At a time when college students have to pinch every penny, SF State's Brown Bag Theatre company promises a semester full of lunchtime entertainment to students - for free.

Brown Bag Theatre is a company of students from SF State's Theater Arts 690 class. The company offers free hour-long performances Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of every week in the Brown Bag Theatre in the Creative Arts Building. The season started the first week of February and will run until May 15, presenting a different play each week.

"They're short shows," said Brown Bag actor Stephen Brookins. "You can bring your lunch to eat while you watch. Students should take advantage of Brown Bag, you don't find this sort of theater anywhere else."

The plays are acted, directed and sometimes even written by students. In order to be a part of Brown Bag, students must audition during the previous semester. The cast members are then selected by directors who were chosen through an interview with adviser Bill Peters. The company is responsible for every aspect of production, from rehearsals to lighting.

"There's a lot of pressure, but it's a good kind of pressure," said actor Travis Howse.

The cast of each show gets only three weeks to rehearse and prepare for their debut performance. According to Professor Bill Peters, the five-unit class requires at least 15 hours of work per week outside of class time, sometimes more.

"It's a really maturing process," said Peters. "Students have to work hard and quickly, and they have to depend on each other."

A great deal of time and effort is expected out of the Theater Arts 690 students because the class is meant to prepare them for a future in real-world theater.

"The class is really meant to simulate a repertory theater experience," said Peters. "By the end of the semester, you're able to see students offer performances they weren't able to at the beginning of the process."

The Brown Bag Theater Company consists of 25 students, and each play features anywhere between two and ten actors. The content of the weekly productions is selected by the directors, who either choose an original student work or an already published play.

According to actor Nicole Faqerzai, there is an entertaining range of material being offered by this semester of Brown Bag. "The storylines contain everything from strippers to Darwinism," said Faqerzai. "It's going to be a good semester."

This week's show, running through Feb. 20, is "The Point" by American songwriter Harry Nilsson. Performances begin promptly at noon. It is recommended to arrive a few minutes early because seats often fill up at these popular lunchtime performances.