American Conservatory Theater Announces @THESTRAND

American Conservatory Theater-currently celebrating its 50th-anniversary subscription season-announced today that The Strand, A.C.T.'s Central Market venue, will be home to @TheStrand, a new series of events showcasing world-class performances, original theatrical events, acclaimed touring shows, and groundbreaking new works from the Bay Area and beyond. Featuring exciting works from the worlds of theater, dance, music, and more, @TheStrand will further develop A.C.T.'s dynamic and intimate performance complex into a unique San Francisco venue where audiences can discover, engage, and explore arts of all mediums.

Kicking off @TheStrand, American Conservatory Theater and piece by piece productions present Martin Moran at The Strand (November 29-December 11, 2016), a limited two-week engagement of Moran's 2013 Lucille Lortel Award-winning solo show, All the Rage, performed in repertory with Moran's OBIE Award-winning solo show,The Tricky Part.

Hailed as "an emotionally honest play about sexuality and reconciliation" by Associated Press, The Tricky Part recounts the true story of Moran's sexual relationship with a much older counselor he met at a Catholic boys camp and how, years later, he tracked down and confronted the man. Now an established New York actor, Moran has transformed his story into a riveting, often funny, and always surprising journey throughout the complexities of spirituality, desire, and human trespass.

All the Rage, Moran's 2013 award-winning solo performance, was written in part in response to a question he encountered while performing The Tricky Part. For most of his adult life, Martin wondered about anger. Surely he should have more rage about the sexual abuse he experienced as a boy, shouldn't he? The question haunts him and sends him on a quest from west of the Rockies to south of Johannesburg. Jumping from dream to memory to fact, he finds himself in an electric encounter with his fuming stepmother, lost in Africa with a guide who can't read maps, and in a room translating the details of an asylum seeker's torture. With equal parts honesty and entertainment, All the Rageattempts to solve an ancient human riddle: How is it that one moment we might reach out in compassion and the next . . . kill?

Written by and starring Martin Moran and directed by Seth Barrish, Martin Moran at The Strand will perform the limited two-week engagement beginning November 29 and running through December 11, 2016. The performance schedule for All the Rage is as follows: Tuesday, November 29 at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m.*;Saturday, December 3 at 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, December 4 at 7:30 p.m.;Wednesday, December 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, December 9 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, December 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 11 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule for The Tricky Part is as follows: Wednesday, November 30 at 7:30 p.m.;Friday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m.*; Thursday, December 8 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, December 10 at 2 p.m. Tickets for Martin Moran at The Strand range in price from $25-$60 and are available at the A.C.T. Box Office at 415.749.2228 or online at www.act-sf.org.
*denotes press performances

This holiday season, the "musically thrilling," award-winning, undie-rock, comedy-pop duoThe Skivvies make their San Francisco debut with their acclaimed holiday show, Holiday Roadkill, for three performances only-December 22-23, 2016. Joined by special guestRandy Harrison (Queer as Folk, national tour of Cabaret), The Skivvies-Tony Award-nominee Lauren Molina (Rock of Ages, Sweeney Todd, Candide, Marry Me A Little) andNick Cearley (Pageant, A Midsummer Night's Dream, All Shook Up)-will perform stripped-down versions of eclectic covers, wacky holiday mash-ups ("I Melt with You/Frosty the Snowman," "We Got the Beat/The Little Drummer Boy"), and eccentric originals ("It's F*cking Hanukkah," "The Text Message Song"). Not only is the music stripped-down-cello, ukulele, glockenspiel, melodica, and a surprising array of other under-used instruments-but The Skivvies literally strip down to their underwear to perform. Grab your spiked eggnog, hurry down the chimney, and settle in for an evening of laughter and holiday cheer!

Nominated for "Show of the Year" for the 2015 MAC Award, the Wall Street Journal calls them "smart, sophisticated . . . ingenious," while Out Magazine says, "The Skivvies have managed to carve out a niche that we never knew needed to exist: part Weird Al-parody and part sexy burlesque . . . an unusual explosion of satire and sultry."

The performance schedule for The Skivvies: Holiday Roadkill is as follows: Thursday, December 22 at 7 p.m.; Friday, December 23 at 7 & 10 p.m. Tickets for The Skivvies: Holiday Roadkill range in price from $35-$55 and are available at the A.C.T. Box Office at 415.749.2228 or online at www.act-sf.org. VIP tickets, which include premier seating and a post-show meet-and-greet with The Skivvies, are available for $75.

After a sold-out engagement last December, Tony Award-winner Bill Irwin returns to A.C.T. with On Beckett (January 10-22, 2017), his latest exploration of Samuel Beckett. In this exhilarating look at plays, prose, poetry-and some soft-shoe rhythms-Irwin combines a series of Beckett passages with personal musings from a lifetime of exploring the writer's work. The performance schedule for On Beckett is as follows: Tuesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets for On Beckett range in price from $30-$70 and are available at the A.C.T. Box Office at415.749.2228 or online at www.act-sf.org.

An expanded calendar of events for @TheStrand will be announced at a later date. For more information on all performances, visit www.act-sf.org/atthestrand.

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