SFist's eclectic group of contributors includes a member of Impact Theatre. This means we've gotten to see this and past shows for free, but we still look at them from our traditional candid perspective.

We continue to think Impact Theatre is cool and wish them all the success in the world, for we feel their mission to "fill an unmet need for community, storytelling, and direct experience for younger, underserved audiences in the San Francisco Bay Area" is a great and worthy one. We also think the place in which they perform is neat, as their shows are all staged in the basement of La Val's pizza. However, both of these aspects seem to get them in trouble this time around.

When we went to see (by Greg Kalleres) the venue proved challenging for us. There was a disconcerting, bleach-scented leak that was dripping over the back row of seats throughout the night. Though the chatter of the crowd upstairs has always seemed to be a welcome complement to the shows we have seen there, the drip drip (which later became a drip splash, as the leak enlarged) was stinky and distracting. The ushers did everything they could to manage this by encouraging the audience to sit in the first three rows, but as the seats are only slightly staggered and your reviewer is only 5 and one-half feet tall, we could not see from those rows. (It's not their fault that a team of Yetis seemed to be in town enjoying theater in those rows, but this might have been manageable if the seats were a bit more stadium-like in nature.)

Sure, complaints about seating and dripping are petty, especially when we're talking about a struggling small theater company. But if we're going to tacks about the whole experience, we have to bring this up! It is damned hard to enjoy a play when you are having a tough time seeing, and you're also worried about keeping your purse dry. We hope Impact can resolve these issues so their theater can be a cozy and pleasant place to see a show once more.

Meanwhile, Back at the Super Lair...