10/13 Friday through 11/4 Saturday
Theater: ReOrient Festival of Short Plays
Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East, reprises its signature ReOrient Festival of Short Plays, with six short plays, diverse in content and style, highlighting the multiplicity of Middle Eastern perspectives and identities. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. $20 to $100. Potrero Stage, 1695 18th Street. For more information: https://goldenthread.org/tickets/
10/14 Saturday – 10/15 Sunday
Literature: Litquake Out Loud at Yerba Buena Gardens
Litquake 2023 runs from October 5 to 21, with two full days of in-person events hosted by Yerba Buena Gardens. This year Litquake Out Loud highlights Bay Area BIPOC and LGBTQ+ writers and thought leaders. 12 to 5 p.m. Free. Esplanade, Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission Street between Third and Fourth streets. For more information: https://shorturl.at/flnK1
10/16 Monday
Theater: Monday Night Playground
Over the course of the upcoming 2023-24 season, 36 early-career Bay Area playwrights competitively selected from applications received this summer will generate more than 150 original short plays, of which 36 will be developed as part of Monday Night PlayGround, a monthly script-in-hand staged reading series. The top six scripts will be staged by leading local directors and actors and presented at Freight & Salvage and simulcast, beginning on Monday, October 16, continuing on third Mondays through March. The November round will take place at Potrero Stage, in connection with the annual Innovators Showcase. 7 p.m. Suggested donations: $5 to $30. Choose live stream presentation or in-person at Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley. For more information: https://bit.ly/46oQwnz
10/19 Thursday
Community: Celebrating Julie Christensen
Rejoice in seven years of the Dogpatch and Northwest Potrero Hill Green Benefit District, and its retiring executive director, Julie Christensen. 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Free, but registration required. Avalon Community Lounge, 800 Indiana Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/3Zx8emP
10/19 Thursday – 11/19 Sunday
Art: San Francisco Open Studios
ArtSpan’s San Francisco Open Studios returns for its 49th year, offering the opportunity to engage directly with artists in their studio spaces. Visitors learn about each creator’s work and process and can purchase art directly. Artist-hosted open studio events are accompanied by the expansive SFOS Exhibition of 300+ artworks at the SOMArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan Street. Artist studios will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For a full lineup of events and celebrations: https://www.artspanart.org/sfos2023
10/20 Friday
Film: Ghostbusters
Sundown Cinema and San Francisco Parks Alliance offer Ghostbusters. Bring a blanket and cozy clothes to stay warm. Event begins at 5 p.m., film starts after sundown, around 6:30 p.m. Free. Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, McLaren Park, 40 John F. Shelley Drive.
For more information and to RSVP: https://shorturl.at/cnEPX
10/21 Saturday
Community: Potrero Hill R&B Festival
Jam to Rhythm & Blues whilst celebrating the Hill community with food and family fun! The Potrero Hill Festival stretches over four blocks and is a benefit for the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 20th Street from Missouri to Arkansas. For more information: https://potrerofestival.com/
10/21 Saturday – 11/12 Sunday
Theater: Citizen
Word for Word’s 30th season concludes with Citizen by Greg Sarris. In Citizen, Salvador, born in the U.S., raised in Mexico, son of an American Indian mother and Mexican father, returns to California to find his mom, or rather, her grave. Working in the fields and ranches around Santa Rosa, he meets his mother’s family, encountering kindness, opportunism, and glimmers of hope. An American citizen who speaks no English, Salvador discovers his identity and what it means to belong. Directed by Gendell Hing- Hernández. Tickets: $40 to $65 (previews: sliding scale $5 to $25). Z Below, 470 Florida Street. For more information: https://www.zspace.org/citizen
10/28 Saturday
Halloween: Thrill-O-Ween at Thrive City
A spooktacular afternoon of safe Halloween fun, Thrive City will be filled with themed activities for all ages including a special screening of the Pixar film, Elemental. Stay alert because you never know who or what may pop out! Best dressed wins the costume contest! For more information and to RSVP: https://bit.ly/45l2xcZ