Sarah Felder: "Out of Sight" ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ !

It is an undeniable truth that even the most experienced reviewers sometimes see shows dealing with subjects with which we cannot relate. In those cases we do our best to concentrate on the theatrical aspects of the presentation in front of us.

Then comes the rare show that talks about, basically, the reviewer's life. Sarah Felder's "Out of Sight" is one of those. Take away the Lesbian part and the female part and you've got a middle aged Jewish protagonist with an elderly almost-blind mother with whom she can talk about almost anything, as long as it's not Israel.

Mom, you're not reading this, are you? No, you can't. You're almost blind.



Sarah Felder is a genius. She is also a juggler. Every time her show gets to an emotional crisis, she starts to juggle. It might be lemons, it might be scarves, it might be passing a little red nerf ball back and forth between her arms and shoulders and chin with grace and tenderness. She uses shadow puppets to great advantage, especially at the end. And when she is talking about her time as a college student visiting Israel, and she saw that her mother's beloved Israel was in fact flawed and full of hypocrisy, she is standing on a long board balancing on a beach ball as she juggles three large and nasty looking knives. She is caught in that all-too familiar balancing act, whenever she must discuss the tough stuff.

Our favorite scenes: her mother at the opera. Her friend Norman and his conversion. The way she describes falling in love for the first time with a woman she meets in Israel: "She knows about Israel supporting apartheid in South Africa, and the contras, and Pinochet, and taking away the rights of the Palestinians. Wow, she's hot!"



Our city is filled with amazing solo performers. Only one juggles. Sarah Felder has just been extended at the Marsh for five more weeks. You don't have to be Jewish or gay or a juggler to love this performer. We could not recommend her more highly.

RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ !

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards Sarah Felder's "Out of Sight" Four Stars and they are gleaming (!). You get eighty minutes of a story filled with laughter and love. She gives you lemons and makes you the lemonade. Above all, she makes it look easy. Don't miss Sarah Felder.

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Sarah Felder: "Out of Sight"
The Marsh
1062 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Through Mar 27, weekends only
$20-$35 (very small theater. NO bad seats.)