On the boards...
On Now...
Transitions
by John Fisher
The Gateway Theatre
215 Jackson St
A surprising relationship between a young Republican and a no-nonsense drag queen almost set the world on fire. But in a moment of international crisis this romance might just save the planet, as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are about to find out. A satirical drama ripped from the world’s headlines in the tradition of filmmakers Billy Wilder and Oliver Stone.
The Critics Applaud John's Work!
I’ll tell you this about Fisher: if he’s crazy, our theatre needs a lot more mad men like this! ... Fisher’s double turn as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is a wonder to watch; his caricature is uncanny, but he does more than that. In his hands, Trump and Putin have beating human hearts that we can recognize and for which we can feel empathy, even as we recoil in horror.
— Charles Kruger, Theatrestorm.com
Charles Peoples as Miss Ruby makes this show worth a visit, and the cast is tight with the comic and drama timing.
— Vince Media, vmediabackstage.com
If you are looking for an off-the-wall satirical farce with political overtones then the world premiere of Transitions playing at the intimate Gateway Theatre should be just your ticket. Charles Peoples III as drag queen Ruby steals the show and his three numbers are worth the price of admission as he controls center stage.
— Kedar Adour, Forallevents.com
Fisher has directed Transitions as a barking mad thriller sprinkled with easy laughs.
— George Heymont, Medium.com
In John Fisher’s no-holds-barred political satire “Transitions,” disruption rules the day… Each actor does brilliant double and triple duty to bring a Saturday Night Live touch to the soap opera that springs daily from the headlines. Fisher’s satirical take on U.S. antics strikes home, hitting the target with wit and wisdom.
— Bdhorwitz, THEATRIUS
The show’s highest acting honors go to Charles Peoples III’s Ruby, who gives the most intense and most serious performance of the evening. Ruby is tough as nails and has no problem speaking her truth, such as when she rejects Ezekial’s advances because of Ezekial’s refusal to come out. Ruby has clearly been around the block a few times. She has no time for BS. She emerges as the evening’s most admiral character.
— David Elijah Nahmod, Broke-ass Stuart
Earlier
The Normal Heart
by Larry Kramer
Directed by John Fisher
November 3 – 25, 2017
The Gateway Theatre
215 Jackson St
A searing drama about public and private indifference to the AIDS plague and one man’s lonely fight to awaken the world to the crisis. Produced to acclaim in NY, London and LA. The Normal Heart follows Ned Weeks, a gay activist enraged at the indifference of public officials and the gay community. While trying to save the world from itself, he confronts the personal toll of AIDS when his lover dies of the disease.
Originally published in 1985 and celebrated in a passionate and eloquent 2011 Broadway revival. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Normal_Heart
A History of World War II: The D-Day Invasion to the Fall of Berlin
by John Fisher
Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 @ 9pm
407 West 41st St, New York, NY
John Fisher performs his one man show at the United Solo Festival on in New York .
United Solo 2017
John Fisher brings you World War II from the Allied invasion of Normandy to the Fall of Berlin. He also gives useful information about the best books on the subject, the cutest generals who fought the battles, and the hottest actors who played generals in the movies.
Running time: 70 minutes.
Download graphic
For tickets visit United Solo Festival.
Pricilla, Queen of the Desert
The Musical
By Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott
May 27 – July 2, 2017
Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson San Francisco Map It
The glorious musical adventure about trannies, drag shows, Down Under, and what we will do for love.
Lear!
An Outdoor Shakespeare Adventure
Esplanade, Yerba Buena Gardens
761 Mission Street Map It
Lear! is Shakespeare’s King Lear with the various locales in the park serving as the playing area.
Shakespeare’s play is reduced to ninety-minutes and traverses the plains of Yerba Buena Gardens as it tells the exciting and heart-breaking story of one man’s attempt to divide his kingdom and his family’s gut wrenching struggle for power and love. This is not a musical, it is not farce, it is Lear! – with Shakespeare’s original text – performed like you’ve never seen it before.
Flim-Flam
Written and Directed by John Fisher
February 24 – March 18
Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson San Francisco Map It
Three desperate actors take to the road in search of roles. Along the way they encounter highway hooligans, porno shoots, offended politically-correct youths and “all the crazies” of America. “All the world’s a stage” and it’s an actor’s nightmare in this comedy about America “trying to be great again.”
Equus
by Peter Shaffer
directed by John Fisher
November 25 - December 10
Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson San Francisco Map It
The explosive play about suppressed sexuality that took critics and audiences by storm, Equus is a timeless classic and a cornerstone of modern drama that delves into the darkest recesses of human existence.
Present Laughter
By Noël Coward
Eureka Theatre
215 Jackson St. @ Battery in
San Francisco
January 20-31, 2016
A Song at Twilight
By Noël Coward
Z Below Theatre (470 Florida St. between 17th and 18th Streets) Map It
November, 2015:
SHAKESPEARE GOES TO WAR
Written and Directed by John Fisher
November 4-28, 2015
Thick House
1695 18th Street
San Franciosco, CA 94107
www.TheRhino.org
June, 2014:
Timon! The Musical
Book and Lyrics by John Fisher
Music by Don Seaver
Produced by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
@ Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco
Friday, June 5 @ 700 pm
Saturday, June 6 @ 700 pm
Sunday, June 7 @ 100 pm
http://ybgfestival.org/event/timon/
2014:
The Battle of Midway! Live! Onstage!
Book and Lyrics by John Fisher
Music by Don Seaver
Plays through November 30, 2014 Only!
@ A.C.T.'s The Costume Shop
1117 Market Street @ 7th Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Tickets: www.TheRhino.org or 1-800-838-3006
September 19 - October 6, 2013
To Sleep and Dream
Written and Directed by John Fisher
At Z Below
470 Florida Street
San Francisco, CA
For Tix: www.TheRhino.org
In the Works...
(Plays by John Fisher, unless otherwise noted)
A Refuge from Life
A New Comedy
Sarman is a gay man on the edge of extinction. So he's decided to have a good time.
Final Draft
My Callas Play
A New Drama
Maria Callas, Ari Onassis and Sepi Di Stefano on their final desperate fling at celebrity.
First Draft
Good Game
A Sports Comedy
A screen writer discovers the path to success is basketball, the down and dirty kind.
Venue TBD
Recent...
(See press coverage on homepage)
Sorry Fugu
By T. C. Boyle
Adapted and Directed By John Fisher
France Tour
Salle Adyar, Paris
March 2012
Plus Nancy, Angers and Nantes
A Word-for-Word Production
www.zspace.org
Ishi: The Last of the Yahi
Written and Directed by John Fisher
Zellerbach Playhouse
March 4 - 11, 2012
A UC Berkeley Production
http://tdps.berkeley.edu/productions-events/main-stage-season/
Food Stories
"Sorry Fugu" by T. C. Boyle and "Enough" by Alice McDermott
Adapted and Directed by John Fisher
Z-Space Theatre
January - February 2012
A Word-for-Word Production
www.zspace.org
The Two-Character Play
By Tennessee Williams
Directed By John Fisher
January 4 - 14, 2012
Eureka Theatre, San Francisco
www.TheRhino.org
SexRev Redux
Return engagement of SexRev: The Jose Sarria Experience
Written and Directed by John Fisher
CounterPULSE
November 10-December 4, 2011
www.TheRhino.org
"Sorry Fugu"
By T. C. Boyle
Adapted and Directed by John Fisher
Savory Thymes Fund Rasier
September 24, 2011
A Word-for-Word Produciton
www.zspace.org
Julia
By Lillian Helman
Adapted and Directed by John Fisher
A Word-for-Word "Off-the-Page" Production
August 2011
A Word-for-Word Production
The Jewish Theatre, San Francisco
www.zspace.org
Fighting Mac
The Story of Hector MacDonald
Written and Directed by John Fisher
Great Britain's greatest general is hounded to death for his sexuality.
San Francisco, Spring 2011
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Adapted and Directed by John Fisher
The Eureka Theatre
Summer 2010
SexRev: The José Sarria Experience
Witten and Directed by John Fisher
The Voice Factory, April 2010
Two on a Party
Adapted and Directed by John Fisher
Salle Adyar, Paris: April 2010
Tour of France: March-April 2010
Theatre Artaud: March 2010
Three on a Party
A Collaboration with Word-for-Word
Direted by John Fisher and Delia MacDougall
May 2009
A Necessary Evil
A family is divided by the past.
Theatre Rhinoceros, Workshop Production
April 16-26, 2009
The Rhino Christmas Panto
Theatre Rhinoceros
December 2008
Schoenberg
Bleecker Street Theatre, NYC
August 2008
Ishi: The Last of the Yahi
Theatre Rhinoceros
July 2008 (Extended!)
Moby Dick: The Musical
By Longden, Koch and Kaye
Directed by John Fisher
Fall 2008
Boston Marriage
By David Mamet
Direced by John Fisher
Theatee Rhinoeceros (Maisntage)
Opened March 2, 2008
Staircase
By Charles Dyer
Directed by John Fisher
Theatre Rhinocenros (Mainstage)
November 15 - December 16, 2007
The Studio Project
San Francisco
Winter, 2007
Richard Burton's Voice
Yale School of Drama
Spring, 2007
Special Forces
Theatre Rhinoceros
Spring, 2007
www.TheRhino.Org
There's Something About Marriage
New York Fringe Festvial
Summer, 2007
Theatre Rhinoceros: The First Thirty Years
September 20 to October 21, 2007 (Extended!)
Recent Teaching...
Acting
Summer Training Congress
American Conservatory Theatre
2008-Present
Classical Acting
Summer Training Congress
American Conservatory Theatre
Summer 2009
Graduate Seminar: The Playwright and the Audience
Yale School of Drama
Fall 2007 - Spring 2008
Graduate Seminar: Wriitng for the Queer Theatre
Yale School of Drama
Fall 2006 - Spring 2007
Directing
Graduate Program
U.C. Santa Cruz
Spring, 2005