The Magic Theatre is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

company founded in 1967, presently based at the historic Fort Mason Center on

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

's northern waterfront. The Magic Theatre is well known and respected for its singular focus on the development and production of new plays. Sean San José is the Artistic Director.

History

Founding

The Magic Theatre originated in 1967 when John Lion, a student of Jan Kott at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, directed a production of

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; ; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre#Avant-garde, French avant-garde th ...

's ''The Lesson'' at the Steppenwolf Bar on San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley. The theatre's name came from a crucial location in

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

's 1927 novel '' Steppenwolf'': "Anarchist Evening at the Magic Theatre, For Madmen Only, Price of Admission Your Mind". The Magic's first real success came with plays written by renowned Beat poet Michael McClure, who sustained an eleven-year residency. The theatre reached a turning point when company members wanted to restructure it as a collective. Lion responded by moving the theatre across the bay to San Francisco, where it resided in a series of low-rent venues including another bar, the ''Rose and Thistle'', at California Street and Polk Street.. In 1976 Lion learned of plans to convert a historic military base into an arts center with a view of Alcatraz and the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

. The idea was to change "swords into plowshares." The Magic became one of Fort Mason's first resident

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

companies.

1975 - 2000

Sam Shepard began his long association with the Magic as playwright in residence in 1975. The Magic produced the world premiere productions of his ''Inacoma'' (1977), '' Buried Child'' (1978), ''Suicide in B-flat'', '' True West'' (1980) directed by Robert Woodruff, '' Fool for Love'' (1983), and '' The Late Henry Moss'' (2000). '' Buried Child'' was awarded the 1979

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for Drama. Shepard also developed collaborative pieces with the renowned actor and director Joseph Chaikin. Other playwrights associated with the theatre include John O'Keefe, who staged many of his plays there, including '' Shimmer''. In 1986, John Lion and the Magic received the Margo Jones Award, the highest honor given by the Dramatists Guild. The award cited the Magic's "significant contribution to the dramatic art through the production of new plays." John Lion left the Magic in the late 1980s to teach, direct and lecture. He died suddenly on August 1, 1999. Larry Eilenberg became the Artistic Director in 1992, and was followed by Mame Hunt until 1998. Eilenberg resumed the position for five more seasons, during which time he premiered Charles L. Mee's ''Summertime'' and ''First Love'' and

Moira Buffini Moira Buffini (born 29 May 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor. Early life Buffini was born in Cheshire to Irish parents, and attended St Mary's College at Rhos-on-Sea in Wales as a day girl. She studied English and Drama at Gold ...

's ''Silence''. His Festival of Irish Women Playwrights resulted in the Magic's offering the U.S. premiere of Marie Jones' '' Stones in His Pockets'', before its Broadway run.

2000 - present

Loretta Greco was artistic director from 2008 to 2020. Prior to joining Magic, she was the producing artistic director of the Women's Project in New York City. In her first season she used a viral fundraising campaign to recover from a financial crisis and keep the season going. In the fall of 2010, the Magic Theatre collaborated with the Marin Theatre Company and the American Conservatory Theater to put on "The Brother/Sister Plays," a set of plays by Tarell Alvin McCraney. The Magic performed "The Brothers Size", which was directed by Octavio Solis and starred Tobie Windham, Joshua Elijah Reese, and Alex Ubokudom, with a set design by James Faerron. Among the other plays at the Magic in 2010 two were listed in the

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

's Top Ten: Luis Alfaro's Oedipus el Rey and Liz Duffy Adams' Or. In April 2021, Sean San José was appointed as

Artistic Director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

Actors

Actors who have performed at the Magic include

Danny Glover Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...

, Peter Coyote, Kathy Baker,

Ed Harris Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in '' Apollo 13'' (1995), '' The Truman Show'' (1998), '' Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Awa ...

, John O'Keefe (also playwright), and the original cast of '' The Late Henry Moss'', Nick Nolte,

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. List of awards and nominations received by Sean Penn, His accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Gl ...

, Woody Harrelson, James Gammon and

Cheech Marin Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin (born July 13, 1946) is an American comedian and actor. He gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s with Tommy Chong, and as Don Johnson's partner, Insp. Joe Dom ...

.Roudané, M., ed., ''The Cambridge Companion to Sam Shepard'' (

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2002)
p. 19

References

{{reflist

External links

Magic Theatre homepage

Guide to the Magic Theatre Records
an
Guide to the Magic Theatre Scripts, 1966-1990
at The Bancroft Library
Michael McClure Home Page

Web page devoted to Sam Shepard
Theatre companies in San Francisco Theatres in San Francisco Performing groups established in 1967 1967 establishments in California