FoolsFURY Theater

FoolsFURY Theater, stylized as foolsFURY or foolsFury, was an ensemble theater company based in San Francisco. Founded in 1998 by artistic director Ben Yalom, the company presented reworked Shakespeare and classical texts as well as new works by experimental contemporary playwrights, and specialized in physical theater techniques. Starting in 2002, it also presented a roughly biannual festival of experimental works, Fury Factory. The company was dissolved in late 2021.

Productions

foolsFURY presented reworked classic texts including Shakespeare as well as new works by experimental contemporary playwrights.[1] The company specialized in physical theater techniques such as Viewpoints, Suzuki, and Grotowski-based methods,[2] were a training center for these techniques,[2] and ran a youth program, Swivel Arts. Its mission statement included "[c]entering artists and voices from BIPOC and marginalized communities".[3]

The company worked on new shows with playwrights including Sheila Callaghan,[4][5] Doug Dorst,[6] and Fabrice Melquiot[7] and collaborated with theatrical innovators such as SITI Company, Mary Overlie,[8] Stephen Wangh, and Corey Fischer.[9]

foolsFURY also hosted a roughly biennial festival of experimental theater and works in progress called Fury Factory,[10][11] which brought together a variety of US and foreign ensemble companies including Pig Iron,[12] Banana Bag & Bodice,[13] Witness Relocation, Under the Table, and Hand2Mouth.

History

foolsFURY Theater was founded in 1998 by artistic director Ben Yalom.[1][14][15][16] As of 2003, it employed 35 part-time actors.[17]

A series of readings of works in progress took place in 2002.[14] In 2005 this was replaced with the Fury Festival, which was then held approximately every two years, in 2007,[18] 2009,[19] 2011,[12] 2014,[20] 2016,[21][22] and 2018.[10][11]

In 2010, the company celebrated its 12th anniversary.[23]

Debórah Eliezer, a long-time member of the company, was promoted in 2015 from associate artistic director to co-artistic director with Yalom.[15][8] In 2020, Yalom stepped down and Eliezer succeeded him as artistic director.[16][15]

foolsFURY was impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, and in August that year the LNU Lightning Complex fires destroyed Eliezar and her husband's home in Venado, where they operated a retreat for the company and other artists.[16][24] In 2021, she determined that resources were insufficient to hire an assistant director at an appropriate wage, and decided to close the company. A "wake" was held on November 20, 2021.[16][25][26]

References

  1. ^ a b "Best Theater Company". San Francisco Weekly. 2008. Archived from the original on March 2, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Goldie Winner - Theater: foolsFURY". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Archived from the original on November 5, 2024.
  3. ^ "Our Mission". foolsFURY theater. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  4. ^ Hart, Sarah (October 2008). "Blow Me Up, Lay Me Down" (PDF). American Theatre Magazine. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2010 – via University of Montevallo.
  5. ^ Zinoman, Jason (November 18, 2012). "Aboard a Cruise Ship, Something Is Up". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  6. ^ Charney, Noah (February 26, 2014). "How I Write: Doug Dorst". The Daily Beast (interview). Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  7. ^ Veltman, Chloe (May–June 2007). "Bosnia, Through French Eyes". American Theatre Magazine.
  8. ^ a b Rabinowitz, Chloe. "FoolsFURY Names Deborah Eliezer New Artistic Director". Broadway World. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  9. ^ Janiak, Lily (June 9, 2020). "Datebook: Corey Fischer, actor and co-founder of A Traveling Jewish Theatre, dies at 75". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  10. ^ a b "SF Bay Area FURY festival has more up its sleeve than wildly creative stage shows". The Mercury News. July 14, 2018. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Janiak, Lily (July 19, 2018). "Form-defying output from foolsFury's Fury Factory in SF and Oakland". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  12. ^ a b Straus, Tamara (June 1, 2011). "Nabila Mango builds bridges to Arabic culture". SFGate. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  13. ^ Laemoa, Stephanie (September 12, 2007). "Last Chance: 'The Turn of the Screw' and 'The Sewers'". SFGate. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Hurwitt, Sam (October 16, 2005). "Theater Guide A-Z / A Dazzling Display / See Stupendous Acts Of The Stage". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  15. ^ a b c "Debórah Eliezer to Succeed Ben Yalom as FoolsFURY Artistic Director". American Theatre. July 7, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  16. ^ a b c d Janiak, Lily (December 21, 2021). "The church of theater gathers to say goodbye to one of its own". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  17. ^ Garchik, Leah (July 18, 2003). "Rallying round". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  18. ^ Hurwitt, Sam (April 15, 2007). "All for one and one for all". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  19. ^ "This Week: Fury Factory 2009". San Francisco Chronicle. June 7, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  20. ^ Hurwitt, Robert (July 2, 2014). "Fury Factory Festival: Promising works in progress". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  21. ^ McMullen, Randy (June 15, 2016). "Fury Factory Fest: Theater like you ve never seen it". The Mercury News. San Jose. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  22. ^ Bernard, Christopher (July 1, 2016). "Christopher Bernard reviews San Francisco's FURY Factory theater festival". Synchronized Chaos. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  23. ^ Turner, Monica (November 30, 2010). "Foolsfury Theater celebrates 12 years with gala". StarkInsider. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  24. ^ Janiak, Lily (September 19, 2020). "Datebook: After LNU Lightning Complex Fire destroys their Sonoma retreat, foolsFury artists seek refuge". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  25. ^ "FoolsFury Announces Closure After 23 Years". foolsFURY theater (press release). November 5, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
  26. ^ Rotimi, Agbabiaka (November 24, 2021). "After 23 Years, FoolsFURY Practices The Art of Letting Go". Theatre Bay Area. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
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