January was bustin' out all over, and last week's 2015 stage preview had filled the page before anything beyond Jan. 31 could be acknowledged. So this week, it's Part II, as the spotlight moves into February for some theatrical highlighting.
Polishing the Silver
Nicky Silver has a talent for revealing the tarnish that can lurk beneath societal veneers, and if it isn't a pretty picture, the gay playwright can damn well sure make it's a funny one. After such off-Broadway hits as Pterodactyls, Raised in Captivity, and The Food Chain, Lyons made his Broadway debut in 2012 with The Lyons. This caustic family comedy will make its Bay Area debut on Feb. 5 at Aurora Theatre.
Dysfunction runs amok in the Lyons family, and as much as its members would like to avoid each other, a hospital bed has pulled them together. Papa Lyons lies in that bed, and while awaiting his life to end, takes this terminal opportunity to let forth with all the resentments he has harbored against his wife and two grown children. But they aren't there just to be targets, as the guilt-spewing wife, the gay son in a dubious relationship, and the alcoholic, newly single daughter have quivers filled with their own bitter-tipped arrows. Forgiveness does find, barely, a toehold, as the Lyons contemplate their changing family landscape.
The Lyons is the centerpiece in Aurora's annual Global Age Project that encourages playwrights and directors to explore life in the 21st century and beyond. In addition to the fully staged production of The Lyons, the 2015 GAP edition will include staged readings of three new plays: Don Nguyen's Red Flamboyant, about otherworldly forces that help an ailing Vietnamese woman maneuver though unresponsive bureaucracy; Jonathan Spector's FTW, in which three young women working for Google find their idealism tested while sharing an Oakland apartment; and Martyna Majok's Ironbound, which follows a Polish immigrant over 22 years and three relationships as she awaits an elusive combination of love and security. A full GAP schedule is available at auroratheatre.org.
World according to Homer
Should we fret that so many books, plays, and movies want to thrust us into post-apocalyptic societies? Count among that group Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, but with a premise so disarming that another journey into dystopia sounds like storytelling around a campfire. With a carton of donuts and a case of Duff beer.
Anne Washburn's play, opening Feb. 25 at ACT, imagines a group of strangers bonding over an episode of The Simpsons that they struggle to recreate in their newly desolate surroundings. They have chosen the Cape Feare episode, inspired by two movies of a similar name, in which Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are terrorized by the murderous Sideshow Bob. Generational storytelling becomes a building block of a new society as we see how the Homer legend evolves over eight decades.
Mr. Burns, named for Homer's nefarious boss on the animated series, will have an "OUT with ACT" reception for LGBT audiences following the 8 p.m. March 4 performance. Ticket info at act-sf.org.
Turning the beat around
"Queen of Disco" is a title that has been bestowed on several performers, but only one of those queens was a man. His story is told in Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical, which had a New York run last year and is now coming to the city where this queen first ascended the throne.
The musical, written by and starring Anthony Wayne, will play Feb. 14-March 1 at Brava Theatre Center, and follows the cross-dressing Sylvester's rise from a difficult childhood in Watts to performances with the Cockettes to his solo career as a disco star. Wayne has Broadway credits in Pippin, Anything Goes, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and he co-directs the production with his partner, Kendrell Bowman, who is also the costume designer.
After recording such hits as "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" and "Dance (Disco Heat)," the beat came to an end when Sylvester died of AIDS in 1988. But the musical, according to The New York Times, ends with a "fabulous finale" that does "lusty honor to a singular performer." Tickets are available at brava.org.
Shooters, straight & otherwise
The title character in Edith Can Shoot Straight and Hit Things provides home security even though she's only 12. As the title indicates, she's handy with a bow and arrow. Her brother, Kenny, is four years older, and he keeps the household running in the absence of any adult supervision. Problems begin, and the outside world comes barging in, when Edith shoots something that she shouldn't have, and Kenny finds himself falling for a boy in his advanced math class.
Crowded Fire is presenting A. Rey Pamatmat's play as the first show of its 2015 season, beginning performances Feb. 26 at Thick House. Edith was the breakout hit of the 2011 Humana Festival in Louisville, and it has also been the breakout play for Pamatmat, whose plays often deal with gay, lesbian, and trans characters. Info on the SF production is available at crowdedfire.org.