Improvised Clue drops audiences into a stormy night at a mysterious old manor, where a colorful lineup of oddball guests arrives with secrets they’d rather keep buried. Tension mixes with sharp humor as strange motives, suspicious behavior, and unexpected alliances start bubbling to the surface. Because the entire show is created on the spot by Synergy Theater’s improvisational cast, no two performances are ever the same. The actors build the story from audience suggestions, shaping who the victim is, what weapon was used, and how the puzzle pieces connect. The result is a fast-moving blend of comedy and mystery built around the beloved Clue universe, complete with spontaneous twists, character quirks, and clever callbacks that reward anyone paying attention. As the investigation unfolds, the improvised chaos makes every moment feel unpredictable and alive, turning the classic whodunit format into a playful theatrical game that keeps the audience leaning in, laughing hard, and eager to see how the next clue changes everything.
Covering The San Francisco Bay Area & Sacramento Valley Since 2001
Dean Lesher Center for the Arts • 1601 Civic Dr, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Plays • Musicals • Opera • Dance
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Playing This Month
 | • APR 16-26, 2026 • Improvised Clue / Play For Tickets & Info: | ||
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Coming Soon
• OPENS APRIL 30, 2026 • The Emperor's New Clothes / Play The Emperor’s New Clothes is a live-theatre musical adaptation of the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, shaped as a playful mix of comedy, satire, and light drama. Set inside a lavishly over-the-top royal kingdom, the story follows a youthful emperor whose obsession with image makes him an easy target for two smooth-talking tricksters promising a miraculous suit that only the wise can see. Their so-called masterpiece quickly becomes the talk of the court, sending ministers, attendants, and nobles scrambling to pretend they see greatness rather than admit uncertainty. As the tension between truth and appearance grows, a single honest voice begins to question the spectacle everyone else is too afraid to challenge. Packed with energetic songs, colorful characters, and a sharply humorous look at vanity and fear, the musical invites the audience into a world where pride rules the palace and common sense has to fight its way back to the throne. It’s an engaging, clever, and inviting retelling that highlights the courage it takes to speak up when everyone else is too busy pretending. | |||
• OPENS MAY 1, 2026 • Smuin Contemporary Ballet: Future Forward / Ballet Smuin Contemporary Ballet: Future Forward is a mixed repertory dance production by Smuin Contemporary Ballet that blends contemporary ballet and modern choreography into a vibrant theatrical experience. The program features two brand new premieres created especially for this season by Amy Seiwert and Andrea Schermoly, alongside returning favorites such as Sextette by Kate Skarpetowska and Hearts Suite by the company’s late founder Michael Smuin, set to evocative music including recordings by Édith Piaf. The result is a dynamic dance story that moves between lyrical softness and sharp, high-energy bursts, creating a journey that honors the company’s history while reaching confidently toward what comes next. Expect graceful lines, striking emotion, and inventive movement that come together in a way that feels both familiar and refreshingly new. For anyone curious about where ballet can go from here, this performance offers an enticing glimpse and invites audiences to lean in and experience the evolution of the art form. | |||
• OPENS MAY 15, 2026 • Diablo Ballet's Coppélia / Ballet Diablo Ballet’s Coppélia is a comic ballet that blends romance, whimsy, and a dash of mystery, and it’s sure to charm anyone who enjoys a touch of magic. The story unfolds in a cheerful village where a beautiful, silent girl named Coppélia sits reading on a balcony, mesmerizing a young villager named Franz. His intended bride, a spirited woman named Swanhilda, grows suspicious and follows her instincts to uncover the truth. As it turns out, Coppélia is not a real girl but a life-sized doll created by an eccentric toymaker, and the discovery sets off a chain of mistaken identities, daring disguise, and clever trickery. As secrets are revealed and relationships tested, the villagers swoop in, lively dances break out, and love along with laughter finds its footing again. With bright, playful choreography, a lively orchestral score by Léo Delibes, and a lighthearted tone, this ballet invites audiences into a world of enchantment, mischief, and joyful celebration, making it an irresistible choice for anyone who wants a night where fantasy and fun dance together. | |||
• OPENS MAY 31, 2026 • Jagged Little Pill / Musical Jagged Little Pill springs from the music of Alanis Morissette and the book by Diablo Cody, shaping a modern rock musical drama that follows the seemingly picture-perfect Healy family as cracks quietly form beneath their polished suburban life. At the center is Mary Jane, a mother determined to hold everything together while juggling expectations, secrets, and the pressure to appear flawless, even as the truth keeps tugging at her edges. Her husband, wrapped up in work and routine, misses the emotional distance growing at home, while their children navigate their own storms, some loud, some unspoken, all achingly real. The story weaves through themes of identity, connection, and the messy beauty of trying to be human, using Morissette’s iconic songs as emotional anchors that feel both nostalgic and freshly charged. Rather than dealing in melodrama, the show leans into relatable moments, the kind families whisper about, avoid, or finally confront when something forces them to. Jagged Little Pill invites the audience into a world where everyone is struggling with something, and the heart of the journey lies in watching how each character edges toward honesty, healing, and the courage to stop pretending everything is fine. | |||
• OPENS JUNE 16, 2026 • Spontaneous Shakespeare / Play Spontaneous Shakespeare is a live theatre show by The Spontaneous Shakespeare Company, a troupe that specializes in fully improvised plays delivered in the style of William Shakespeare. The genre is best described as improvised comedy drama steeped in Shakespearean language and convention. Audiences supply a prompt, maybe a title, character trait, or secret, and the actors build the rest on the spot, weaving fresh characters, tangled relationships, clever wordplay, and dramatic turns right before your eyes. The result feels like a real Shakespeare play, complete with “thees” and “thous,” sudden tension, romance, mistaken identities, wit that can get playfully bawdy, and sometimes even stirring emotional beats. Every performance is unique, hilarious, surprising, and full of that magical live theatre energy where you never know whether you’ll laugh, gasp, or find yourself unexpectedly moved by a story no one has ever seen until that very night. |