This week Stage Fog features what's up at the city's best queer theater companies.

New Conservatory Theatre Center
We've mentioned plays at New Conservatory Theatre Center before, but there's always so much going on in its three intimate spaces at 25 Van Ness that this week we're going to tell you about it all. Playing now through February 19 is Lanford Wilson's the story of the death of a gay artist and how it affects his roommates--and his roommates' love triangles. Opening January 27 is Richard Kramer's Theatre District. Kramer has written for TV shows like Thirtysomething and My So-Called Life, and critics of earlier productions praised the script's face-paced humor. Wesley, a 16-year-old who's rather estranged from his father, moves in with him and his lover. All hell breaks loose when Wesley asks his sort-of out-of-the-closet father if homosexuality is a choice. And, opening January 29 is Michael Phillis's comedic solo show, D*Face (you fill in the blank). As the truncated title implies, the show carries adult language and themes in its examination of the years we all wish we could forgot: adolescence. Better to laugh at the trials and tribulations of someone else's junior high school years than your own, and Phillis tells it all with humor and poignancy. With three shows running almost simultaneously, the bustling NCTC is one of the city's best places to see both new plays and classics--and it's within walking distance of Hayes Valley's restaurants as well as a short ride from all the subway stops.

Photo by Lois Tema of Michael Phillis in D*Face.

Burn This,