Region’s theaters break barriers this summer

Bay Area theatergoers, I shall now bestow upon you my top #theaterhack, honed from a decade of local theatergoing: Bring a sleeping bag to outdoor summer theater. You’ll hear advice from other quarters about wearing layers, sunscreen and hats, and these tips are all well heeded. But it’s my sleeping bag that, late in Act 4 of an outdoor Shakespeare production, always piques jealousy in my fellow audience members. As fog’s chill seeps inside everyone else’s hoodies and vests, I remain blissfully immune in my sphere of insulation, like a toasty giant larva curled up on an aisle seat. It’s not that weird. Didn’t your mom ever tell you the cool kids know how to keep warm?

See you in sleeping bags at the shows below. It’ll be like we’re at a slumber party. But if you bring one to an indoor theater, I’m going to pretend I don’t see you.

— Lily Janiak

SAN FRANCISCO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

If “Weightless” made you a fangirl of the Kilbanes — the married rock duo of Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses — this summer the pair collaborate with Phil Wong to compose an original score for San Francisco Shakespeare Festival’s “As You Like It,” whose free production will tour to parks in Pleasanton, Cupertino, Redwood City and San Francisco. Directed by Rebecca Ennals, the gender-bending romantic comedy also features an auspicious cast in Regina Morales as the endlessly clever Rosalind; Michael Barrett Austin as the lovelorn Orlando, who posts poems on trees; and the comic mastermind Gwen Loeb in the ensemble roles of Audrey and Le Beau.

Lance Huntley / African-American Shakespeare Company

Ross Pearson / Exit Theatre and Diva or Die Burlesque Above: Exit Theatre and Diva or Die Burlesque present “Dollhouse Monsters.” Top: AfricanAmerican Shakespeare Company’s “Macbeth” diversifies its cast.