Cutting Ball Extends THE CHAIRS Through 4/7

Cutting Ball Theater announces that it will add an additional five performances of its current production of Eugene Ionesco's THE CHAIRS. This tragic farce, in the tradition of Cutting Ball's hit productions of Ionesco's The Bald Soprano (2010) and Victims of Duty (2008), is as comedic as it is heartbreaking. Annie Elias (Tenderloin) directs THE CHAIRS, featuring David Sinaiko, Tamar Cohn, and Derek Fischer. THE CHAIRS plays now through April 7 (added performances: Thursday April 4, 7:30pm; Friday, April 5, 8:00pm; Saturday, April 6, 2pm, 8:00pm; Sunday April 7, 5pm) at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street) in San Francisco. For tickets and more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205.

THE CHAIRS follows an elderly couple who pass their time in an abandoned seaside building playing private games and telling each other half-remembered stories. Adrift in a world of their own, the Old Man resolves to convey his wisdom to a lifetime of friends, but while the Old Woman frantically sets out chairs, all of their invited guests appear to be imaginary. An eccentric meditation on the human condition, THE CHAIRS humorously blurs the line between fantasy and hallucination as the couple's game becomes their reality. Melrose's new translation offers a fresh take on this absurdist masterpiece.

About THE CHAIRS, Jean Schiffman of the San Francisco Examiner said "Cutting Ball Theater's current staging of mid-20th-century French playwright Eugene Ionesco's 'The Chairs' is probably one of the best theater of the absuRD Productions to be seen locally - ever." Lily Janiak of SF Weekly called the production "a sumptuous opportunity for the imagination," and Alex Bigman at the SF Appeal noted, "The Chairs' is theater of the absurd at perhaps its purest."

"After such a tremendous reception at Cutting Ball last season with Tenderloin, I am delighted to return to direct The Chairs," said director Annie Elias. "With this new translation of Ionesco's classic tragic farce, we pay homage to his declared aesthetic sources; some may find it surprising that Ionesco was inspired by Charlie Chaplin, The Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, as well as cartoons. At the same time, the play conveys a pathos and humanity beneath the surface antics. Written in 1952, The Chairs is just as relevant and poignant, and humorous, today as it was when it was penned."

Co-founded in 1999 by theater artists Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal avant-garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. Cutting Ball Theater has partnered with Playwrights Foundation, and the Magic Theatre/Z Space New Plays Initiative to commission new experimental works. The company has produced a number of World Premieres, West Coast Premieres, and re-imagined various classics. Cutting Ball received the 2008 San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie award for outstanding talent in the performing arts, and was voted "Best Theater Company" in the 2010 San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay issue. The company also earned the Best of SF award in 2006 and "Best Experimental Theater Company" in 2012 from SF Weekly, and was selected by San Francisco magazine as Best Classic Theater in 2007. Cutting Ball Theater was featured in the February 2010 and 2012 issues of American Theatre Magazine.

Following THE CHAIRS, Cutting Ball rounds out the main stage season in May with the World Premiere of KRISPY KRITTERS IN THE SCARLETT NIGHT, San Francisco playwright Andrew Saito's poetic portrayal of the heart of a dystopian city.