Hmm! Bacon! Yes, actual frying bacon on stage. Who could resist the enticing smell? - or the darkly comic, hauntingly mythic portrait of the American family in CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS. Written by Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Shepard, CURSE is at once poetic, violent, lyrical and outrageous. Set in California in the 1970s, the play surreally chronicles a farm family as they dream of a better life while dealing with an increasingly bizarre present life. Veering from everyday concerns (such as bacon!) to flights of theatrical invention, this CURSE never lets us forget the deeply conflicted yet seemingly inescapable ties of family.

Robert Estes (director) has directed new plays for Solano Rep, Marin Festival of One Acts, and other local theatres. Recently, he directed staged readings of Twelfth Night, The Tempest and other great plays by the Bard for Subterranean Shakespeare. Robert has served as dramaturg for Town Hall Theatre and CalShakes (where he’ll assistant direct Mrs. Warren's Profession in June). Later this year, he'll direct Other People's Money for Masquers in Point Richmond. Robert sees this as a something of a homecoming -– once upon a time he graduated from UC Berkeley.

Basic Information

The Performers

Production