Stephanie Weisman, our theater’s founder and artistic director, started The Marsh because she wanted a place for writers and performers like herself to easily develop their work. In 1989, she planted a seed by starting a Monday night performance series at the Hotel Utah on Bryant Street. Monday Night Marsh is the seed that sprouted into what is now The Marsh Theater: A Breeding Ground for New performance. The program prides itself in sharing personal stories and unique experiences of all types, with a goal of amplifying the voices of our community. It is crucial, now more than ever, to share your story. Local celebrities like Josh Kornbluth, Marga Gomez, Irma Herrera, Diane Barnes, and so many others got their start on Monday Night Marsh.

Join us. Wonderful things can happen.


We Accept Submissions!

Submit your work-in-progress for a chance to perform on Monday Night Marsh! Submissions for the fall 2023 series has closed. We will begin accepting submissions for the spring 2024 series on Monday, October 23 of 2023. More information will be posted. The deadline for submissions will be in December of 2023. Email Program Director with questions: mondaynight@themarsh.org.

Happy writing!


2 Ways to Watch + Tickets

IN PERSON
Click for Tickets – In-Person at The San Francisco Mainstage

Online ticket sales close 2 hours before each performance,
and additional tickets may be available for purchase at the door.

LIVESTREAM via ZOOM
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Ticket Information

CLICK FOR IN-PERSON TICKETS

IN-PERSON
Tickets: $13 – $35 General Seating sliding scale
Tickets may be purchased online or at the door (credit card only)

Online ticket sales close 2 hours before each performance,
and additional tickets may be available for purchase at the door.

STREAMING
Free
Mondays at 7pm | Doors open at 6:30pm | San Francisco Mainstage

Please read our
Health, Safety and COVID-19 Information
Our commitment to our patrons

As of June 10, 2023, face masks are strongly encouraged but no longer required


Upcoming MNM Fall 2023 Performances 


October 2 & 16

GERRY COURTNEY’S
When Winning Feels Like Losing

SHOW DESCRIPTION: The 3 most popular 6th grade boys at my school in 1963 were: Clay – the best fighter, Willie – the best basketball player and me, Gerry – the fastest runner. We enjoyed the notoriety, but we were acutely aware that with every new 6th grade kid, we could be dethroned which gave me sleepless nights. Then one day, I was in the race of my life. After that contest my life was changed forever.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: When I was young, I loved checking off my life’s goals. I’m so old now that the only goal I have left is to outlive Keith Richards.

COLINE LEBEAU’S
The Wisdom of  a Llama

SHOW DESCRIPTION: Remember when you were 17, trying to figure out what to do with your life. Maybe you already knew which way to go. Or maybe you were overwhelmed by all the opportunities that were opening up to you. And maybe you knew nothing at all, and that was scary too. So what should you do, when you feel completely lost? The answer may lie with this shaman in Bolivia… or maybe not.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Originally from France, I traveled and experienced many adventures in South America that I would love to share with the audience. I performed at the Marsh last year, and I’m willing to continue exploring the art of storytelling.

CHRISTIAN JIMENEZ & JACKSON MORAN’S
The Pit
Performing on October 2 Only

SHOW DESCRIPTION: The Pit is a residential hotel that houses 5 immigrant families, an engaged couple, and a 73 year old man. It’s called the Pit because for every problem that’s fixed, another crops up. Hence, a pit. The tenants live with no heat. Several tenants have died in the hotel due to drug overdoses. The rain pours through the walls and roof. It is infested with mold, mice, and cockroaches. The hotel’s remaining tenants say that the owners purposely leave the building in squalid conditions to force them out. 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Christian Jimenez & Jackson Moran performed on MNM earlier this year. They attendsCity College of SF and graduated from Ruth Asawa School of the Arts’ theater department last year.

CARLOS GARBIRAS’ 
Unequivocally Racially Ambiguous
Performing on October 16 Only

SHOW DESCRIPTION: Racially ambiguous is a term used in Los Angeles by casting directors when actors or models look like they can be from different ethnicities, and people can’t pinpoint which one. I often feel this way when contemplating questions like, “What does it mean to be Hispanic?” “What does it mean to be American?” “And does it even matter in the larger context of being a community member, a husband, a father, or a human being?”

This show is a humorous exploration of race, immigration, and identity. It is Carlos’ journey from Colombia to the United States and bringing his provocative “immigrant” views into contentious national debates while attempting to become a more understanding and contributing member of the community now that he is racing two daughters in a culture in which he didn’t grow up.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Carlos Garbiras is an award-winning essayist and solo performer sorting out the deeply ingrained neurosis of a topsy-turvy upbringing in 90s Colombia, the immigrant experience in the San Francisco Bay area, the joys and stresses of modern relationships and the difficulties, indignities and absurdities of the post-pandemic life.

Carlos graduated cum laude from San Diego State University’s School of Communication. His essays have been published by Scribe, The Memoirist, Your Tango, Petaluma Argus Courier, Redwood Writers, Tell Your Story and other magazines.


October 23 & 30

CAROLE KLYCE’S
Flight Risk

SHOW DESCRIPTION: This is the story of my life as a runaway from a Group Home for girls and then my escape from Juvenile Correction Facility at age 13. How does a 13 year old girl survive 6 years on her own? Where did she go?How did she end up in jail in 1969?

Part I – October 23
Part II – October 30

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Carole had never told her story, but after she took a writing class called “Write Your Life” with Ann Randolph in 2016, she decided to write and perform her life story. She has been encouraged and supported by David Ford, Ann Randolph, Rebecca Fisher, her husband Henry, and by her family, friends, and new writing group, The Remarkables!

MARLEEN SMITH & SUSAN EVANS’
AI Meets Psyche

SHOW DESCRIPTION: Yes, we know, we know; everyone is freaking out about the rapidly advancing encroachment of al things AI. Much gnashing of teeth about the potential peril to humankind that AI poses. Hell, even our do-nothing Congress is looking to find a way to regulate this space! But, what about the kinder, gentler applications of AI—-your very own virutal therapist programmed to help you navigate your torubling symptoms of anxiety and to ease your generalized angst? How can that be anything but helpful to humankind, where nothing can go wrong, can go wrong, can go wrong…
 
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES: Susan Evans & Marleen Smith are both mental health professionals who have performed on stage together (often at The Marsh) for many years, often referred to at The Dynamic Duo. Their work includes: Health Care Follies
Modern Grandparenting, 100 is the New 80, The Jet Blues, Cam-pains. And while they have watched many Tony Awards ceremonies, sadly, they have yet to be nominated.

BEN TUCKERS’
Sentimental Journey

SHOW DESCRIPTION: A road trip from California to Louisiana with my adult son to a family reunion turns into a bitter sweet memories of Jim Crow. I will attach audio sample
 
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES: Ben Tucker, Stage Name Brother Ben, is a storyteller, author, actor, and podcaster.  His stories focus on folktales, fairytales, personal stories, historical figures, and legends.   He has performed at the Berkeley Marsh TIOT, K-8 schools, senior and assisted living centers.  You can find out more about Brother Ben at: iambentucker.com, Storytelling Time with Brother Ben on Spotify
 
 
 

November 6 & 20

STEPHEN DAVID DYM’S
In The Elvis Mirror

SHOW DESCRIPTION: In The Elvis Mirror is an autobiographical fantasy about a young boy growing up in the Bronx in the 1950s & 60s while sharing a room and an unusually close relationship with his teenaged sister.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Stephen David Dym is an actor, poet, and playwright. He has worked in theater, film, and television. Four years ago, Stephen began recording 20 minute improvisational talks to a small group of colleagues in an acting/writing workshop. Transcripts of these talks became a first draft of a memoir about growing up in a working-class neighborhood in the Bronx. In the Elvis Mirror is one of those stories and Stephen is delighted to present it to you.

HOWARD JR. JENNINGS’
Black Men

SHOW DESCRIPTION: I too sing America. I am a Black man! BLACK MEN  attempts to share some moments of the life of black men. The good, bad, and ugly. Let’s uplift and reflect a better AMERICA. There are 3 different characters: Chief Master Sargent Howard Jennings of the United States Air Force “a proud American…..Lenny Green a working class worker who has made mistakes in life and BELAFONTE, representing the consensus of black…..Let’s make America Greater. 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Howard Jennings Jr is writing under the byline Howie BELAFONTE Obama. Some of the combinations of nicknames he has gain in the streets of Oakland and his political activities in Northern California. Writing and developing BLACK MEN for the last years and performing it at the MARSH these last two seasons has been extremely fulfilling and a bucket list achievement. If was inspired by the creative work of Damon Haley and the inspiring words of Lionel Ross and Master Chief Jim Dorn of the United States Navy….he has been bless with many mentors and role models First his Father Chief Master Sargent Howard Jennings of the United States Air Force..Former Alameda County Supervisor John George and the great Jim Brown. As one of the only 2 black cub scouts in Northern California in 1968 he was picked to be an extra in the movie “Tick Tick Tick ” starring Jim Brown started a love affair with the arts. He attended Phoenix Community and had the lead role in its production ” Give Em Hell Harry in the spring of 1979. He also attended Solano Community College and San Francisco State University where he was in the drama and broadcast communications departments. He has spent decades of being involved in many artistic events. The political, social activists and entrepreneur has been a silent force in the bay for decades.

HALIM MADI’S
Invasions

SHOW DESCRIPTION: The word “Invasions” is a combination of the latin words “in” and “vadere” ie. “walk in”. Identitary, Collective or Intimate, Invasions are events that walk into our lives uninvited. They force a conversation we often hadn’t asked for. 

This theatrical poetry performance weaves the theme of “Invasions” through the experiences of 6 characters: A modern day knowledge worker whose emotions spill over at the workplace, a reporter covering the invasion of the South of Lebanon, an Astrophysicist from UCSB whose show is about to get cancelled, a French model whose body won’t do what it’s told, an Arab linguist who’s discovered a mysterious metamorphosis within the Arabic language.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Halim Madi is a queer Lebanese poet with work published in Quiet Lightening, The Racket and Lunate. The author of “Flight of the Jaguar”, “In the Name of Scandal” and “Deep & Fast”, they write about queerness, plants that make you see colors and the immigrant experience. He currently lives in San Francisco. You can find more of his work on www.halimmadi.com.


November 13 & 27

JERRY METZKER’S
Where I Come From in America

SHOW DESCRIPTION: This is the second half of the story of Fergus Malone, a victim of the Great Famine in Ireland. I performed the first half at MNM in fall 2022. That piece chronicled Fergus’s journey as a farmer/day laborer from being evicted, along with his family, from his home, wandering hungry and destitute across the Irish countryside until finally he is able to take one of the “coffin ships” from Ireland to New York City. This new piece begins with Fergus’s arrival as a refugee in New York and his steady determination to stabilize himself in an unwelcome and often hostile environment.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Jerry Metzker is a playwright, director, dramaturg, solo performer and theater creator. As a solo performer, he has workshopped several pieces at the Marsh, including Guardian Angel, Nephilim, Mercy Buckets (SF Fringe Festival) and Where I Come From, the journey that Fergus Maloney takes from famine-stricken Ireland to New York City in 1847. He is the director of John Fisher’s long-running solo play A History of World War II, which played at the Marsh-SF, Marsh Berkeley, the United Solo Festival (New York) and Hollywood, running more than eight months. He has directed several other solo plays written and performed by John Fisher. His solo play, Oh Fuck, You’re Old was produced by LGBT Writes! at The Marsh Café. Jerry is also a musician and a static trapeze artist.

HERBERT MINTZ II’S
My Uncle Sam, My Military Family, and Me

SHOW DESCRIPTION: My piece, “My Uncle Sam, My Military Family and Me,” is a series of interconnected nonlinear memories that lay bare the personal and institutional arrangement between my Uncle Sam, my military family and me.  My piece is a coming out of the footlocker monologue from the point of view of an aging military dependent who is willing to share traumatic moments from the regulated subculture of his childhood and youth.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: I studied avant-garde film, video, photography and performance in the late 1970s and early 1980s in New York City.  I performed original works in New York City, Madison, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota while trying to secure a sustainable income.  Slowly, I moved away from those artistic efforts and worked in community media, corporate media and for the Public Broadcasting System.  At this time, I have the motivation and resources to write and to perform original personal artistic pieces as well as a desire to share those artistic pieces with a larger community.  

WYND KAUFMYN’S
The Betrayal That is Not Divorce

SHOW DESCRIPTION: Would you let your friends determine the financial settlement for your divorce? Wynd Kaufmyn tells her story of doing just that! She also explores the collateral damage of divorce and shares her journey of getting to the other side.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: A Jewish girl from Detroit named Wendy Kaufman moved to the Bay Area in 1979 for graduate work at Cal. Since then, she became (in this order) a Christian, an engineer, a mother, a professor, a wife, a non-violent activist, Kaufmyn, a human rights defender in Palestine, a divorcee, Wynd, a neophyte solo-performer, an unarmed civilian protector in Western Sahara, retiree. Wynd Kaufmyn continues to evolve.


December 4 & 18

THERESA DONAHOE’S
All the Great New Things to Come

SHOW DESCRIPTION: A solo show about being a fourth generation San Francisco Bay Area native.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Theresa Donahoe is an actor who mainly performed theater in her youth. Deciding to take a break from theater, she started working in movies (such as SCREAM and RENT) while working in television and movie casting for many years as well. After a 17-year hiatus, she returned to the stage and decided to merge her love for writing with her love for acting. Once she discovered the art form of solo performance, she created and debuted her first full length solo show, “Late Bloomer” at the 2017 Rogue Fringe Festival in Fresno, and her second solo show “Born Again in Berkeley” at the 2022 Rogue Fringe Festival.  “All the Great New Things to Come” is her latest work-in-progress solo show.

LISA SUMMERS’
The Wild Ponies of Middle Lion

SHOW DESCRIPTION: In the months following my father’s death in 2020, I revisited the wild places in California my father used to take us to in the early 1970s when we moved to San Francisco from a Navy base in Pensacola.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: I am a SF Bay Area poet, writer, and the co-founder of the Sonoma Writers Workshop, which produces a popular (and the only) series of poetry readings at Bump Wine Cellars on the historic Sonoma Plaza. I write for local and national publications on topics ranging from immortal microbes to love in the Metaverse.

ODILE LAVAULT’S
Irresistible Attraction

SHOW DESCRIPTION: Through a selection of musical vignettes, the audience is transported across 30 years of an accordion player and raconteuse life. (WARNING: There is an accordion on stage.)

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: A native Parisian, Odile has been performing accordion music in Europe and The Bay Area for over 40 years. She is co-founder of the legendary Parisian café music combo, Baguette Quartette. She has been featured in many theater projects including Calshakes, Dell’Arte, Exit Theater and Steven Pelton.                            


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