450 Post Street - SF Playhouse will open its 10th season this October in the larger space. Photo: Google Maps.
450 Post Street – SF Playhouse will open its 10th season this October in the larger space. Photo: Google Maps.

One of San Francisco’s favorite theaters has a new, larger home. SF Playhouse will open its tenth season (October) at 450 Post Street in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, a space double its current size.

“The timing is perfect.” said Bill English, “Coming off our most successful year ever – the ticket demand far exceeded available seats for most of last season’s shows – the larger theater will allow us to better serve our growing audience.”

The cast of A Behanding in Spokane, a recent production staged at SF Playhouse in San Francisco.

According to an email from SF Playhouse, in 1982, noted local theatre architect Eugene Angell transformed the second-story Elks Lodge and its flat-floored assembly hall into a state-of-the-art theatre. Originally constructed in 1924 by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Spanish-Gothic structure now houses the Kensington Park Hotel, Farallon Restaurant, the theatre and various shops.

To maintain the intimate theater experience it’s known for, the San Francisco Playhouse plans will reduce the current seating to nine rows, converting the 400 seat theatre to 225 seats. A new thrust stage will be built and the lobby/bar area will get a facelift, making the new venue “the most exciting destination in San Francisco’s Theatre District.”

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We’ll miss the old SF Playhouse location — so many great memories and so full of character — but look forward to many years of ground-breaking theater on Post Street. Keep the Chardonnay chilled!