Off the Page Archive
Word for Word's Off the Page staged reading series has been our testing ground for new material. Here is an admittedly partial archive of stories that have been performed.
2017
LINCOLN IN THE BARDO
Word for Word performs from George Saunders' novel, prior to a speaking engagement by the author (Lincoln in the Bardo in conversation with Dana Spiotta)
Feb 13, 7:00 PM at the Jewish Community Center
Word for Word is thrilled to take part in a reading of George Saunder’s Lincoln in the Bardo, as we’ve been a huge fan of his for a long time. Join the author in conversation at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, our performance is before his speaking engagement.
Following the release of George Saunders’ last collection of short stories, Tenth of December, the New York Times Sunday Magazine cover story raved “George Saunders Has Written the Best Book You’ll Read This Year.” A MacArthur “genius,” Saunders returns to the JCCSF to discuss his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a thrilling supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. In conversation with Dana Spiotta, author of Innocents and Othersand Stone Arabia.
“The best short-story writer in English – not ‘one of,’ not ‘arguably,’ but the best.” – Mary Karr, Time
March 13 - When Women Speak: An Inspiration of Voices from Herstory
Directed by Delia MacDougall
Word for Word's Off the Page presents an inspiration of well loved speeches by women past and present interpreted by Bay Area actors, including Margaret Sanger, Bella Abzug, Barbara Jordan, and others, interpreted by Bay Area actors.
Z Space, Word for Word, The Center for New Work, and the Cultural Arts Division presents
SCOTUS THEATER LIVE
A Word for Word Off the Page Reading of the Supreme Court arguments in Peña Rodrigues v. Colorado
MAR 25 | 7 PM Harvey Milk Center for the Arts
50 Scott St. ,SF
Directed by Becca Wolff
The latest installment of SCOTUS Theater, co-presented by The Center for New Work and Word for Word/Z Space, features a reading of the arguments in Peña Rodriguez v. Colorado -- selected by a vote of our audience. Though there is no charge for the event, donations are welcomed. All proceeds will go to Public Counsel and ACLU.
The case concerns itself with bias in the jury room. Do rules about jury room privacy protect racist arguments made there? We'll find out what the court thinks later this year. In the meantime, our cast of actors and lawyers will present a reading and let the people deliberate. The reading of the case will be followed by a panel discussion featuring experts in fields that intersect around this case: the jury system, racial justice and immigrants rights.
March 20 - “Here it is Saturday” and “Emergency Room Notebook, 1977” by Lucia Berlin
Directed by Nancy Shelby (Here It Is Saturday) and JoAnne Winter (Emergency Room Notebook, 1977)
We continue our exploration of this fascinating writer's work with two stories - one that takes place in a prison writing class, the other in an emergency room - and both are filled with Berlin's usual style, wit and compassion.
June 19 - "The Girls” and “The Lover” - by Joy Williams
Produced by Word for Word's Associate Artist Group
Directed by Becca Wolff
In this installment we are featuring two stories by Joy Williams: "The Girls" (from Best American Short Stories 2005), "a story in which evil reigns, front and center", plus "The Lover." "Williams is...the heir to Flannery O'Connor"—Atlantic Monthly
A Reading By Word for Word - HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCEROR'S STONE - BY J.K. ROWLING
Saturday July 28, 8:30 pm - Bookshop West Portal - Free to the Public
Word for Word will participate with Bookshop West Portal in celebrating Harry's 20th with a reading of the last chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Part of a marathon reading at the Bookshop of the entire book on July 28! Go to bookshopwestportal.com for more information.
August 14 - “The Night in Question” and “Deep Kiss” by Tobias Wolff
Directed by Joel Mullennix
In preparation for our 25th Anniversary in 2018 we're bringing back one of our favorite writers!
July 31 - “Back of Beyond” by Ron Rash
Directed by Joel Mullennix
From the Southern Appalachian short story collection Burning Bright, this story is a portrait of rural desperation, a place beyond traditional America, and a window on a world which has shaped our present. Post-show discussion with Dr. Phillip Coffin of the SF Department of Human Services on substance abuse.
October 9 & 10 - “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” by Joan Didion
Directed by Delia MacDougall
A collaboration with Litquake, San Francisco Arts Commission and MUNI
This is a 50th anniversary celebration of Joan Didion's seminal essay on the Summer of Love. In addition to our reading, Deborah Aschheim, Kate Haug and Sarah Hotchkiss, commissioned Artists for the San Francisco Arts Commission’s 2017 Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, present their work on the Summer of Love's history and cultural zeitgeist.
November 2 - “Home” and “Victory Lap” by George Saunders
Directed by Sheila Balter (Home) and Delia MacDougall (Victory Lap)
“The best short-story writer in English – not ‘one of,’ not ‘arguably,’ but the best.”
—Time Magazine (writer Mary Karr)
George Saunders is Winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize.
2016
A QUIET PASSION
Word for Word reads the poetry of Emily Dickinson prior to a screening of a film at Mostly British Film Festival
Feb 22, 6:30 PM at the Vogue Theatre
Pre-eminent British director Terence Davies (“Distant Voices, Still Lives”, “The House of Mirth”, “Sunset Song”) paints a subtle portrait of the poet Emily Dickinson, employing painterly tableaux to portray a life of supreme intelligence that is undermined by social codes and convention. Davies moves through Emily’s youth, so full of spirited repartee on art, life and women’s place in a patriarchal society, heightened by the use of Dickinson’s wonderful verse as voice-over. As her hopes are crushed, Emily withdraws into herself and darkness slowly descends. Those who know Cynthia Nixon only from “Sex and the City” may be totally surprised by her nuanced portrayal of Emily. “Utterly and gloriously Davies,” Sight & Sound
UK/Belgium, 2016 (125 minutes)
Co-presented by Word For Word. Actors from Word For Word will introduce the film by reading selected Dickinson poems.
April 13 - “The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson” by Alan Bennett
Directed by Amy Kossow
May 16 - “The Gay Old Dog” by Edna Ferber
Directed by Molly Benson, member Associate Artists Group
Anthologized in 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories, Edna Ferber is a Pulitzer Prize winner, an Algonquin Round Table member, a playwright and a screenwriter.
June 13th - "Your Friend Always" by Joyce Maynard
Directed by Jill MacLean, member Associate Artist Group
Performed at Chapel of the Chimes
Sponsored by Oakland Public Library and Friends of the Piedmont and Rockridge branches
Published in Vogue Magazine, February 2007
June 22 - “Unmanageable” “Step” & “502” by Lucia Berlin
Directed by JoAnne Winter (Unmanageable and Step) and Nancy Shelby (502)
From A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories.
Word for Word takes part in:
HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD SCRIPT RELEASE PARTY
with staged readings from parts of
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
July 30, 2016 | 8 PM at Bookshop West Portal
It's not everyday that something new is released in the Harry Potter wizarding world. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is of special interest because it is the first time a Harry Potter work has premiered as a play. Word for Word is thrilled to take part in Bookshop West Portal's party for the midnight release of the script.
Bookshop West Portal will transform—as if by magic—into Flourish and Blotts Bookstore. The courtyard adjacent to the store will become Diagon Alley, the main shopping thoroughfare of the wizarding world. Additionally, a large section of the West Portal shopping district, along with the West Portal branch of the San Francisco Public Library will join in the wizarding fun. Word for Word's reading will take place around 8 PM, but there are magical activities for the whole family all day and night long.
July 25 - Stories from I Want to Show You More by Jamie Quatro
Directed by Amy Kossow
Including the stories “Caught Up”, “What Friends Talk About”, “Imperfections”, “You Look Like Jesus”, and “Relatives of God.” “There’s so much in these stories that’s shocking, yet there’s so much solace.”—NY Times.
August 22 - “Hat Trick” by Edith Pearlman
Directed by Susan Harloe
"Honeydew should cement [Pearlman’s] reputation as one of the most essential short story visionaries of our time”—New York Times
September 13 - "The Revolutionaries Try Again" by Mauro Javier Cardenas
Directed by Word for Word Associate Artist Gendell Hernandez
The Book Launch of The Revolutionaries Try Again by Mauro Javier Cardenas during Green Apple on the Park. “...an unhinged novel about three childhood friends contemplating a presidential run against the crooked Ecuadorian president Abdalá "El Loco" Bucaram. This is double-black-diamond high modernism, so do some warm-up stretches before you crack this baby.” —Shelf Awareness
September 19 - “Hard Times” and “Burning Bright” by Ron Rash
Directed by Amy Kossow
This installment is from the author’s collection Burning Bright. Winner of the 2010 Frank O’Connor award—-”the world’s richest prize for the short story form.”
October 10 - Selections from The Woman Warrior and China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston
Directed by Eugenie Chan
Part of the 2016 Litquake Festival
Word for Word stages excerpts from Litquake Barbary Coast Award honoree Maxine Hong Kingston's books The Woman Warrior and China Men. Audience conversation with director Eugenie Chan following performance.
December 16 - SCOTUS Theater Live - "You Should Have the Body"
Directed by Becca Wolff
Reading of arguments in the case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. SCOTUS Theater is a Bay Area based organization that brings together communities of artists, activists and concerned individuals to hear and consider Supreme Court cases for ourselves, with Co-Artistic Directors Lisa Stern and Becca Wolff.
