This community-based documentary theatre project is based on interviews with low-wage domestic workers in San Francisco, who tell the difficult stories of their arrival and survival. We developed this in collaboration with members of the workers rights organization POWER, who conducted the interviews and performed the roles themselves.
2005
Swing State Stories, by John Warren 2004
This
documentary play
commemorates the 2004 election through the stories of its
travelers. The piece is composed entirely of interviews with Northern California
election volunteers, who tell some amazing stories - equal parts inspiring and
bittersweet - and they have a lot to teach about talking to people across the
political divide. Keep an eye out for future readings as the next election
cycle approaches.
Women on Death Row, by
John Warren & Kim Fowler
Cracking the Safe, by the members of Soapstone Theater 2002
The
Flag Project 2001
This
documentary play examines capital punishment through a uniquely gendered
lens. It juxtaposes national stories of women like Karla Faye Tucker who
was executed in Texas with the cases of women who are currently being held on
death row in California. The play weaves together letters, court
transcripts, and news articles about these women, and performances conclude with
audience dialogue about
capital
punishment.
This
piece weaves together the personal testimonies of survivors of violence,
addiction and incarceration, telling their own stories of healing and survival.
The piece was performed at San Francisco's Presentation Theater, and then toured to local
county jails and recovery centers. Cracking the Safe
was directed by members of Unconditional Theatre, and produced by Soapstone
Theater.
This
series of vignettes explores patriotism in the period following 9-11, based
entirely on interviews with people in the San Francisco Bay Area regarding their
relationship to the American Flag. It performed at Exit Theatre as part of
an evening titled 9-11: A Theatrical Response.
The
Zoo Story, by
Edward Albee
The
classic tale of two men and a park bench, The Zoo Story is class warfare at its most personal and primal.
Unconditional Theatre takes it off the stage and puts it out in the park
where it belongs. Part of the 2001 San Francisco Fringe Festival.
Lonely
Planet,
by Steven Dietz 1999
Greensboro: A Requiem, by Emily Mann 1998
This
ode to Ionesco’s classic The Chairs follows the exploits of two everyday
philosophers trapped in a map store.
It is an exquisite tale of an unconventional friendship between two men
who face the AIDS crisis in deeply personal and disarming ways.
Winner of the Drama-Logue Award and PEN USA Award in Drama, Lonely Planet
celebrates the lies we tell and the love that lives behind them. The
Oakland Tribune called it "a gem of a play."
This documentary play focuses on a 1979 anti-Klan rally in Greensboro,
North Carolina which the Ku Klux Klan raided, killing five people. News
of this tragic event was swept off the front page by the taking of
hostages in Iran, while repeated trials in Greensboro brought only
acquittals for the men responsible. Ms. Mann interviewed participants
and witnesses to the actual incident, then used only their words in
creating the play. It is a challenging exploration of vital issues of
our day -- race, violence, and each individual's responsibility as a
member of a larger community.
Below the Belt,
by Richard Dresser
The Baltimore Waltz, by Paula Vogel
In this absurdist satire, the need to connect with fellow workers does furious battle with the need to protect one's tenuous position in the corporate food chain.
Written as a response to the playwright's brother's death from AIDS, it followed a brother and sister on a whimsical, fantastical trip through Europe, affirming life in the face of terminal illness. We staged it at the Hotel Monaco in downtown San Francisco, requiring the audience to follow the actors about the room as they joined the siblings on their whirlwind tour. The SF Bay Guardian wrote, "Hats off to the Unconditional Theatre for its adaptive staging and talented staff."
1996-1997
The Resistible Rise of
Arturo Ui, by Bertolt Brecht
This satirical parable of Hitler's rise to power centered on a troupe of Chicago gangsters as they overtook the green grocers union and beyond. It performed at Intersection for the Arts in August 1997.
Groping for Justice: The Bob Packwood Story, by John
Warren
Using the actual words of those involved, the play explores Senator Packwood’s
transformation from a powerful advocate for women’s issues into a late-night comic
punchline. It was a sellout at the 1996 San Francisco Fringe Festival and named “Best
of the Fringe.” Due to its popularity, we remounted the production at Exit Stage Left
in January and February of 1997. SF Weekly called it "Crisp, intelligent" and "horrifyingly hilarious."
1995-1996
In The Chair: Confessions of a Department
Store Santa, by John Warren
Why do parents wait in line every December to shove their terrified child onto the lap of
a laughing fat man in a red suit? Artistic Director John Warren went undercover as a
department store Santa to find the answer. In this solo piece, John exposed the secrets of
parents who tried to get Santa drunk, photo elves with an attitude, and the little boy who
just asked for happiness. It was a hit at the 1995 San Francisco Fringe Festival, and went
on to a holiday run at the New Conservatory Theatre Center.
Old Times, by Harold Pinter
Pinter’s story of a married couple and a visiting friend is much more than what it
seems. In this, our first site-specific workshop, participants followed the actors
throughout the rooms of a beautiful borrowed house.
