.png)
San Francisco International Arts Festival Announced 2018 Detailed Schedule
By: Stephi Wild Feb. 02, 2018
The San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) released the detailed performance schedule for the 2018 Program today. Forty different artist ensembles and companies will present their work exclusively at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture (FMCAC) from May 24 - June 3. Early Bird Tickets will go on sale for $15 on Thursday March 1.
With a very large salute to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a call to remember the power and importance of his mission and message 50 years after his death-including focusing on the subjects of white privilege and market capitalism; the 2018 Festival also celebrates women's leadership in feminist nouveau cirque; casts a queer eye over popular culture, the spirit of resistance and Artificial Intelligence; does another fabulous Pirouette with Asia. Four years after first including music stages at the Festival, marvels at the breadth of cultures active in the Bay Area's world, spiritual and jazz scenes. With an ever-expanding Family Program for those encumbered with little ones and even a rare foray into the hitherto unchartered and forbidden land of COMEDY: the 2018 Festival has something for every left-leaning, Trump averse, ant-fascist arts loving denizen of the Bay Area-and our many friends and kindred spirits from around the country and world!
Down by the Riverside. Anthony Brown and the Asian American Orchestra in collaboration with activist and academic Dr. Angela Davis with the premiere of a musical concert honoring the life of Dr. King titled, Down by the Riverside. The Festival will also commission a large scale, outdoor multi-media project titled Linking Armsby Paul Cartier that will be presented free to the public.
Related issues include Under Ice about the dark side of market capital by leading German playwright Falk Richter performed by Arturo Areimas Theatre from Lithuania and Yvette Dibos, who will perform as her persona "Miss Appropriation"-a series of vignettes that address gender, whiteness and appropriation. Dibos' show cathartically critiques pop culture's adoption of historically iconic subversive acts, specifically those that counter heteronormativity and white supremacy.
La Cirque Femme. The 2018 Festival will also mark the return of nouveau-cirque with performances by two all-women ensembles with very different approaches to the form: Cirquantique from Montreal led by aerialist Mélodie Couture focuses on corruption and prohibition. Meanwhile Troupe Vertigo from Los Angeles (whose artistic director Aloysia Gavre has known global acclaim as a soloist with Cirque du Soleil, but is even more highly regarded in the Bay Area because she was originally a Pickle!) approach the form with a more grounded approach to explore how women use weight and balance to embrace mutual trust and support.
Losers + Dragons + Queer A.I. A Triple Dose of Queerdom unleashes Eric Kupers and his faithful Bandelion ensemble to declare We are all Dragons in Drag and call forth connections to primal power in opposition to the Trump regime; STEAMROLLER Dance Company performs Loserville, a queering of the iconic film The Breakfast Club. Loserville questions how media affects perceptions of race and sexuality and links the idea of the loser with the experiences of marginalized communities. From Taiwan Pao Chang Tsai looks at a sudden queer death to examine the even more lethal combination of social media and Artificial Intelligence in Solo Date..
For those in need of a double dose of crime and death Brian Copeland performs The Scion a true story about the 2000 triple homicide of three meat inspectors in San Leandro. The play examines the roles of privilege and government regulation in American society.
A Pirouette with Asia II is a second round of post-modern dance performances from across the Pacific that presents the US and Bay Area debuts of younger choreographers whose careers are poised to take off in a big way. This year's Festival sees Boram Kim lead Ambiguous Dance Company onto the Cowell Theater stage to perform Rhythm of Human and Wataru Kitao brings his Tokyo based ensemble Baobab to present the US debut of Laughing Frame.
The Rise of Music. It was in 2015 that SFIAF and FMCAC first collaborated to present the Festival and devoted a stage to the presentation of music. This year will feature 13 different ensembles performing throughout the two week program will present everything from Malian post-independence folk, Sufi qawwali, Haitian percussion, Pilipino folk music, Persian and American jazz, Chinese traditional along with inspiring sprinklings of world, lounge and tango. Not to mention the wide array of live music performed as part of the Festival's other performing arts offerings.
The confirmed list of theatre, music and dance artists currently planning on participating in the 2018 Festival is as follows: Adrian Arias with Kristi Williamson, AguaClara Flamenco, Ambiguous Dance Company, Anthony Brown's Asian American Orchestra with Dr. Angela Davis, artpaul cartier, Arturo Areimas Theatre, Bandelion/Dandelion, Bahiya Movement, Baobab, Brian Copeland, Charlie Levin, Chris Carlsson, Cirquantique, David Nihill "A Funny Thing Happened...," De Rompe y Raja Cultural Association, Dina Zarif Trio, Fanna-fi-Allah, Florante Aguilar's Aswang, Igor Josifov, Interrogation Room, Jyotsna Vaidee, Krip-Hop Nation, Lua Hadar, Melody of China with VeVe Drummers, Orchestra Gold with Mariam Diakite, Pablo Estigarribia, Pao Chang Tsai, Priya Ramadoss, San Francisco Flamenco Dance Company, Sha Sha Higby, STEAMROLLER Dance Company, Troupe Vertigo, Ushanjali, ViBO Simfani, Vishwa Shanthi Performing Arts, Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco and Yaelisa & Caminos Flamencos and Yvette Dibos
SFIAF 2018 Presenting Partners include the Queer Cultural Center who will co-present Bahiya Movement and Pao Chang Tsai, the US/ Japan Cultural Trade Network who will co-present Baobab from Tokyo, The Korean American Cultural Center of San Francisco who will co-present Ambiguous Dance Company from Seoul and Embark Arts who will present Yvette Dibos.
Cirque
Cirquantique (Canada), Bang Bang (2012, US Premiere)
Thursday May 31 8:00pm, Friday June 1 7:00pm, Saturday June 2 9:00pm, Gallery 308.
Tix: $25 General Admission. $30-$35 Reserved Tables. Duration: 75 mins. with intermission.
Experience the dark world of prohibition era Quebec for a spellbinding evening of circus, burlesque and live music. Talented artists from underground circus in Montreal offer a night of transgression and rebelling against prohibition in a universe where organized crime rules. Immerse yourself in the mystery and decadence of The Roaring Twenties.
Troupe Vertigo (USA), Tableaux (2017, Nothern California Premiere)
Friday June 1 8:30pm, Saturday June 2 7:00pm, Sunday June 3 6:00pm. Cowell Theater
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 65 mins. No intermission.
Tableaux features five women inquiring about confinement and freedom, while finding themselves constrained on an island of boxes, trapped by the constrictions of society and themselves. Faced with numerous challenges set before them the artists collectively harness their physicality to the extreme overcoming these limitations by empowering and igniting their resourcefulness.
Comedy
David Nihill (USA), A Funny Thing Happened (2012)
Sunday May 27 7:00pm, Gallery 308.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 120 mins. with intermission.
Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, David is the author of the best-selling book Do You Talk Funny? and the Founder of FunnyBizz Conference. His work has been featured in Inc., Lifehacker, The Huffington Post, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Forbes, NPR, The Wall Street Journal,The Irish Independent and The Irish Times.
Dance
San Francisco Flamenco Dance Company (USA), 5 x Lorca (World Premiere)
Friday May 25 9:30pm. Gallery 308.
Tix: $25 General Admission, Reserved Tables $30-$35. Duration: 80 mins. plus intermission.
5 x Lorca (Lorca by 5) is an aleatoric work by five flamenco choreographers based on works by celebrated Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. Through music, dance and poetry we experience the fierce, poetic, sensual, heartbreaking, reflective, chaotic and joyful parts of human experience and are reminded of what unites us. With original choreography by Manuel Gutierrez, Mizuho Sato, Melissa Cruz, Clara Rodriguez and Kerensa DeMars.
Vishwa Shanthi Performing Arts (USA), Samudra Manthan (World Premiere)
Saturday May 26 3:00pm. Cowell Theater
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 90 mins. No intermission.
Indian Mythology in Classical Dance Drama with a cast of 35 Dancers enacting tug-of-war between Celestial Gods and Demons for Immortality. Vishwa Shanthi's grand operatic production uses the medium of Bharatanatyam, incorporating traditional elements to explore the inner spiritual meaning of this story from ancient texts where the Demigods and Demons are in competition for supremacy over the three worlds.
Bahiya Movement (USA), Weighted Acceptance (2016)
Saturday May 26 6:00pm. Firehouse.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. No intermission.
Weighted Acceptance fuses dance, music and poetic storytelling that explore inter-sectional oppression faced by People of Color. This multidisciplinary performance, seeks to heal urban communities by deepening the understanding of weights People of Color collectively carry. Weighted Acceptance, a safe space for all to heal through movement and spoken word.
Samudra Dance Creations (USA), The Caged Bird Who Sang (World Premiere)
Sunday May 27 3:00pm, Cowell Theater.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 90 mins. No intermission.
Inspired by women who were ground breaking in how they challenged the norms and embodied the living Devis that walked this earth, The Caged Bird who Sang is an artistic collaboration between Jyotsna Vaidee and Priya Ramadoss; a new Bharatanatyam production that delves inside stories of hope and courage weaving dance, original music and rich poetry.
Dandelion / Bandelion (USA), We Are All Dragons in Drag (World Premiere)
Wednesday May 30 8:00pm, Friday June 1 7:00pm, Saturday June 2 2:00pm, Sunday June 3 7:00pm. Firehouse. Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 60 minutes, no intermission.
There is great power locked inside each of us, and it can be harnessed as a tool of transformation. We Are All Dragons in Drag merges inclusive dance, music, storytelling, ritual, Drag, outrageousness-and opportunities for accessible audience participation to call forth connections to primal power.
Ambiguous Dance (South Korea), Rhythm of Human (2013, US Premiere)
Thursday May 31 8:00pm, Cowell Theater.
Tix: $25 General Admision. Duration: 50 mins. No intermission.
Rhythm of Human expresses the modern Korean man, who represents the individual that seeks his own rhythm within society. Dance transforms simple movements into expressions of life's rhythm. Dancing is not only for dancers; we all live as though dancing.
Baobab (Japan), Laughing Frame (2012, US Premiere)
Friday June 1 9;30pm, Saturday June 2 5:00pm, Sunday June 3 4:00pm, Firehouse.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 30 mins.
(Shared bill with STEAMROLLER. Total program 70 mins. with intermission.)
Laughing Frame is one of Baobab's signature pieces and has been performed many times in the company's native Japan. Choreographer Wataru Kitao's intention is to illustrate a dance as a picture and a genre as a picture frame. The dancers struggle to get out from frame to be free.
STEAMROLLER Dance Company (USA), Loserville (World Premiere)
Friday June 1 9;30pm, Saturday June 2 5:00pm, Sunday June 3 4:00pm, Firehouse.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 30 mins.
(Shared bill with Baobab. Total program 70 mins. with intermission.)
Loserville is a queering of The Breakfast Club, one of film director John Hughes' seminal films. Scenes from the Club are embodied by the performers who play with gender and race using timing and comedic physicality to challenge the heteronormative terrain of this cinematic genre.
AguaClara Flamenco and SF Flamenco Dance Company (USA), ¿Dónde Está Don Quixote? (World Premiere)
Saturday June 2 1:00pm, Gallery 308.
Tix: $25 General Admission, Children $12. Duration: 50 mins. No intermission
The whole family will delight in this madcap adventure to the heart of Flamencolandia. A spirited troupe of flamencos hot on the trail of Don Quixote embark on a journey filled with colorful characters, dazzling footwork and silly sing alongs. This whimsical introduction to the passionate world of flamenco will captivate children and adults alike.
De Rompe y Raja Cultural Association (USA) Cristo Moreno (World Premiere)
Saturday June 2 3:00pm, Cowell Theater.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 75 mins. No intermission.
Cristo Moreno is a criollo musical theatrical adaptation of the story of El Señor de Los Milagros, patron saint of Lima that highlights the importance of the African legacy in Peru. >From their arrival in slave ships to the Angolan slave who painted a black Christ on a mud brick wall in the 17th century to the procession in which tens of thousands of people participate to this day.
Yaelisa & Caminos Flamencos (USA), Ritmo (World Premiere)
Friday June 1 9:30pm, Gallery 308.
Tix: $25 General Admission, $30-$35 Reserved Tables. Duration: 75 mins. No Intermission.
Emmy winner Yaelisa brings together an extraordinary and influential cast with artists from Spain and the U.S. In this performance, the ensemble explores the less commercial, more deeply felt flamenco of the street, of the common man with the powerful thread of rhythm. Ritmo will include the Bay Area debut of famed dancer Alfonso Losa-one of the most exciting dancers in Spain today renowned for his extensive rhythmic and percussive abilities.
Ushanjali Dance (USA), In Search of Eternal Love (2016)
Sunday June 3 2:00pm, Cowell Theater.
Tickets: $25 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. No Intermission.
In Search of Eternal Love examines parallels in the philosophies of well known Hindu and Muslim spiritual poets: Mevlana Jalaledin Rumi (13th Century Persian Poet) and Meera Bai (16th Century poet from India). Through the prism of these important historical figures Ushanjali offers a vision of unity and peace utilizing animated videos and Indian Classical dance accompanied by live music and poetry.
Theatre Flamenco de San Francisco (USA), El Cruce de Lenguajes (World Premiere)
Sunday June 3 6:00pm. Gallery 308.
Tix: $25 General Admission, $30-$35 Reserved Tables. Duration: 100 mins. No intermission.
El Cruce de Lenguajes (the crossing of Languages) has been created by Artistic Director Carola Zertuche for the San Francisco International Art Festival. The show features guest Artists from Spain, Mexico, South America, India and the USA. This production explored the common ground of humanity that is reflected in the art of flamenco.
Historical Walking Tours
Chris Carlsson (USA),The Hidden Histories of Fort Mason, Black Point and North Shore (2017)
Saturday June 2 12:00pm. Chapel.
Tix $25 General Admission. Duration: 90 mins. No intermission.
A walking tour that begins in the shadow of the Fontana Towers and concludes at the Fort Mason gates. During the excursion participants will traverse the grounds of the old military base and discover nearby histories of farms, soldiers, lost lagoons and water flumes, and an epic World's Fair.
Music
Fanna-Fi-Allah (USA), Sufi Qawwali Party
Thursday May 24 7:30pm, Cowell Theater.
Tix: $35 General Admission. Duration: 120 mins. No intermission.
Fanna-Fi-Allah hold the flame of traditional Sufi Qawwali music with the blessings of their teachers; some of the greatest masters of the qawwali form in India and Pakistan. Through the beauty of the music they embody a universal message of devotion and tolerance that is crucial to our time.
Dina Zarif Trio (USA), In Concert
Thursday May 24 8:00pm, Firehouse.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. with intermission.
Dina Zarif is a classical vocalist and actor originally from Iran. She has sung with the Stanford Symphonic Choirs, at the Stanford Pan-Asian Music Festival, and performed in multiple theater projects including with ShadowlIght Productions and The Darvag Theater group.
Yohei Miyake (Japan), In Concert
Thursday May 24 8:00pm, Gallery 308.
Tix: $25 General Admission
Yohei Miyake is a musician that the Japanese media never features and who the government fears the most. Miyake does not look like a usual politician. He sports a stubbly beard and long hair. He calls his campaign Election Festival and appears everywhere in Tokyo with his band and DJ. His policies are especially supported by young voters. Presented by the US/Japan Cultural Trade Network.
Orchestra Gold with Mariam Diakité (USA and Mali), In Concert
Friday May 25 7:00pm. Gallery 308.
Tix: $12 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. No intermission.
Orchestra Gold plays big band music from Mali's post-independence 1960s and 70s "golden" era. Folkloric songs are the centerpiece, some with origins dating back hundreds of years. They contain inspiration, wisdom, and insight into the human condition. In the United States' current era of turbulence, this wisdom affords a renewed perspective on modern-day existence.
Lua Hadar & Twist (USA), Voyager Project (World Premiere)
Saturday May 26 6:00pm. Gallery 308.
Tix: General Admission $25, Reserved Tables $30-$35. Duration: 75 mins. No intermission.
Multi-lingual vocalist Lua Hadar and her band Twist debut their Voyager Project with a live concert, premiering a new Music Video set to Lua's original song, Our Common Humanity. Piano: Jason Martineau; Bass: Sascha Jacobsen; Drums: Celso Alberti; Percussion: Ian Dogole; Reeds: Sheldon Brown; Guitar: Schuyler McFadden.
Anthony Brown and Angela Davis with Asian American Orchestra and Voices of a Dream Quintet (USA). Down by the Riverside: Requiem for a King (World Premiere)
Saturday May 26 8:00pm, Cowell Theater.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 100 mins. with intermission.
On April 4, 1967, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his most controversial speech, "Beyond Vietnam-A Time to Break Silence" at the Riverside Church in New York City. King declared a strong antiwar stance questioning the nation's military role and morality in Vietnam. This was deemed unpatriotic; he was vilified in the media and mainstream America. Even fellow civil rights leaders turned against him. One year later to the day, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. SFIAF presents a commissioned composition by Anthony Brown to celebrate the life of Dr. King with original text written and performed by Angela Davis.
Pablo Estigarribia (Argentina), Tangos for Concert (2018, US Premiere)
Saturday May 26 9:00pm. Gallery 308.
Tix: General Admission $25, Reserved Tables $30-$35. Duration: 50 minutes, no intermission.
An alluring night of passion and elegance. The skillful blend of tango colors with classical virtuosity and jazz flavor hits the Festival's stage with the return of Maestro Pablo Estigarribia from Buenos Aires. Come and delight in his award winning piano solos, Tangos De Conciertos, and the debut of exclusive works with local guest artists.
Hafez Mordirzirdeh (USA), In Concert
Sunday May 27 4:30pm, Firehouse.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. No intermission.
The Iranian-American saxophonist/composer is a confidant of jazz legends like Ornette Coleman and a mentor to cutting edge stars like Vijay Iyer. Always looking to expand his conceptual framework, he's created an enthralling body of music that encompasses classical modes from Persian, Arabic and Turkish music and beyond.
Florante Aguilar (USA), Aswang Ghost Stories (2018, San Francisco Premiere)
Sunday May 27 6:00pm, Cowell Theater.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 75 mins. No intermission.
Aswang is inspired by Philippine mythological monsters and how they came to be - in song form! The piece is based on research into traditional ghost stories and the creatures that inhabit them. Bringing this nether world to life, Aswang expresses each monster's narrative--told from their own perspective.
ViBO Simfani (USA), In Concert
Saturday June 2 6:00pm, Gallery 308.
Tix: $25 General Admission, $30-$35 Reserved Tables. Duration: 60 mins. No Intermaission.
World music at its best, ViBO Simfani bridges cultures by fusing elements of Latin jazz, folk, classical and Brazilian styles such as Bossa Nova and Choro. The end result is romantic, fun and mystical all at once. With the impeccable performance and arrangements of strings, woodwinds, guitar and percussion, ViBO Simfani reinterprets a traditional repertoire with an original sound.
Melody of China with the Veve Vodou Drum & Dance Ensemble, (USA), Spirit Rhythms (World Premiere)
Sunday June 3 3:00pm. Gallery 308.
Tix: $20 General Admission, $25-$30 Reserved Tables. Duration: 75 mins., no intermission.
Melody of China and the Veve Vodou drum and dance ensemble present Spirit Rhythms both a shared bill and collaborative concert that combines Hatian drumming and dancing with traditional Chinese music. Yangqin Zhao and Zeke Nealy are featured artists. The program includes a striking blend of new and traditional works.
Performance & INSTALLATION Art
Yvette Dibos (USA), Miss Appropriation tries to _(Fill in the blank)_ (2017)
Friday May 25 7:00pm, Saturday May 26 9:00pm, Sunday May 27 4:00pm. Southside Theater.
Tix: $15 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. No intermission.
Miss Appropriation tries to _(Fill in the blank)_ is a journey where we follow one wannabe drag queen through her attempts to escape the mediocrity of her white suburban upbringing and become, not just famous, but influential. A dark comedic look at power systems, feminism, whiteness, millennial pink and cultural misappropriation. Presented by Embark Arts.
The Interrogation Room (USA), The Interrogation Room (2016)
Friday May 25 7:00pm, Sunday May 27 2:00pm. Firehouse.
Tix: $15 General Admission Duration: 60 mins. No intermission.
The Interrogation Room is an immersive performance piece, grounded in whimsy and absurdity, that comments on and parodies the power dynamics involved with gaining citizenship, entry or membership to a new space. Inside a processing center for Samchriavid, audience members are invited to choose from two levels of participation: applicant or spectator.
Artpaul Cartier (USA), Linking Arms (World Premiere)
Friday May 25 8:00pm. Lower Fort Mason Parking Lot.
Tix: FREE General Admission Duration: 20 mins. No intermission.
Linking Arms is a silent montage of occurrences and happenings during and around the Civil Rights struggle of 1968, including local incidents such as the San Francisco State University student strike for Black (and Brown) Studies curricula. It will also include a selected chronology of Pro-Democracy and Civil Rights landmark events from 1968 up to the present, including the Women's March in San Francisco in January 2018.
Sha Sha Higby (USA), Dance in Sculptural Costume
Friday May 25 9:30pm, Saturday May 26 9:00pm, Sunday May 27 8:00pm. Firehouse.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. (including time for viewing costumes).
A journey of life, death, and rebirth using ephemeral images created with the whimsical manipulation of hand crafted materials, textures and exotic sculptural costume. Interwoven with puppetry, dance and intricate props, Sha Sha's work creates a journey in which movement and stillness meet binding us together as if in an invisible web.
Charlie Levin (USA) The One Truthiness (2016, San Francisco Premiere)
Sunday May 27 and June 3 7:00pm, Saturday June 2 9:00pm, Southside Theater.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 120 mins. No intermission.
An illuminated painting in wax on glass is created in response to a text read aloud by the audience, presenting interviews, Tweets, and other quotes with reflections on how our individual truths map against each other. In this intimate performance, even in conflict, we are all in the picture together. presented by Ayodele Nzinga and Lower Bottom Playaz.
Igor Josifov (Macedonia), Wit-ness (2015)
Thursday May 31 7:00pm and 9:00pm, Firehouse.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 75 mins. No intermission.
Wit-ness is a project grounded in performance art. It features film, photolithographs and burned paper works. The project includes an installation that represents the violent confrontation between identity and vulnerability. A narrative that addresses the concept of surveillance ties the exhibit together.
Adrian Arias & Kristi Williamson (USA) In-Finite Beauty (World Premiere)
Saturday June 2 8:00pm, Sunday June 3 1:00pm. Firehouse.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. No intermission.
In-Finite Beauty means the boundlessness of beauty contained inside in the finite human experience. The artists ask, "How do we contain the infinite expanse of beauty inside the finite structure of the human identity?" Kristi and Adrian have worked together since 2014 creating scores that serve as the inspiration for In-Finite Beauty.
Krip Hop Nation (USA), The Crossroads Experience (World Premiere)
Sunday June 3 2:00pm, Southside Theater.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. No intermission.
Leroy Moore's deep and soulful words and poetry becomes the orator of tales of timely and timeless topics. Keith Jones scores the "Experience" with a funky soundtrack along with verses from collaborators. Crossroads illuminates the untold tales behind the headlines and the challenges faced while being Black and Disabled in America.
Theatre
Teatr Arturo Areimas (Lithuania), Under Ice (2016, US Premiere)
Thursday May 24 8:30pm, Friday May 25 9:30pm, Saturday May 26 5:00pm, Southside Theater.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. No intermission.
An adaptation of German playwright Falk Richter's play that addresses neo-liberalism: How do we perceive happiness? Living together? What kind of values do we take our bearing from in everyday life? Under Ice describes a management culture bordering on totalitarianism where standstill always equals decline and where there is no longer room for people who are not prepared to go all the way.
Pao Chang Tsai (Taiwan), Solo Date (2016, US Premiere)
Thursday May 31 8:30pm, Friday June 1 7:00pm, Saturday June 2 3:00pm.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 60 mins. No intermission.
Ho-Nien endeavors to reconstruct his deceased lover through Artificial Intelligence and social media. Innovative, elegant and moving, Solo Date uses new media to explore loneliness and longing, desire, death, human loss and need. It also asks profound questions about amorality and ethics of the interactive technologies humankind increasingly relies on. Co-presented by the Queer Cultural Center.
Brian Copeland (USA) The Scion (2014)
Friday June 1 9:30pm, Saturday June 2 6:00pm, Sunday June 3 4:30pm, Southside Theater.
Tix: $25 General Admission. Duration: 65 mins. No intermission.
Copeland returns to his San Leandro wellspring to recount the story of Stuart Alexander, scion of the sausage manufacturing dynasty, and tells how the factory owner, guns blazing, murdered three government meat inspectors who had the audacity to insist on inspecting his factory, despite his strong objections.
Videos
