The Final Fifty: San Francisco Playhouse

The Empathy Gym. Artistic Director Bill English has declared that San Francisco Playhouse is this very thing. It’s an oft-shared meme, with credit given where credit is due. As a fan of gyms myself, I concur with what English has declared of this theatre company: San Francisco Playhouse has been a gym where I’ve benefited from feeling empathy. 

At the time of this publishing, I have seen 16 shows there and haven’t regretted a single one. From a thought-provoking The Fantasticks where Mr English had to last-minute step in as El Gallo, to an utterly charming and enjoyable Promises, Promises, to a compelling Colossal and ultimately convicting Dogfight, the Playhouse has been an empathy gym I strive to find time to see shows at. It works out the very thing I wish my pre-theatre self had: empathy. 

Pre-Highschool me had very little empathy, being a Christian-jock bully towards those who were in the arts. Walking out of a play my Freshman year because my girlfriend-at-the-time couldn’t handle my complaining any longer, and because I had seen enough to write the extra credit essay offered by my English teacher. But San Francisco Playhouse taught me better. 

Through all the shows I’ve enjoyed at San Francisco Playhouse, it was Dogfight that secured my allegiance to seeing any and every show I could (I have lived in Fresno full-time since 2019, which makes my SF theatre visits few, but worthwhile). When I saw Dogfight, I was only familiar with the cast recording. When I saw their production, I was deeply moved, affected, and, well, filled me with empathy, that I cried. I knew that, without a doubt, In another life, I’d be one of those unforgivable Marine soldiers who would subject a woman to such a “dogfight.” I mean, I wouldn’t mean any harm by it, I would have simply gone along with what the other guys did. Which is just as bad. Which, in some cases, may have been worse. 

(Cast of Dogfight; Photo credit: Jessica Palopoli)

I was still a green blog-reviewer and had no real “format” I was known for for a good ‘ole Tumblr review, so I broke my usual format that nobody was craving and wrote my review as a thank you letter. I was so grateful that this musical had been written. That San Francisco Playhouse had produced this show. That I had seen it. The setting of San Francisco only enhanced the assumed sin I would have committed by subjecting an unsuspecting young woman to such ridicule, embarrassment, and humiliation. Embarrassment being personal, perhaps private, for them; humiliation being public. I learned the difference between those feelings, and am forever grateful I could experience them safely in a theater and never ever become that guy. 

Colossal had the sports-bro, inverse of High School Musical effect on me, where the stage became a mock football field, with an operating scoreboard keeping time for each scene and halftime; I was immersed in the familiar gridiron. Entering the theater with pre-game warm-ups and the music of a Friday Night lights marching band brought me right back to my 7 years of playing football. Colossal is an incredibly devised play, where the toxicity of locker room behavior and parental expectations come into play. This play changed my life by directly addressing my past life as a football player who found musical theatre and dance while navigating my own Friday Night Lights expectations and masculine demands as a jock-bro. (The first time I made the local newspaper it was for playing Bobby in The Boyfriend, my senior year musical. I was so excited that I showed everybody, including my football coach. He responded with, “Dammit, Marc! You’re supposed to make the paper for football, not dancing.” Thanks, coach...) 

(Cast of Colossal; Photo credit: Jessica Palopoli)

SF Playhouse delivered as immersive an experience as one could get in their theater with Colossal, and it was beyond effective: it made empathy the required exit ticket after the final whistle and last bow. It’s now a script I teach with my advanced theatre class and, yet again, grateful for San Francisco Playhouse for tackling such a demanding text with true flair and empathetic urgency.

San Francisco Playhouse is a treasure among the Bay Area theatre scene, and is a company that you will find no regrets in supporting. The technical designs are among the best I have ever seen; the talent is undeniable; and how can one deny patronage to a theatre company that puts empathy first. Go see a show at San Francisco Playhouse; it’ll do your empathy good.