Inside A.C.T.

Posted by Amy Krivohlavek, A.C.T. Marketing Writer Clockwise from left: Associate Production Manager Amanda J. Haley, Artistic Fellow Kate Goldstein, Winter Field Study Intern Jessie King, Publications & Education Fellow Emily Means, Publications Manager Dan Rubin, Marketing Associate Christine Miller, Web Fellow Aude Ferrachat, Graphics Fellow Brittany Truex, Marketing Writer Amy Krivohlavek, Executive Assistant Caresa Capaz, Senior Graphic Designer Brenden Mendoza, and Mad John the Juggler. Photo by Hilary Davis. Last week, A.C.T. Publications Manager Dan Rubin posted about his quest to learn to juggle, inspired by his research into San Francisco's Pickle Family Circus for our recent production of Humor Abuse . For the PFC, juggling was a group activity, a chance to come together with a shared goal—trying to keep everything up in the air. Almost immediately, longtime A.C.T. subscriber John "Mad John the Juggler" Dobleman commented on Dan's blog, genero...

Posted by Emily Hoffman, Publications and Dramaturgy Associate Most Bay Area theatergoers know who Carey Perloff is: the artistic executive of A.C.T. and a director with an enormous body of work to her credit. Fewer know that Perloff is also an award-winning playwright: Her 2003 drama The Colossus of Rhodes was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award and Luminescence Dating , which premiered at New York's Ensemble Studio Theatre in 2005, received the 2006 Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Original Script. Now comes Higher , Perloff's meditation on love and architecture, which has received workshop productions at New York Stage and Film, Asolo Repertory Theatre in Florida, and the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco and was recently honored with the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation Theatre Visions Fund Award. Higher opened to rapturous reviews last week and was just extended through February 25. Click here for tickets. Eternal Flame in...

posted by Dan Rubin, A.C.T. Publications Manager Lorenzo Pisoni has a bit in Humor Abuse when he explains that circus folk don't say goodbye to one another after the makeup is scrubbed off, the backdrop is lowered, and the props are packed away. Instead, they say, "See you down the road." It is a fitting farewell to give Lorenzo now that the San Francisco run of his heartfelt and hilarious one-man circus story has come to a close. This was not his first time on the A.C.T. stage; it is unlikely it will be his last. Still, it is bittersweet to see this joyful show come to an end. Thankfully, the beauty of working in theater is that there is no time to wallow, especially when Wajdi Mouawad's thrilling Scorched is being brought over to the theater at this very moment! Look for more Scorched posts soon, but before Humor Abuse rides off into the sunset, it has one final gift for you. Those of you who saw the show—and we hope all of you did!—know that during every...

Posted by Dan Rubin, A.C.T. Publications Manager We asked you to share your favorite Pickle Family Circus memories, and you did not disappoint! Thank you to everyone who sent us moving and hilarious stories and beautiful photos. Below we're sharing some of the amazing snapshots and Pickle tales that were submitted. Add your own story to the comments section at the end of the post! Humor Abuse has been so popular with Bay Area audiences that we've added an extra Sunday evening performance on February 5, at 7 p.m., but tickets are going fast and the show must close this weekend. Like the Pickle Family Circus, soon Humor Abuse will only exist in our fondest memories, so, as Pickle cofounder Larry Pisoni used to say, "Go call everyone you know, and then call everyone you don't know," and tell them not to miss it! Laurel Bellon: "I took my daughter to the Mother's Day show at Rose Park in Berkeley for many years (these photos are from 1988). I always...

Posted by Dan Rubin, A.C.T. Publications Manager As Humor Abuse closes in on its final performance this weekend, A.C.T. Publications Manager Dan Rubin reflects on what he learned while researching the history of San Francisco's beloved Pickle Family Circus. Rubin interviewed several members of star Lorenzo Pisoni's multitalented family for the latest edition of Words on Plays , A.C.T.'s behind-the-scenes theater guide. Click here to order a print or electronic copy, which includes 16 of Pickle photographer Terry Lorant's dazzling photographs of the Pickle Family Circus in its heyday. Lorenzo Pisoni's parents, Pickle cofounders Larry Pisoni and Peggy Snider, juggle in the Pickle Family Circus. Photo by Terry Lorant. San Francisco's Pickle Family Circus would juggle. I am left with many things from my research into this amazing organization—an investigation that led to interviews with the two cofounders, Larry Pisoni and Peggy Snider; Peggy's daugh...

posted the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program class of 2014 Our coverage of the 2012 Sky Festival concludes with musings from other members of the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program class of 2014, who experienced this intense two-week period of rehearsal and performance for the first time. The festival brings together A.C.T. students, staff, and faculty in the high-speed creation of inventive new work. For many students, the festival also offered an opportunity to delve into something new, as they stepped into roles as writer and director. L to R: Cloud Tectonics director Jeffrey Crockett with Blair Busbee and Aaron Moreland. Photo by Kevin Berne. L to R: The Owl and the Pussycat directors Omozé Idehenre and Lateefah Holder. Photo by Kevin Berne. Blair Busbee Performer, Cloud Tectonics and No Man's Island I was once in an acting class where I had to practice juggling for the first 15 minutes of every class. The first day, I failed. Miserably. I took my frustration ...