In 2011, The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) opened up a new, small performance space in the building they own near 7th and Market that also houses their costume shop, which they've dubbed The Costume Shop. The space is a precursor to their upcoming, large-scale renovation of The Strand Theater a few doors down, and allows the company to produce edgier, smaller-scale theater pieces than are possible in their 1,000-seat Geary Street venue. Currently they're teaming with another local company, The Magic Theater (whose space is at Fort Mason), and tonight through March 3 they're featuring nightly free readings of plays in development by ten up and coming playwrights.

Tonight's reading is Game On, in development from Berkeley Repertory Theater artistic director Tony Taccone and collaborator Dan Hoyle — which is likely going to be pretty cool, even if it is only a reading. See the full schedule here.

Just last week they featured a "raw" production of the play Se Llama Cristina, currently in development from playwright Octavio Solis.

While The Strand will ultimately feature a black box like this one, as well as a 300-seat theater downstairs, The Costume Shop is small and fit for these kinds of experimental works.

See the rest of the Costume Shop's season schedule here, which also includes a couple of productions by the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program students, including Galileo by Berthold Brecht in May. Tickets are typically $20 to $25.