – January 19 & 20 at 8PM
Written by José Rivera
Directed by Erica Gould

The Imaginary Invalid – January 26 & 27 at 8PM
by Molière
Adapted by Constance Congdon
Directed by Ron Lagomarsino

Audience Exchange discussions with members of A.C.T.'s artistic team to follow all Saturday evening performances, and both performances of The Tosca Project. All presented as script-in-hand workshop productions.

Tickets are $10 for adults; $7 for students, seniors, and A.C.T. subscribers. A festival pass, good for one admission to all five productions, is available for $24. To purchase tickets, call 415-749-2228 or visit www.act-sf.org. The Zeum Theatre is located at 4th and Howard Streets, San Francisco.