Golden Gate [X]press : Lunch and a play at SF State's Brownbag

Lunch and a play at SF State's Brownbag

September 12, 2008 10:00 PM

Every semester, the SF State theatre arts department entertains students and faculty with free lunch time performances. Brown Bag Theatre Company is a five unit class that the SF State's creative arts department has offered since 1987. Students participating in the class have completed the required theatre arts prerequisites and were selected from Brown Bag auditions held last spring. These students are the directors and actors in the thrice-weekly performances that began on Wednesday and will run for 12 weeks under the guidance of professor William Peters. “We have a marvelous list of shows and good directors,” said Brown Bag actor Will Hand. “It’s going to be a good semester.” This semester, Brown Bag Theatre opened its first week with a show called “The Real Inspector Hound,” written by Tony Award winning playwright Tom Stoppard. The piece is a play within a play about two theatre critics who watch a murder mystery and find themselves intertwined in the mystery’s storyline. “It’s a comedy, a farce on the old fashioned whodunit mystery,” Brown Bag actress Samantha Hopper said. Brown Bag lures audiences back again and again by offering a new show every week. Students adapt their material from a variety of published works, some of which is even student written. “Brown Bag is anything really,” said Brown Bag director Allison Combs said. “We do published plays sometimes, other times its material written by students. It’s a good place to work on new material, to try new things.” Brown Bag students get the chance to build on their acting and directing skills in a live theatre setting. Students have only a short time, usually just a few weeks, to prepare and rehearse for their shows. They are responsible for all aspects of production. “We basically are our own theatre company,” Combs said. “We hang our own lights, build our own sets - we only get as much out of it as we put in.” The upcoming season of Brown Bag seems to be creating a buzz of excitement in the theatre department. “I’ve enjoyed seeing Brown Bag ever since I was a freshman here,” said Gabrielle Yedid, a senior theatre arts major. “I’m looking forward to seeing what this semester of Brown Bag has to offer.” Shows are Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from noon to 1:00 p.m. in the Brown Bag Theatre in the Creative Arts building. It is recommended to arrive a few minutes early because seating does fill up at these popular midday performances.

» E-mail Kimberly Chambers @ kchambers@sfsu.edu

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