The Marsh San Francisco Presents RETURN TO THE SCENE OF THE CRIME

The Marsh San Francisco announces a new solo show by David Kleinberg, Return to the Scene of the Crime. Kleinberg - who chronicled his year as an army combat correspondent in Vietnam with his hit show Hey, Hey, LBJ! - describes his return for the first time in 50 years to Vietnam. Before departing, David's wife, daughter, and his fellow veteran friends all fear he's going to get arrested for staging the work without the Communist government's approval. In Return to the Scene of the Crime, Kleinberg not only confronts stories and memories of the past as a Vietnam War veteran by visiting the base camp where his friends passed, but also faces the challenge of producing Hey, Hey, LBJ! in a Communist country when no producer is willing to take the risk. This powerful work of Kleinberg's return to the "crime" to understand and ultimately search for inner peace is directed by Mark Kenward and was developed with David Ford. Return to the Scene of the Crime will be presented 8:00pm Fridays and 5:00pm Saturdays March 16-April 21, 2018 (press opening: March 23) at The Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco. For tickets ($20-$35 sliding scale, $55-$100 reserved), the public may visit www.themarsh.org or call The Marsh box office at 415-282-3055 (open 1pm-4pm, Monday through Friday).

Return to the Scene of the Crime made its debut at the San Geronimo Valley Center in June 2017. It then had a three-week run at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington DC where the DC Theatre Scene hailed Return to the Scene of the Crime as "a diamond in the rough," and DCist called it "riveting." Following its time on the East Coast, the solo show made its Bay Area premiere at the 2017 San Francisco Fringe Festival in September and was a Marsh Rising in October. It recently played at the Nugget Fringe Festival in Grass Valley where Return to the Scene of the Crime was named "Best of Fringe."

David Kleinberg originally began serving as a field correspondent in Vietnam, and later became the editor of the 25th Infantry Division newspaper at Cu Chi, Vietnam, from 1966 to 1967. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his service. After returning to civilian life, Kleinberg worked as a writer and editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, spending 14 of his 34 years at the paper as the editor of the Sunday Datebook. After retiring from the Chronicle, Kleinberg channeled his creative energy into solo theatre and stand-up comedy for 10 years, appearing with comedians such as Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, and Richard Lewis. Return to the Scene of the Crime marks Kleinberg's third solo piece. His other solo shows are The Voice, and Hey, Hey, LBJ!

Mark Kenward (Director), a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Nominee and two-time selection for the Best of San Francisco Solo Series, has performed his work in more than 40 cities throughout the US and Canada, including a reception for The House of Representatives and several runs at The Marsh. He is the creator and performer of eight solo shows, receiving kudos as "a commanding storyteller" (San Francisco Weekly) and "a master of the craft" (Contra Costa Times). Kenward is the director of more 30 full-length solo shows, including several that have had runs at The Marsh: David Kleinberg's Hey, Hey, LBJ!, Kurt Bodden's Steve Seabrook: Better Than You, Howard Petrick's Rambo: The Missing Years, and Houston Robertson's Victory for the Recycled Virgin. Other directing credits include Wayne Harris's Tyrone 'Short Leg' Johnson and Some White Boys, David Caggiano's Jurassic Ark, and Jeremy Greco's Keeping Up with the Jorgensons, all three of which won "Best of SF Fringe" honors.

David Ford (Developer) has been collaborating on new and unusual theater for three decades and has been associated with The Marsh for most of that time. The San Francisco press has variously called him "the solo performer maven," "the monologue maestro," "the dean of solo performance," and "the solo performer's best friend." Collaborators include Geoff Hoyle, Echo Brown, Brian Copeland, Charlie Varon, Marilyn Pittman, Rebecca Fisher, Wayne Harris, and Marga Gomez. As a director, Mr. Ford has directed both solo and ensemble work regionally at The Public Theater, Second Stage, St. Clement's, Dixon's Place, One Dream Theatre, and Theatre for the New City (NY), Highways Performance Space (LA), and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (DC), as well as at theaters around the Bay Area including Magic Theatre and Marin Theatre Company. He is also a published playwright.

The Marsh is known as "a breeding ground for new performance." It was launched in 1989 by Founder and Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman, and now annually hosts more than 600 performances of 175 shows across the company's two venues in San Francisco and Berkeley. A leading outlet for solo performers, The Marsh's specialty has been hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "solo performances that celebrate the power of storytelling at its simplest and purest." The East Bay Times named The Marsh one of Bay Area's best intimate theaters, calling it "one of the most thriving solo theaters in the nation. The live theatrical energy is simply irresistible."

Photo credit: Steven Sommertsein

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