The survival of The Marsh theatre can seem like a rebuke to the world’s economic turmoil. Artistic director Stephanie Weisman founded the company (named after the Delaware Bay marshlands where she once lived) on the cusp of one recession in 1989, and has weathered countless downturns and soaring costs ever since.
Yet, as she watched others move away for cheaper rents, Weisman saw opportunity.
“We were fortunate to be able to purchase our Valencia Street building in 1996,” recalls Weisman, who originally produced the company’s shows out of the Hotel Utah. “It was a down real estate market at the time, so believe it or not, we could afford to buy it at a reasonable price.”
That avoided rising rents. As of 2011, they’ve also leased a full-time space in Berkeley.
From the start, The Marsh’s mission has been to serve as “a breeding ground for new performance.” Their primary focus was the development and production of solo shows, which keeps costs down.
The company’s funding comes from the San Francisco Arts Commission, smaller philanthropists and long-time subscribers, so federal cuts haven’t taken a toll as they have with other theatres.
Weisman does miss the days when opening a venue was much more feasible.
Still, she hasn’t been deterred from expanding The Marsh’s output and programming. In 2024, the company launched its first annual In Front of Your Eyes Performance Festival, featuring women and non-binary writer-performers. The festival pulls creators from the Bay Area and the greater West Coast, bringing in audiences from across the country.
Janet Thornburg’s “Cognitive Divine,” which won the best comedy award for the 2026 festival, will receive a full production run beginning Nov. 6. For Thornburg, who has been writing and working in San Francisco since 1971, the balance between artistic expression and financial necessity has only grown more precarious.
“It’s tricky, isn’t it?” she asks. “In San Francisco, there’s an abundance of creative people and respect for creative work, but unless you can find housing and a reasonable way to make money, it’s ridiculously difficult to live here.” If you can, she said, “the city offers a feast of creative opportunities to artists.”
Recently, District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood procured a $500,000 investment for the mid-Market area, in the hopes of turning it into a tourist-friendly Broadway-style theatre district. The area is already home to the Orpheum and Golden Gate theatres, which host touring Broadway shows.
No mention was made of independent theatres, which have become a rarity in San Francisco; the Mission has a few such venues. Weisman is hopeful that performing arts will get some relief from Berkeley’s Measure Y, which successfully passed on the midterm ballot.
“San Francisco’s art scene is not tied to one neighborhood or location,” Weisman said, but while they are happy to be on the Valencia Street corridor, exploding rents make it difficult for nonprofits. “We do hope that the city understands that and supports arts institutions in all its neighborhoods.”
Though performer Joyful Raven has made a name for herself as far away as the Edinburgh Fringe, she regularly returns to The Marsh to develop and premiere work. Her latest show, “Tactical Frivolity – How to Save the World in a Unitard,” opens Nov. 21 at the Berkeley Marsh.
She continues to be fascinated by how the Bay Area produces bold art in spite of financial belt-tightening.
“My parents’ philosophy was basically: ‘No money? No problem!’” she said. “And these days, you really need that. Theater artists are often responsible for so much more than the creative work itself: You’re creating, producing, promoting, fundraising, and often financing the entire endeavor.”
“Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s easy,” she continued. “But there’s something wonderfully liberating about the form. You don’t need a huge institution or an enormous budget to tell a compelling story. Sometimes all you need is one person, a stage and something worth saying.”
For her part, Weisman said she can’t imagine working anywhere else.
“[The Bay Area] still gives us the flexibility to evolve and put into practice the models we have developed over the years,” she said. “Even after 37 years, the artistic community continues to support our ability to evolve and sustain performers. The creativity, the diversity, the community, the support and the love. There is no place like it.”
