‘Stomp’ slams back into Bay Area
“Stomp,” one of the most popular — and let’s be honest, best named — theatrical productions in the world, returns to the Bay Area this week for a short run at American Conservatory Theater. For the uninitiated, the show features performers who, as co-creator Luke Cresswell puts it, “make a rhythm out of anything we can get our hands on that makes a sound.” Using a variety of sticks, brushes, even garbage can lids, the performers create a percussive cacophony of sound using industrial and household objects, all delivered with dazzling choreography, not to mention a good deal of humor, pantomime, acrobatics and other theatrical elements. The show was created as a street performance show in the U.K. in 1991by Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, who had the idea that watching people bang on all manner of objects, including themselves, could be fun to watch. Were they ever right. The show has become an international phenomenon, having played in 50countries before a combined audience of 24 million people. An HBO special on the show won an Emmy Award, and the production has appeared at the 2012 London Olympics, the Academy Awards and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” It has launched long-running productions in New York and London, as well as touring productions in Europe and the U.S., the latter of which plays at ACT’s Geary Theater this week. Details: Presented by American Conservatory Theater; through Sunday; Geary Theater, 415Geary St., San Francisco; $39$115; 415-749-2228, act-sf.org.