Theater
This year’s participants in Potrero Hill-based PlayGround’s Innovator Incubator include two companies new to the Incubator – The American Jewish Theatre and House Theater, both Los Angeles-based – and six returning troupes: Analog Theatre, The Chikahan Company, Latinx Mafia, Network Effects Theater, Oakland Public Theater, and Poltergeist Theatre Project. The Incubator was launched in 2019 to foster innovative theatre companies committed to historically marginalized or excluded communities. The multi-year program provides financial support, fiscal sponsorship, space and mentorship. Last year’s initiative offered nine production companies more than $50,000 in resources. An Innovators Showcase will be held in November.
Radio Silent
Mutiny Radio, a clubhouse for comedians, storytellers, poets, musicians, and artists, shuttered its 21st and Florida streets storefront earlier this year. “It was my entire life that I sacrificed everything for, for 10 years,” Pam Benjamin, 49, Mutiny Radio’s owner, told Mission Local. “It was my business. It was my income. It was my struggle.” Mutiny Radio started as Pirate Cat Radio in 2006. In 2011, founder Daniel Roberts, also known as “Monkey Man,” was fined $10,000 for broadcasting without a license and disappeared, prompting DJs and volunteers to organize into a collective rebranded as Mutiny Radio. At its peak, all 50 people involved had a vote in decisions. Benjamin took over the space in 2013. The main operational cost was a $2,300-a-month lease, which Benjamin covered through fundraisers and hosted shows at other venues. “I’m tired of the GoFundMes every year. I’m tired of begging people for money,” said Benjamin. GoFundMes in 2017, 2018 and 2020 raised $10, $2,545 and $8,650, respectively. In 2023, the San Francisco Arts Commission awarded Benjamin $20,000 and Mutiny Radio $50,000 for rent and overhead expenses. It’s unclear if most of that money went toward back rent, but by the end Benjamin said she was on food stamps and out of money.
Carpool
An oft-gridlocked, mile-long segment of northbound Interstate 280 may become San Francisco’s first freeway carpool lane. Severe congestion has long plagued I-280 from 18th Street to the King Street off-ramp, which takes motorists to Oracle Park and the Embarcadero, a bottleneck that’s mostly returned to pre-pandemic levels. Transportation officials are exploring adding a dedicated lane for Muni, SamTrans express buses and vehicles carrying three or more people. One option would be to re-stripe the left shoulder to turn the section from four lanes to five, with the leftmost one reserved for carpools and transit. Under that approach I-280’s King Street off-ramp, through the Fifth Street intersection, would become three lanes with an added lane. Analysts are gathering public feedback before making a recommendation, which requires California Department of Transportation and San Francisco Board of Supervisors approval. Construction could begin in 2026.
