MAGIC CLASSICS Reading Series, At The Magic Theatre

Rainbow Zebra Productions LLC and the Magic Theatre have announced the Magic Classics Reading Series. In Magic Classics, talented casts will present staged readings of plays that originally premiered at the Magic Theatre.

The series will run weekly on Mondays, from June 2 – 30, 2025. All readings will take place at the Magic Theatre (Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd., Building D, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94123). Tickets are available at https://magictheatre.org/calendar/magic-classics for a suggested donation of $50. Following each reading, there will be a brief talkback.

“The vibrant history of the Magic Theatre as the leading play development center on the West Coast in its heyday provided us with the works of Sam Shepard, John O'Keefe, Julie Hebert, Claire Chafee, Michael McLure, Wendy MacLeod, and so many other great playwrights of the 20th century,” said Andrea Gordon, Artistic Director of Rainbow Zebra Productions LLC. “I was fortunate to direct at the Magic during this time, and had the deep pleasure of watching the great actors who graced these stages. We were young, political, and fabulously reckless with all our dreams.  Sean San Jose and I thought that bringing these classic plays back to life could bridge the gap between where we were then and the beautiful work being created now. We want a new audience to experience these plays, even just for one night. We recognize that despite the hard times the arts are facing in our culture right now, theatre cannot be beaten down or stopped; our ideas are vital, and we will rise again more powerfully. Magic will be saved!”

The full line-up is below:

Fool for Love 

By Sam Shepard (originally Premiered at the Magic 1982)
Featuring: Sarah Nina Hayon, Sean San José, Catherine Castellanos and Liam Vincent
Stage Directions: Caleb Cabrera
Directed by Andrea Gordon
Monday, June 2, 2025
7:00 p.m.

A critical and popular success, this masterfully constructed work brings searing intensity and rare theatrical excitement to its probing, yet sharply humorous study of love, hate and the dying myths of the Old West.

True Beauties 

By Julie Hébert (originally Premiered at the Magic 1986)
Featuring: Margo Hall, Lisa Ramirez, Sarah Nina Hayon, Brian Rivera, Camille Collaço and Lauren Andrei Garcia
Stage Directions: Caleb Cabrera
Directed by Andrea Gordon
Monday, June 9, 2025
7:00 p.m.

The story of a southern Louisiana woman’s life and the people she loves and loses, told through memories in the moment of her death. The play spans forty years. An everyday passing of an everyday soul.

Oedipus El Rey 

By Luis Alfaro (originally Premiered at the Magic 2009)
Featuring the cast of Luis Alfaro’s upcoming World Premiere at the Magic, Aztlán: Juan Amador, Catherine Castellanos, Daniel Duque- Estrada, Gabriela Guadalupe, Sean San José, Ogie Zulueta plus Sarah Nina Hayon
Directed by Andrea Gordon
Monday, June 16, 2025
7:00 p.m.

Set in South Central L.A., Oedipus el Rey is a gritty and electrifying take on the Greek tragedy, written by the acclaimed Magic playwright Luis Alfaro. Oedipus is reimagined as a young man whose dreams of controlling his own destiny soar beyond the prison walls where he’s spent his life. In a place where everyone is trapped by desperation, violence, and history, can one man transcend his own story? Love, family, and belief collide in this chilling, muscular odyssey that asks: what’s fate and what’s just the system?

The House of Yes 

By Wendy MacLeod (originally Premiered at the Magic 1990)
Featuring: Sarah Nina Hayon, Gabriela Guadalupe, Samuel Del Rosario, Caleb Cabrera and Jenny Nguyen Nelson 
Stage Directions: Eiko Yamamoto
Directed by Andrea Gordon

Monday, June 23, 2025
7:00 p.m.

Buried Child

By Sam Shepard (originally Premiered at the Magic 1978)
Featuring: Donald E. Lacy, Jr., Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, Brian Rivera, Khary L. Moye, Caleb Cabrera, Chanel Tilgham and Chuck Lacson
Stage Directions: Kevin Rolston
Directed by Andrea Gordon
Monday, June 30, 2025
7:00 p.m.