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Octopus replaces Wendy MacLeod’s Birnham Woods
in the previously scheduled slot
May 10 – June 8, 2008
January 30, 2008 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Magic Theatre announced that Steve Yockey’s Octopus, a co-production with San Francisco’s Encore Theatre Company, will replace the previously announced Wendy MacLeod’s Birnham Woods as the sixth play of its 2007-08 Season of New Plays. A love story rendered through a post-modern gay lens, Octopus examines the fallout of one night of lust on four men. This universal story of love, jealousy, and commitment commingles with a mysterious telegram delivery boy and a ravenous monster from the ocean floor. Octopus was developed at the Magic as part of this year’s New Voices West Series made possible by the Tournesol Project. Octopus will be performing in the previously scheduled slot (May 10 through June 8) at Magic’s Sam Shepard Theatre (Bldg D, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA – parking lot entrance at Marina Blvd. and Buchanan St.). Subscriber dates will not be affected by this change. Tickets are $20-$45 and available at (415) 441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org.
“We are thrilled to get the opportunity to be able to work with Encore Theatre Company and Lisa Steindler,” says David Jobin, Managing Director at Magic Theatre. “This has been a partnership in the making for the past couple of years and Octopus is the perfect project for our companies to collaborate on. Following the overwhelming response to the workshop production at the Magic, we jumped on the chance to give this play its second production before it gets produced around the country. And that it was premiered by Atlanta’s Actors Express, one of our National New Play Network partners, is an added bonus.”
“Steve Yockey is a playwright to watch with a unique voice and a purely theatrical imagination. We are proud to give him a platform to launch his national career with a long-awaited co-production with Magic Theatre,” said Lisa Steindler, Artistic Director of Encore Theatre Company. “Steve will be with us throughout the process and we couldn’t be happier to be a part of the development of this important work by such a prolific young playwright.”
Director, cast and creative team for Octopus will be announced shortly. Magic Theatre’s 2007-08 Season of New Plays continues with the world premiere production of acclaimed Irish novelist Edna O’Brien Tir na nOg (“Land of Youth”), directed by Chris Smith. This dynamically theatrical adaptation of O'Brien's seminal novel The Country Girls runs February 23 through March 23. Creative team features acclaimed dancer and Riverdance co-choreographer Jean Butler as associate director and choreographer.
Playwright-in-Residence Betty Shamieh
to teach three free writing workshops at the Magic
 January 9, 2008 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Magic Theatre presents “Writing the Other” playwriting workshops taught by Betty Shamieh, the author of Magic’s world premiere play Territories. The three workshops take place at the Magic January 24-27.Admission is free, but reservations are required.Shamieh will be providing free playwriting workshops based on a "Writing the Other" series of writing exercises she developed as a Harvard University Clifton Visiting Artist. In this workshop, the participants will be asked to write monologues and scenes with characters that are either a different gender or race. Spaces are extremely limited. Writers of all backgrounds are welcome, but writers from Middle Eastern and Jewish backgrounds who are interested in writing from the other perspective are encouraged to apply. Priority will be given to writers who can attend all three workshops. Participants in the workshop will have the option to present excerpts of the work they develop in a presentation open to the public on Monday, January 28 at 7 pm at the Magic Theatre. Please email workshops@magictheatre.org to reserve your spot.
Betty Shamieh and Magic Theatre are participants in the Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights, a project of the National Endowment for the Arts and Theatre Communications Group.
The “Writing the Other” workshop schedule is:
Friday, January 25 – 5:30pm-7pm
Saturday, January 26 – 11am-12:30pm
Sunday, January 27 – 11am-12:30pm
Monday, January 28 – public reading at 7pm
Betty Shamieh is a writer who was born to Palestinian parents in San Francisco. Her play The Black Eyed had its world premiere at Magic Theatre in 2005 and had its New York premiere at New York Theatre Workshop in July 2007. She was awarded the opportunity to spend a year in residence at Magic Theatre as an NEA/TCG playwriting fellow. The New Group production of her play Roar in 2004 was selected as a New York Times Critics Pick for its entire extended run. Shamieh performed in her play of monologues Chocolate in Heat in three sold-out off-off-Broadway runs and in over twenty venues across the United States. A graduate of Harvard University and the Yale School of Drama, Shamieh is currently working on a Second Stage Theater/Time Warner commission of a new play and her first novel. www.bettyshamieh.com.
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Magic Theatre’s world premiere production of Betty Shamieh’s Territories directed by Jessica Heidt (Pleasure & Pain and Betty Shamieh’s The Black Eyed) runs January 12-February 10, 2008. In this historic thriller set during the Crusades, a French knight captures the sharp-tongued sister of sultan Saladin. A ruthless chess game of power and love ensues as two cultures collide. Palestinian-American writer Betty Shamieh (The Black Eyed, Roar) explores the roots of religious tensions and gender politics in the Middle East. Territories performs at Magic’s Northside Theatre (Bldg D, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA – parking lot entrance at Marina Blvd. and Buchanan St.). Tickets are $20-$45 and available at (415) 441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org.
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Loretta Greco, Artistic Director | David Jobin, Managing Director