Do it live! San Francisco's 10 best theater experiences

October 1, 12:11 PMSF Theater ExaminerChad Jones

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Stephanie Hunt (left) and Michelle
Pava Mills star in Word for Word's
latest hit, "More Stories of Tobias
Wolff." Word for Word is without a
doubt one of San Francisco's best
live theater experiences. Photo by
Clayton Lord 

The Bay Area is flush with great theater companies, and they’re not all in the seven square miles of San Francisco itself. But that doesn’t mean the City is bereft of good theater. Hardly. From big to small, obscure to mainstream, San Francisco offers a host of reliable, often adventurous, theater companies:

Word for Word/Z Space Studio – Noted for adapting short works of fiction for the stage without changing a word of the original text, Word for Word takes the word “adaptation” to all-new levels. You leave a Word for Word show in disbelief that you’ve just seen a short story performed and not a carefully honed play by a world-class playwright. And supporting arts organization Z Space Studio, of which Word for Word is a part, always has intriguing shows in development. www.zspace.org

Campo Santo/Intersection for the Arts – Nobody creates plays like Campo Santo and partnering arts organization Intersection. Committed to doing only new plays they help create, Campo Santo works with established playwrights (Octavio Solis, Naomi Iizuka) and writers who want to give playwriting a try (Dave Eggers, Denis Johnson). The results are always worth seeing and are more often than not mind blowing. www.theintersection.org

Encore Theatre Company – This 20-year-old company doesn’t have a theater, subscribers or a regular season. But when a new show arrives, it’s a major theatrical event and usually involves playwrights you should know such as Adam Bock, Daniel MacIvor, Leigh Fondakowski or Claire Chafee. www.eurekatheatrecompany.org

Crowded Fire Theater Company – One of San Francisco’s most enterprising small companies, Crowded Fire has spent the last decade commissioning new plays and presenting wonderfully odd and oddly wonderful shows that are unlike anything anywhere else. www.crowdedfire.org

EXIT Theatre – There’s always something interesting going on at the EXIT Theatreplex, which includes three spaces in one location and another one just down the block and around the corner in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. Magic, music, avant garde and traditional merge on EXIT stages, and from this theatrical complex emerges the annual San Francisco Fringe Festival each September. www.sffringe.org

Magic Theatre – With new artistic director Loretta Greco at the helm, the 40-year-old Magic is poised to regain some of its ‘70s mojo when Sam Shepard, Michael McClure and Joseph Chaikin were its theatrical lions. www.magictheatre.org

Traveling Jewish Theatre – Slowly recovering from some financial setbacks, TJT is celebrating 30 years of intense, lyrical theater that comes from a specific point of view but is never less than inclusive. www.atjt.com

Thick Description – Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, Thick D has one of the coolest theaters in town (on Potrero Hill) and a history of shepherding invigorating new work that pushes boundaries and allows young playwrights to flourish. www.thickhouse.org

American Conservatory Theater – The big kid on the regional theater block, ACT has a gilded 40-plus-year history and attracts the biggest and best in terms of cast, director and crew. Specialties include the work of Tom Stoppard and brash, bouncy period pieces from the likes of Moliere, and the ACT Theater (formerly the Geary), is one of the country's most beautiful. www.act-sf.org.

SHN/Best of Broadway – The big commercial behemoth of theater companies in San Francisco brings in all the Broadway touring shows, but head honcho Carole Shorenstein Hays often strays from the fun, glossy hits (“Legally Blonde”) and offers us plays she believes in such as August Wilson’s “Jitney” or the Tony Kushner/Jeanine Tesori musical “Caroline, or Change.” www.shnsf.com