The Marsh Theater is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

theater company that specializes in developing new performance, founded in 1989. It has two venue locations, at 1062 Valencia Street in the

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; and 2120 Allston Way in

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, California.

History

The Marsh began in 1989 as a Monday night performance series with Peggy Howe and Stephanie Weiseman at the legendary Hotel Utah, a historic drinking hole and performance venue. Competition with

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drove The Marsh to Morty’s in North Beach. In 1990, they moved The Marsh into the back room at the former Cafe Beano at 878 Valencia Street. They briefly operated out of the former Modern Time Books at 17th Street and Sanchez Street. In December 1992, The Marsh moved to its current location at 1062 Valencia Street, and they purchased the space in 1996. The first staged workshop was

Marga Gomez Marga Gomez is a comedian, writer, performer, and teaching artist from Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 15 ...

’s "Memory Tricks."

Josh Kornbluth Josh Kornbluth (born May 21, 1959) is an American comedic autobiographical monologist based in the San Francisco Bay Area who has toured internationally, written and starred in several feature films, and starred in a television interview show. ...

’s "Haiku Tunnel" was The Marsh’s first full-length production, and Charlie Varon’s initial solo piece "Honest Prophets" saw its debut there. In December 1992, The Marsh moved to its current location on Valencia Street. In 1996, The Marsh purchased the whole building, gradually developing the space into a community arts center. It recently has included two

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

s, a

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, a

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, and a youth theater. In 2004, The Marsh produced the world premiere of

Brian Copeland Brian Copeland (born 1964) is an American actor, comedian, radio talk show host, playwright and author based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Copeland has been the opening act for artists such as Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin and Ring ...

's solo show, "Not a Genuine Black Man." The production ran for two years, making it the longest-running solo show in San Francisco history. In March 2020, as the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

shuttered theaters and venues across the San Francisco Bay Area, The Marsh had transitioned to an online broadcasting platform known as MarshStream and it provided a full calendar of live theater performances, workshops and interactive programming to patrons sheltering in place.

Marsh Madness Competition

In 2018, up to 32 teams of one to five performers presented 40-minute unplugged performances over a 3-day weekend as part of a theatrical competition. Audiences voted for their favorite teams and each team scored based on votes and attendance. The top scoring teams advanced to the "Final Four Showdown" on Sunday,March 11, 2018, where a judging panel of Marsh VIPs and celebrities crowned one Marsh Madness champion with $1,000 and a weekend run of their show at The Marsh. Second to Fourth place received cash prizes, plus a Marsh Rising performance.

Notable past performers

The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

* Don Reed *

Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...

Rick Reynolds Rick Reynolds (born December 13, 1951) is an American comedian known for his one-man shows ''Only the Truth Is Funny'' and ''All Grown Up...and No Place to Go.'' ''Only the Truth Is Funny'' began as a theatrical show and was eventually broadcas ...

* Merle Kessler * Charlie Varon *

Will Durst Will Durst (born on March 18, 1952) is an American political satirist. He has been called a modern mix of Mort Sahl and Will Rogers. Early life Durst was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He went to 14 different schools before graduating from ...

* Mark Kenward * Echo Brown

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh Mission District, San Francisco Theatre companies in California