Lynne Kaufman’s
Extreme Acts
New show!
In Person at The Marsh San Francisco Mainstage
Written by Lynne Kaufman
Directed by Molly Noble
Performed by Arwen Anderson & Johnny Moreno
Photos by David Allen
Online ticket sales close 2 hours before each performance,
and additional tickets may be available for purchase at the door.
May 11 – June 2, 2024
Saturdays at 8pm | Sundays at 5pm
Ticket Information
Tickets: $25 – $35 General Seating sliding scale | $50 and $100 Reserved Seating
Online ticket sales close 2 hours before each performance,
and additional tickets may be available for purchase at the door.
60 Minutes | No Intermission | Ages 16+
Please do not bring infants to the show
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About the Show
Two risk takers, a performance artist and a BASE jumper, explore the boundaries of love and life. The play examines their high adrenaline adventure.
The play follows strong and charismatic Sophia preparing for the last night of her performance art piece “Being Present,” where she has sat immobile for eight hours a day for three months establishing and maintaining eye contact with a thousand visitors, one at a time. As she gets ready, Sophia relives a similar piece she performed with her lover, Jasper. Reflecting on Jasper’s and Sophia’s tumultuous
relationship, Sophia ultimately discovers what it takes to create a lasting union.
“Extreme Acts takes you on one hell of an adventure in one hour. Through Kaufman’s masterful prose, Sophia and Jasper take us on a whirlwind adventure from art spaces, to intimate moments, and into the sky and open wilderness all in our imagination.” –Stage & Cinema
Talkbacks
Sunday, May 19
With playwright Lynne Kaufman and the cast of Extreme Acts
Sunday, June 2
With playwright Lynne Kaufman, Director Molly Noble, and the cast of Extreme Acts
Watch The Trailer
About the Artistic Crew
Lynne Kaufman (Playwright) is the author of twenty full length plays and four novels. Her novel “Divine Madness” was selected as one of the best novels of 2023 by the Northern California Book Reviewers.. Her play “Poetic Justice” was selected as one of the best plays of 2023 by Broadway World. New Play. She has had numerous plays premiered at The Marsh including “Acid Test”, “Two Minds”, “The Smartest Woman in America”, and “Who Killed Sylvia Plath”, which won best play in The Marsh’s International Solo Festival.
Her play “Daisy in the Dreamtime” was presented by The Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles as a recipient of a Hot Properties Grant from the L.A. Arts Council and The A.S.K. Foundation It had its New York City premiere at The Abingdon Theatre and its university premiere at S.F. State University as the recipient of the Rella Lossy Playwright’s Award. “Daisy in the Dreamtime” was published in Women Playwrights: Best New Plays and by Dramatic Publishing.
She was the recipient of The Otis Guernsey Outstanding New Voice in American Theatre Award from The William Inge Theatre Festival. Her play “William Blake in Hollywood” won The Neil Simon Festival Theatre’s best comedy award.
Her play “Fakes” premiered at Florida Studio Theatre and was optioned for film by 20th Century Fox and for television by Jean Doumanian Productions. “Shooting Simone” premiered at Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival and received six subsequent regional productions. It was published by Dramatic Publishing.
Four of her plays premiered at The Magic Theatre including “The Couch”, which won The Glickman Award for Best New Play in San Francisco and “Speaking in Tongues”, which won a Kennedy Center/NEA/ Fund for New American Plays Award. Her play “Our Lady of the Desert” won Theatreworks ‘Best New Play in California Award”.
Molly Noble (Director) is a North Bay native and is honored to work at The Marsh with these extraordinary artists on these two visceral intimate plays. Recent directing projects include A Doll’s House and Twelfth Night at College of Marin, Cry It Out at Cinnabar Theatre. Past directing credits include: The Kepler Story (CU Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium), The Surrogate (Centenary Theatre, NJ), Bad Dates (Cinnabar) Middletown, The Skin of Our Teeth, David Copperfield, The River Bride, Seagull, Arabian Nights, Maple and Vine, Misalliance. Almost, Maine and Five Women Wearing The Same Dress (College of Marin) You Can’t Take It With You and The Prince and The Pauper (CTE Tam Drama). She has directed projects with incarcerated artists at San Quentin. She has acted with Shotgun Players, San Francisco Playhouse, Word For Word, Aurora Theatre Co. Cinnabar Theatre, SPARC Theatre, Main Stage West, and her own Porchlight Theatre Co. Molly teaches acting, voice, and movement at the College of Marin. She is a member of PlayGround SF and Actors Equity Association. www.mollynoble.com
Arwen Anderson* returns to the Marsh after previously working with Lynne on a staged reading of her beautiful new musical, Map of Your Mind. Selected Regional Credits include: Testmatch, Men On Boats, Heisenberg, Let There Be Love, A Christmas Carol, and Tales of the City (workshop) at A.C.T.; King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and The Verona Project (world premiere) at CalShakes; August: Osage County, Anne Boleyn, Circle Mirror Transformation, Bellwether (world premiere), and A Streetcar Named Desire at Marin Theatre Company; An Accident, Mrs. Whitney, Expedition 6, The Rules of Charity (all world premieres), and Mauritius at Magic Theatre; White Girls’s Guide to International Terrorism, The Fit, and 77% at San Francisco Playhouse; Miss Julie at Stanford Rep; Lobby Hero and The Shape of Things at Aurora Theatre Company; You Know When the Men Are Gone and 4 Adverbs with Word for Word; and roles with American Stage Festival, San Jose Rep, TheatreWorks, Marin Shakespeare Company, Brava!, Encore Theatre Company and Central Works Theater Company. Her film work includes Hog Island, Ashley 22, and Dark Retreat. Anderson is a graduate of Wesleyan University.
Johnny Moreno* has appeared throughout the Bay Area including A.C.T., Berkeley Rep, SF Playhouse, San Jose Stage Company, Marin Shakespeare Company, Center Rep, Marin Theatre Company, Crowded Fire, Thick Description and Pacific Repertory Theater. Favorite roles include Iago in Othello, MacHeath in the Threepenny Opera (TBA Award for Best Actor in a Musical), Ralph Bates in Period of Adjustment, Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (BATCC Award for Best Actor in a Musical), Palo in Gibraltar, Mortimer in Mary Stuart, and Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Film and television credits include Betas, Callback (winner of the Chicago Indie Fest for Best Film), Upside Out (with Olympia Dukakis), Paradise Club, and I’m Still Here (with Joaquin Phoenix). He is a graduate of the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts program.
*Member of Actors Equity Association