Small Press Traffic, in conjunction with BAMPFA and The Lab, presents Friends of Perfection, a Poets Theater experiment inspired by the communes of 1970s San Francisco. The project pushes the collaborative chaos of Poets Theater to extremes: twelve writers, three co-directors, a sprawling cast, puppets, possession, and a turtle named Shell Theory. When their cherished art space seems doomed, a motley crew of artists must devise an elaborate heist to thwart the schemes of the elite.

The anarchic script was written as an “exquisite corpse” by West Coast writers and artists from Vancouver to LA: Styles Alexander, Amelia Bande, Gabriele Christian, Maxe Crandall, Wren Farrell, Sloka Krishnan, Brittany Newell, Brontez Purnell, Rowena Richie, Maria Silk, Ryan Tacata, and Julie Tolentino.

With funding from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation

Another performance takes place at The Lab on January 31.