'POMP & CIRCUMSTANCEo' @ THE FRINGE

Courtroom dramas regularly feature duelling attorneys--but what if it's a courtroom comedy, and the antagonists are father and son?

David Rouda, a fourth generation San Franciscan and himself a civil litigator (and TV writer) received acclaim and a "Best of Fringe" Critics' Award at last year's SF Fringe Festival for his play, SPERM WARFARE.

This year, he's entering the Fringe lists again with POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE--"Family Law has never been so dysfunctional!"--a 60-minute version of a full length script that will open later this year in an SF theater, having run 5 weeks in July-August at the Shelton Theatre downtown.

The fun will be to watch the 17-actor cast play fast and hard with the action wound to the breaking point--comic and dramatic tension to equal the exhilarating rush of The Fringe, with a slew of shows playing on a plethora of stages (some door-to-door) at the same time. Audiences barely finish applauding before running off to see another. It's the Fall event of the busy Bay Area theater community, a scene that itself includes over 300 companies and projects, bringing troupes from all over the world to perform at their edgiest.

POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE plays:

Thurs. Sept. 7 at 10 p. m.

Sat. 9/9 at 8:30

Sat. 9/16 at 2:30

Sun. 9/17 at 8:30

--at Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy (bet. Mason & Taylor), a block off Market (take Mason), 4 blocks from Union Square in Downtown SF.

Tix: $10 (there're special Fringe packages)

All curtain times firm--no late arrivals!

(415) 518-7683; 931-1094

wwwsffringe.org (or the company of POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE, www. shtickle.com)