The Samuel Peaches Peripatetic Players summer tour, A Lord Of A Ring In A Suitcase, plays August 17-25, 2019 at six Bay Area parks & public spaces.
A Lord Of A Ring In A Suitcase
Shows
Arts In Review on KALX 90.7 FM
Last Thursday, June 13, Port Stories actor/creator Leigh Rondon-Davis and director Rebecca Longworth were interviewed by Greg Scharpen and Stephanie Kalem at KALX 90.7 Berkeley, on their fabulous show, “Arts In Review.” Listen below the pics…
They chatted all about the show — performing it, creating it, and interacting with audiences — and Port Costa, including the meaning of the local phrase “Port Acosted.”
Greg and Stephanie had come to see Port Stories the previous Sunday, when a herd of goats were grazing on the hills that surround Port Costa, as documented in Stephanie’s Instagram feed!
Don’t have your tickets yet? Get ’em here.
Listen to the interview in full right here… but watch out for light spoilers!
Port Costa plays through June 30 only — get your tickets here!
Where to eat and stay in Port Costa & Crockett
Hello friends! To help you enjoy your trip to Port Costa for Port Stories — you have your tickets already, don’t you? — we’ve put together a little guide to our favorite places to nosh before and after the show. And if you want to make a mini-vacation out of it, nothing beats the Burlington Hotel for Victorian charm… with a special discount for Port Stories ticketholders.
Crockett
Crockett is the town you’ll pass through by taking the Pomona Street exit from 80. Be sure to leave at least 10 minutes to drive on to Port Costa from Crockett.
Sugartown Sweet Shoppe
This coffee shop / ice cream parlour / sandwich spot houses a yoga studio upstairs. They’re only open ’til 5pm, so best for a lunchtime stop or afternoon ice cream.
Club Tac
A dive bar that serves breakfast on the weekends.
Four Corners Pizza-N-Pasta
Pizza and pasta spot in Crockett that’s open ’til 10pm.
Port Costa
You’ve wound your way through more hills and dales than you thought could be folded into this corner of the Bay Area, and now you’re in Port Costa! First you’ll see the Port Costa School, where our play begins. Keep going past the school toward the water to find “downtown” Port Costa.
The Bull Valley Roadhouse
One of the SF Chronicle‘s Top 100 restaurants, specializing in exquisite pre-prohibition cocktails and exemplary farm-to-table cuisine served family style. A real treat! The BVR opens at 4pm on Saturdays for dinner; Sunday brunch is served from 10:30 to 2pm, and dinner on Sunday also starts at 4pm.
The Honey House Cafe
Coffee, tea, homemade baked goods, bacon… and jars of local honey. The Honey House in the Burlington Hotel is a great stop before the 1pm Saturday show. If you stay at the hotel, a drink and cornbread or biscuit for each guest comes with your room in the morning.
The Warehouse
Legendary for its bikers, beers, and bears (yes, there are two, if you look closely), the Warehouse cooks up brats and burgers — including turkey burgers — on the weekends.
Stay all night!
The Burlington Hotel
Our friends at the Burlington are offering $20 off room nights to Port Stories ticket holders; call 510.787.6795 or email peggy@thehotelburlington.com for details.
Port Costa Residency
Idiot String’s artistic residency in Port Costa, sponsored by the Port Costa Conservation Society, is now underway! Our residency aims to grow Idiot String’s creative and outreach activities, and to continue to activate the Port Costa School with creative programming for the local community and artists from around the Bay Area.
Featured projects of the residency include:
Public Workshop Series
Idiot String offers a series of creative workshops open to the public at the Port Costa School. Each workshop focuses on a different set of performance skills or artistic techniques related to our work. They’re a great way for folks of all experience levels to try something new, or to dive deeper into an established practice. Click here for upcoming offerings.
EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Sponsored by funding from the Crockett Community Foundation, Idiot String offers in-school performing arts education workshops and master classes to the John Swett Unified School District. Workshops, master classes, and teaching residencies are available to other school districts and community groups as well; please visit our Creative Education page for more information.
Port STories (2019)
Idiot String’s site-specific, interactive production was created throughout late 2018 and early 2019 at the Port Costa School, and performed at the School and throughout downtown Port Costa in June. Port Stories was commissioned by the East Bay Fund for Artists at the East Bay Community Foundation, with additional support from the Edward J. Daly Foundation and Crockett Community Foundation.
Artists’ Mini-Retreats and Salons
Are you an artist who could use some time set aside for your own artistic practice? Would you value the opportunity to build a community of creative folk around cocktails and conversation? Contact us for an invitation to our Artists’ Mini-Retreats and Salons. Held approximately every other month on a Wednesday, each Mini-Retreat concludes with a visit to the Dram Shop at the Bull Valley Roadhouse with that day’s cohort of artists.
Community Outreach
We’re delighted to be able to offer residents of Port Costa, Crockett, and Tormey reduced-price tickets to Port Stories and public half-day workshops. Show tickets for residents are just $5, and day workshops are $10 for residents, also thanks to funding from the Crockett Community Foundation!
Read more about the Crockett Community Foundation’s support here.
Thank you, new funders!
It is with deep gratitude and excitement for the year ahead that we announce two new Idiot String supporters: the Crockett Community Foundation and the Edward J. Daly Foundation.
The Crockett Community Foundation will make it possible for us to offer both a public workshop series in Port Costa, and in-class programs for students in the John Swett Unified School District. The Foundation is also underwriting a reduced-cost ticket program for residents of Port Costa, Crockett and Tormey. If you’re a local, you can attend our workshops for $10 and shows for just $5!
The Crockett Community Foundation is dedicated to supporting local projects that foster volunteerism and strengthen the local community. If you’d like to volunteer with Idiot String at one of our events, please drop us a line at idiotstring@gmail.com.
Thumper setting the stage for AESOP AMUCK in Port Costa, 2015. Photo by Rebecca Longworth.
Josephine (Maria A. Leigh) holds herself aloof in a scene from ELIXIR OF LIFE (2017). Photo by Serena Morelli.
Mr. Meekins practicing a Shakespearean soliloquy at the Bull Valley Roadhouse in 2015.
Idiot String in Port Costa: at the Port Costa School setting up a Peripatetic Players summer tour performance, exploring the Theatre of Dreams during a sneak preview of Elixir of Life, and preparing a thirty-minute version of Romeo and Juliet in honor of the Bull Valley Roadhouse’s anniversary.
The Edward Joseph Daly Foundation is sponsoring design elements for our new site-specific production in Port Costa that will premiere this June. As the audience discovers the play taking place all around them at the Port Costa School and throughout downtown Port Costa, they’ll get up close to the props and costumes made possible by the Daly Foundation.
Edward Joseph Daly, who was the owner of Oakland-based World Airways, and his wife June V. Daly, were lifelong philanthropists who quietly supported humanitarian causes, arts education, and social justice efforts. Less quietly, Mr. Daly is known for audaciously airlifting 57 orphans out of South Vietnam in 1975. Since his death in 1984, his family has been carrying on his legacy of giving through the Foundation that bears his name.
Josephine (Maria A. Leigh) writes in her room as Anita (Kristin Matia) looks on in an evening scene from Elixir of Life (2017). Photo by Serena Morelli.
Sybil (Marlene Yarosh) examines Doc Vitae’s cure-all in Elixir of Life (2017). Photo by Serena Morelli. “Grand Show” poster designed by Wendy Addison.
Hobble (Joan Howard), Doc Vitae (Julie Douglas), and Hollow (Miyaka Cochrane) in the medicine show in Elixir of Life (2017). Photo by Serena Morelli.
Some of the props and costumes featured in Elixir of Life. Photos by Serena Morelli.
Thank you to our new funders!
It’s the support of organizations like these — and individuals like you — who make it possible for us to create plays, workshops, and other events for you. Learn more about donating here.
Shiver We Timbers! Summer Tour 2018
Ahoy, mateys! It’s time for Shiver We Timbers! — A Peripatetic Pick-Ye-Own Pirate Adventure, touring Bay Area parks and public spaces July 7 through August 12. Set your course to the Peripatetic Players’ website for more info, and come aboard for a swashbuckling adventure!
East Bay Fund for Artists Commission
We’re thrilled to announce that the East Bay Fund for Artists at the East Bay Community Foundation has awarded Idiot String a matching grant to support the development of a new site-specific play in Port Costa — part of our residency hosted by the Port Costa Conservation Society — that will premiere in 2019.
It’s a challenge grant, so we need your help! We have until July 15 to raise $4000 in individual donations, to match EBFA’s pledge.
Your donation will support us today, and commission a new play for next year!
Elixir of Life slideshow
A Port Costa sneak peek at ELIXIR
On September 30, we accepted the invitation of artist Bethany Carlson Mann to present excerpts from Elixir of Life at the opening of Bethany’s art show, Fairytales for Feral Children, now on exhibit at the Burlington Hotel.
Serena Morelli photographed the event — enjoy! — and don’t forget… Elixir of Life starts October 20!
Hobble (r, Joan Howard) watches over Josephine (Maria A. Leigh) in a scene from ELIXIR OF LIFE
Brother Calvin (Sam Bertken) and Anita (Kristen Matia) in a scene from ELIXIR OF LIFE.
Josephine (Maria A. Leigh) consults with Doctor Vitae (Julie Douglas) in ELIXIR OF LIFE.
Doctor Vitae (Julie Douglas) offers a helpful tonic to Josephine (Maria A. Leigh) in ELIXIR OF LIFE.
Josephine (Maria A. Leigh) holds herself aloof in a scene from ELIXIR OF LIFE (2017). Photo by Serena Morelli.
Idiot String 