Mission Statement

Encore Theatre Company was established in 1988 as a showcase for experimental work by alumni and associates of American Conservatory Theater. We have evolved from those roots and are proud to have been firing up Bay Area stages, bringing you innovative, immediate and critically acclaimed contemporary theatre for 18 years.

We are pleased that our audiences continue to support and enjoy our work and that the critics have hailed our work as “daring,” “provocative,” “compelling,” and “dynamic.” Most recently, we were honored by the San Francisco Chronicle for our production of Adam Bock’s The Typographer’s Dream which the Chronicle named one of the Top Ten Theatre Events of 2005. This is the second time our collaborations with Adam Bock have received this superlative recognition, the first having occurred in 2002.

We pride ourselves on the range of our work. From drama (Dreams of the Salthorse and Darwin’s Finches) to comedy (Five Flights); cabaret (Io, Princess of Argos) to verbatim transcription (I Think I Like Girls); from established (Lanford Wilson) to emerging (Adam Bock), Encore enjoys the rewards of challenge and reach.

Since 1994 when Lisa Steindler, became our Artistic Director, we have focused on bringing new works to the Bay Area; forging San Francisco’s best actors, designers and directors with some of the best new playwrights in North America.

THE RECENT PAST

Under Lisa’s direction, Encore Theatre Company found its home in Potrero Hill’s Thick House in 2000. Some of the works we have premiered since then include:

World Premiere of Leigh Fondakowski’s I Think I Like Girls
World Premiere of Adam Bock’s Five Flights
World Premiere of Adam Rapp’s Dreams of the Salthorse.
World Premiere of Claire Chafee’s Darwin’s Finches
World Premiere of Adam Bock’s Thursday
West Coast Premiere of Lynne Alvarez’s Hidden Parts
World Premiere of Terry Tarnoff’s The Bone Man of Benares
West Coast Premiere of Adam Bock’s The Typographer’s Dream

We are proud that our productions have not only been well received by our audiences and the press, but also that our work has been recognized with some of the following awards:

Top Ten List of Theatrical Events of 2005: San Francisco Chronicle
Outstanding New Play in the Bay Area: Will Glickman Award
Best Director: Dean Goodman Award
Best Ensemble: S.F. Bay Guardian
Best Set Design: Dean Goodman Award
Top Ten List of Theatrical Events of 2002: San Francisco Chronicle
Top Ten List of Cultural Events of 2002: San Francisco Chronicle
Best Score: San Francisco Critics Award

THE NEAR FUTURE

We expect 2006 to be another exciting year for Encore Theatre Company. In on It opens our 18thth season and establishes a new relationship with playwright Daniel MacIvor. We were privileged to workshop Daniel’s developing and brilliant work His Greatness this fall, and we are honored to premiere his Obie Award winning work, In on It on the West Coast.

Later this year, we will remount our tremendously successful production of Adam Bock’s The Typographers Dream in Berkeley to enable more Bay Area residents to see this Top Ten Show of 2005. A new play by Mark Jackson lies on the horizon along with expectations of more new work from Adam Bock and Daniel MacIvor. We thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you again and again at Encore Theatre.