“...her punch lines are so juicy as to offer healing catharsis for all your frustrations with constricting gender norms.”
- Critic's Pick SF Chronicle
“I can’t remember the last time I loved every minute of a production, but I did for this one. I’m telling my friends to go. We all need to laugh.”
- Theatrius, SF
CREATIVE TEAM
Joyful Raven
Writer/Performer
Joyful Raven is an award-winning actor, director, and "story midwife" known for her powerful and thought-provoking solo shows. Born into an iconic political theater family, she has been creating theater for as long as she can remember. Her last solo comedy, Tales of a Sexual Tomboy, won Best of the Fringe at the 2016 San Francisco International Fringe Festival and had an Off-Broadway run in 2017. Her current show, Breed or Bust, recently completed a successful run at The Marsh in Berkeley and was named a 'Critics' Pick' by the San Francisco Chronicle after receiving critical acclaim at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it was nominated for an Offie. The show was also nominated for Best Comedy at the 2022 Hollywood International Fringe Festival, receiving a Producer’s Encore Award and a Gold Medal from TV-olution. Raven has acted alongside big names such as Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness, directed and mentored hundreds of storytellers, co-founded Rococo Risqué, and co-authored four plays for the Prize of Hope-winning company Human Nature. She holds an MFA from UC Davis and teaches solo theater and storytelling at the Berkeley Rep School of Theater and her Oakland studio.
Jael Weisman
Director/Developer
Jael Weisman, a founding member of the Dell’Arte Players Co. and a multi-Obie-winning director, is a trailblazer in actor-based theater, directing acclaimed productions like “Whiteman Meets Bigfoot,” “Performance Anxiety,” and “Mad Love.” With Dell’Arte, his works have toured extensively in South America and Europe, earning him numerous Dramalogue Awards for Directing. Noteworthy projects include “The Dragon Lady’s Revenge,” which traveled to New York and was awarded an Obie, the American premiere of “Red Noses” at the San Diego Repertory Co., “Uncle Gunjiro’s Girlfriend” at the Adelaide Festival, and “Mermaid Meat” for the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with luminaries like Carlo Mazzone-Clementi and Joe Chaikin and worked with renowned Bay Area performance artists including Jeff Raz and Brenda Wong Aoki. In his early career, he worked with The San Francisco Mime Troupe, directing among other things “The Dragon Lady’s Revenge,” which was awarded an Obie. Weisman holds a BA from Reed College and an MFA from Carnegie Tech.