The Cutting Ball Theater

San Francisco, United States

4.8

20 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 415-419-3584
Website:
cuttingball.com
Address:
277 Taylor St, San Francisco, CA, 94102
b/t Eddy St & Ellis St
Tenderloin, Union Square
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
520 ftBig Bus Tours Stop 6, Hilton Hotel
0.2 miBig Bus Tours Stop 16, Union Square North
0.2 miBig Bus Tours Stop 5, Union Square South
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Good for Kids
No

Today

Today –
Local time (San Francisco) 2:48 PM Friday, November 29, 2024

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Monday –
Tuesday –
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Friday –
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Description

Specialties

Experimental New Plays and Revisioned Classics

History

Established in 1999.

Our mission is to create productions of new experimental plays, seminal avant-​garde works, and re-​visioned classics with an emphasis on language and images. Since Cutting Ball’s first presentation in the San Francisco Fringe Festival, our output has grown considerably and now includes more than twenty new productions that have been presented at EXIT Theatre, Magic Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, and A Traveling Jewish Theatre. The Cutting Ball’s programming focuses on new play development, new play production, new translations, and bold interpretations of classic plays. We produce a full season of new work and original interpretations of classics. In addition, we produce Avant GardARAMA!, which features short plays of experimental works; an ongoing play-​reading series called Hidden Classics; and Risk is This. .. The Cutting Ball New Experimental Plays Festival.

For more information, please visit www​.cut​ting​ball​.com

Meet the Business Owner

Rob M.

Business Owner

Rob Melrose is Artistic Director of Cutting Ball, where he has directed Victims of Duty, Avant GardARAMA, Endgame, Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Hamletmachine, As You Like It, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Mayakovsky: A Tragedy, My Head Was a Sledgehammer, Roberto Zucco, Vomit Talk of Ghosts, The Sandalwood Box, Pickling, Ajax for Instance, Helen of Troy and Drowning Room and has translated No Exit, Woyzeck, Pelléas and Mélisande, and Ubu Roi. He has directed at Guthrie Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, Actors’ Collective, Alias Stage, Crowded Fire C.A.F.E., Perishable Theatre, Yale Summer Cabaret, Princeton Summer Theater. As assistant director he has worked at Public Theater/​New York Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, Guthrie Theater, Yale Repertory Theater, and McCarter Theatre. He has an M.F.A. in directing from the Yale School of Drama and a B.A. in English and Theater from Princeton University.

The Cutting Ball Theater also recommends

New Delhi Restaurant

374

reviews

Indian

Rob M. says,

«Walking distance from our theater at 277 Taylor Street. Start your evening with dinner there, or take advantage of New Delhi’s bar, open to 2am.»

Ponzu — CLOSED

243

reviews

Lounges

,

Asian Fusion

Rob M. says,

«Just two blocks up from our theater, Ponzu is a great place to enjoy a meal before the play, or drinks and snacks after your visit to Cutting Ball.»

Hana Zen — CLOSED

379

reviews

Japanese

,

Sushi Bars

Rob M. says,

«Walking distance from our theater at 277 Taylor Street. Delicious Japanese food in a stylish atmosphere.»

Kuletos

793

reviews

Italian

Rob M. says,

«Walking distance from our theater at 277 Taylor Street. Enjoy a delicious Italian meal before your visit to The Cutting Ball Theater.»

Farmerbrown

2817

reviews

Southern

,

Soul Food

,

Breakfast & Brunch

Rob M. says,

«Walking distance from our theater at 277 Taylor Street. Great for dinner before the play, or drinks and appetizers after.»

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Vicinity

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20 reviews of The Cutting Ball Theater

No registration required
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
We saw Mount Misery here on Friday night and it was A-​mazing! Even though I live in the Tenderloin, I had never been to the Exit theater before.
Tickets are super reasonable and the theater is small enough that every seat is great – you are mere feet away from the actors.
The play we saw was really cool-​Frederick Douglas and Donald Rumsfeld communicating through time and space. Like nothing I’ve ever seen. Really high caliber acting going on here and I love that they are taking risks by staging cutting edge (well, ball) plays.
I noticed that their membership is also a great deal! 30% off already reasonably priced tickets. I can’t wait to come back! Glad they are in my nabe :)
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
A very good independent theater that is worth keeping an eye for their programs. They always come out with a couple of shows I am interested in.
Place rating: 5
Novato, CA
Just went Friday night to Ubu Roi. It is so crazy and hysterically funny in parts. Check out the Examiner review, they were pretty much right on.
This is the greatest little secret gift theater to the bay area… so ready to try new things, nurture new playwrights, support their loyal and talented acting team and they are really all wonderful people on top of it. I always enjoy my evenings there. I even bring my teens to the lighter shows, like this one, and they also enjoy the show and the whole company. Lots of positive energy. If you can get to one, it is fun to go to the nights where the company directors et al give talks about the show. This particular play was first produced in Paris in 1896 and was absolutely scandalous. It is still waaaay out of the box and the director, Yury Urnov, has just taken it that much further. You won’t believe the creativity. Anyway, if you can’t tell, I loved it and I just love Cutting Ball
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
I drove up from San Jose just to come to Cutting Ball Theater and follow a hunch I had about this play called Tenderloin… WOW, so glad I did!
A couple nights ago I had the absolute pleasure of seeing an original theater-​work commissioned by Cutting Ball Theater and directed by Annie Elias. What a MAGICAL piece! I lived on the edge of the Tenderloin for nearly six months (a few years back) and only wish this play had been around at that point.
I am FOREVER changed! What a brilliant and heart-​felt play. Each and every actor reached into my heart with their embodiment of such true-​life personality. Their presence, as individuals and a community, was transcendent.
Elias and her amazing team, crafted a wholly inclusive experience for the audience, bringing me into the world of the Tenderloin that is always there. It was as though the play was a baby… in the womb of the theater… inside the Mother Tenderloin.
A special shout-​out to all involved in producing the audio-​scape for Tenderloin! The ambient sounds and music were woven together beautifully… and the way they rose and then fell away completely, allowing a given personality to be with us… the artistry of what was done is beyond words.
KUDOS to Cutting Ball Theater for supporting artistic visions like this one. Every San Francisco resident and visitor alike would see the Tenderloin with gentle and compassionate eyes, had they seen this gem of a play.
I will come back to see more of what you do!
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Get tickets for the extended run of «Tenderloin» ASAP. This moving world-​premier play about a neighborhood in San Francisco is not to be missed! You can travel to New York or London for fancier theaters, but you won’t find better acting or directing anywhere.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
This is a high four stars for Tenderloin by Annie Elias, a documentary about San Francisco’s notorious neighborhood (as well as home to many cheap but good eateries, as any good SF Unilocaler knows). Actors speak the words of the locals, a la Laramie Project, bringing them to life (almost literally – one of the interviewees portrayed died shortly after being interviewed by the cast). It’s a lot of fun and serious at the same time, and well worth your time.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Just saw Will Eno’s new play (s) «Lady Grey (in ever lower light) and other plays» which is up until April 10th, 2011. The first play is poignant and amusing, the second meta-​amusing and David Sinaiko is hilarious in the third. If you in need to some smart, funny theater that isn’t a polemic, then run, don’t walk (but look both ways before you cross the street of course) to this show.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
We’ve been to several Cutting Ball shows now and I feel great about giving them 5 stars. Fantastic experimental theater. Definitely worth checking out whatever’s currently playing.
Place rating: 5
Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA
Hurry and see Will Eno’s three new one-​acts NOW! I see over 150 performances a year in the Bay Area, and this is my favorite in recent memory. Funny, provacative, challenging theatre — what more could you want?! I love nearly everything CB puts on, which is why I subscribe. But, don’t miss this one, in particular.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
One of my absolute favorite theater spots in the city, and a real testament to the fact that theater is about the community, because every time I attend a performance, the audience is absolutely electric.
Lov e their seasons, their directing team and the local actors they showcase with each performance. Plus, half-​price tickets at «Under 30s Thursdays» shows are the bomb.
Place rating: 5
Hayward, CA
Wow! Cutting Ball has outdone itself (after Bald Soprano I didn’t think it was possible to do MORE or BETTER)!
Playwright Marcus Gardley wins awards for reasons! This new work by the deservedly award winning Gardley is sensational! The language exquisite and accessible.
The choreography of Rami Margron defies description. Water! Really! You have to see it to believe it. People were floating and swimming!
Before I get to how great the great acting and performing was… (surpassing all expectations) let me take a moment to applaud the costumes (and hat!) Callie Floor’s design ideas and execution are outstanding.
Every actor in the large cast was enticing and engaging. Cutting Ball is in residence at Exit on Taylor. Seventy seats (a definition of intimate theater) so there is literally no room for an under performer to go unnoticed. This performance, everyone was a star in their own right.
Brer Bit (Martin Grizzell) is perfect! He can jump and move in ways I didn’t think possible! Blanche Verse (Sarah Mitchell) delivers enthusiasm and some fine harmony. Free Girl (Erika McCrary), Cadence Marie Verse (Jeannette Harrison) both are believable being very good at ignoring what they don’t want to see in the moment.
Aldo Billingslea could not have been better as Damacus /​Demeter; never giving up and looking OK in a dress!
Jean Verse (ably portrayed by Cutting Ball favorite, David Sinaiko) continued his sinister ways and got what he deserved (perhaps) while poor Yankee Pot Roast (Zac Schumman) did what nature and circumstances commanded and in the end was no better than that.
Not to forget Jesus, David Westley Skillman, moonwalking is only one of his many talents.
The inimitable Miss Ssippi and her waves (Rebecca Frank, Halili, Knox, Erica Richardson) were great! Their movement, their voices, the very clothes they wore were so rich and textured. Very little willful suspension of disbelief required. I was carried away into this story and stayed there the entire time.
The audience leaped to their feet afterwards! There is no better indication of audience pleasure! Amy Mueller directed this masterpiece. There is no doubt that this show has a long successful future. Kudos to Cutting Ball for this excellent production, against which others will be measured.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Exit, on the shady end of town, is an intimate theater. An in-​your-​face intimate. When Mrs. Smith fills the stage, rouge hostess lips grinning, crisp, chirp voice piercing through the quiet theater, you forget the stuffy claustrophobia that crept in just a short minute ago, when the doors snapped shut and the lights switched off.
For the next 65 minutes, all sorts of absurd dialogues will follow. They will be so absurd that they will make sense.
Makes sense?
Picture this: you’re on a family car ride out of town. You’re humming a tune, while your brother is tapping on to a completely different rap. You’re trapped in the same small space, isolated in separate bubbles, entirely oblivious of one another.
Sounds familiar?
Well, that’s what if feels like when, as an observant, you follow the characters communicate on different vibes, or rather miscommunicate. It’s like zapping randomly through different TV channels. Each channel lures you in to its autonomous universe, making sense on its proper plane, but ping-​ponging between them leaves you jumbled.
In this Anti-​play, the characters aren’t advancing a story line, resolving a conflict, reaching catharsis. They’re just there, in the moment, stating the obvious or abusing the state. of mind. They’re engaged in a meaningless banter and nonsensical story telling that would not shame Alice’s Mad Hatter Tea Party. It is language, not plot, that catches the spot light, pirouetting from the outset to the off set. The dialogues are delivered in clear articulation, resembling the Assimil method for teaching a foreign language through full sentences – tapes of random every-​day life phrases, with odd association links.
«The sound of words, the rhythm, the rhyme, and even the tone,» says Rob Melrose, «are often as important as the meaning itself. So here, my goal was to preserve some of the schoolbook formality and awkwardness…» This is a bald theater form, even in today’s liberal standards, let alone in 1950, when the original production of The Bald Soprano débuted in Paris.
Ionesco showcases text as the center piece of the play in the same way a choreographer presents movement in a dance show, or a composer delivers music in a concert hall. By presenting text heavy with clichés, puns, repetitions and non sequiturs, Ionesco reveals the inadequacies of verbal communication. And the Cutting Ball cast carries these words through torrential seas as a loyal vessel, and unloads the cargo safely on shore.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Thom Pain was excellent but my review is for the space, which was very cool. Simple small unpretentious. I’d definitely come back for another production.
Place rating: 5
Greenbrae, CA
Brilliant, amazing show. We loved it, loved it, loved it!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
A shout out to the remarkable productions. It’s a small theater, low-​budget staging, which makes an adequate backdrop to excellent acting & interesting choices of plays to stage.
Place rating: 5
Washington, DC
Wow, great show! I had heard about Thom Pain when it premiered in New York, and was thrilled to learn of its opening in San Francisco. The verdict? It blew away my already-​high expectations.
Jonathan Bock was outstanding as Thom… this is such a complex, pained character, and yet Jonathan infused a cutting (no pun intended) humor that had the Friday night audience rolling at many points. This is a character you absolutely need to see… within a 5-​minute period he can charm you, scare you, and teach you about the curious workings of the mind. I was riveted for the entire hour.
Will Eno’s play is truly a masterwork of language, and this production at the Cutting Ball completely delivers. Very moving, darkly funny, completely engaging. In short, fantastic!
Place rating: 5
South San Francisco, CA
Thom Pain (based on nothing) is playing through 4.5. If you like plays with plots that entertain and amuse, this isn’t the best choice. On the other hand, if you don’t mind having your psyche poked, getting stared down by the star, and being in the dark for a while (literally), this is a great choice. Whatever your preference, this short one-​hour piece will give you lots to discuss afterward.
Jonathan Bock gives a stellar performance delivering Twitter-​size streams of consciousness on life’s transitory pain points. In the character’s ADD addled way, he riffs on the end of childhood innocence and losing a first love, all while engaging the audience (sometimes physically) in the process.
Like the Beckett characters they’ve been compared to, Will Eno’s Thom Pain is miserable from the inside out in a world that doesn’t offer many bright spots. However, every once in a while, his pain doubles back on itself, giving him (and us) the belief that this too, may just pass.
Hint: if you’re shy like me, don’t sit in the front row or on the end of the aisle. Also, this isn’t appropriate for children, as there’s strong language and graphic verbal imagery.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
You would be doing yourself a great disservice if you did not go see Thom Pain… amazing, amazing, amazing… Will Eno’s words are to my mind as candy is to my mouth… do it!
Place rating: 5
San Rafael, CA
«Mud,» the newest production at the Cutting Ball Theatre, is a funny, dark, and ultimately wrenching play about three people struggling to pull their lives together, only to face greater obstacles — each other. The actors leave everything on the stage, and the intimacy of the theatre leaves the audience feeling every emotional turn.
I love the Cutting Ball because it always challenges me, takes me out of my comfort zone and puts forth the essential elements that we all have to deal with in life. In this play, the most intriguing character is the troubled soul Lloyd, and how even as Mae and Henry try to inspire him to pull his life together, ultimately he brings them down to his level — to the mud of the title.
In the past few years, I’ve seen several Cutting Ball productions, from creative interpretations of Shakespeare to even more avant garde and experimental fare. I am never disappointed, and always stimulated.
The theater seems to have found a great audience and support, and I look forward to many more outstanding evenings with the Cutting Ball.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
The set, lighting, and performance of their production of Beckett’s Endgame was sophisticated. The characters seemed to take on a Bay Area flair: Clov seemed like today’s twenty-​something from the Mission and Hamm could be an animated individual form the Castro. I’m not sure the Bay Area modernization gave advantage to a supposedly inhumanly absurd play like the Endgame, but I have to applaud the production for presenting the audiences such a important play.