Event

SOLO SUNDAYS - 10/24/10

SOLO SUNDAYS: Hilarious, Heartbreaking & Provocative Solo Performances
Solo Sundays, S.F.'s premier monthly showcase, presents select samplings of veteran virtuosos and top emerging talent in the intimate StageWerx theater near Union Square. Beyond stand-up and storytelling, solo theater creates casts of thousands - plus special effects - all bursting from a single performer. The results are hilarious and heartbreaking, passionate and provocative, ablaze with personal visions.

A L I S O N W H I T T A K E R
"Vital Signs"
While Alison massages her aching feet, Benetta gushes about her Brazilian wax job. Lucy boasts about her multiple orgasms (nine this time). Tina proudly shows off a picture of her new boyfriend's . . . features. Not what you'd expect to hear in a nurses's break room but that's precisely what was said and where. It's the kind of scene that populates Alison Whittaker's starkly honest and fiercely funny new solo show "Vital Signs." This show bears the authority of someone who's been employed in some of San Francisco's better hospitals for over two decades which happens to be the case. Back in the break room the conversation turns to the perfect patient. Ruth's thoughts: someone with a feeding tube, colostomy bag, comatose, and, most important, no living relatives. Yea, there's no sugar coating here. Just Alison Whittaker's singular vision of a nurses life, told unapologetically with humor and grace.

H O W A R D P E T R I C K
"Rambo: The Missing Years"
Howard Petrick came within an inch of being charged with treason. An inch. Like many people in the 60s he protested against the war in Vietnam. Unlike most, he protested after being inducted into the army and while in uniform. He was also the creative force behind chocolate mashed potatoes. It's probable that some of the soldiers liked it. It's likely the records were expunged. Treason and chocolate mashed potatoes. I'm guessing you've never seen a performer who combines these two disparate elements. Howard does it with skill and verve. He is truly one of the Bay Area's finest solo performers.