The Marsh Presents "Daughter of a Garbageman"

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (27 January 2020) – Back by popular demand, radio host/standup comic Maureen Langan returns to The Marsh San Francisco for a limited engagement of her 2017 smash hit Daughter of a Garbageman. Declared by Theatre Eddys as one of the “Top 3 Shows of 2017,” this comedic and moving tale is “a one-woman tour-de-force, jam-packed with moments to be relished and remembered” (Theatre Eddys). Daughter of a Garbageman follows Langan’s 1970s upbringing in New Jersey, in which her Irish Catholic mother and sanitation worker father told her that an education was the road to success. But is that true in today’s “Reality Star Culture,” where salacious sex tapes lead to book deals and reality stars end up president? Daughter of a Garbageman will be presented February 21–29, 2020 with performances at 8:00pm Thursdays & Fridays and 5:30pm Saturdays at The Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco. For tickets ($20-$35 sliding scale; $55 and $100 reserved) or more information, the public may visit www.themarsh.org or call The Marsh Box office at 415-282-3055 (open Monday through Friday, 1:00pm-4:00pm).

Langan hysterically juxtaposes today’s values with those of her parents, whose strengths, struggles, and secrets made her who she is today. Langan taps into the hearts and frustrations of hard-working people everywhere who wonder if they, too, were just raised wrong. The San Francisco Examiner says, “She has something to say about family relationships, self-acceptance and American culture and is willing to be completely honest without sacrificing her killer sense of humor.”

Daughter of a Garbageman was presented as a part of the Marsh Rising Series in October 2016 after an acclaimed month-long run in Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2016. The UK’s Daily Business declared it “the most emotionally moving show I have seen this Fringe. Genuine laugh-out-loud hilarity,” while Scotland’s The Skinny magazine lauded Langan’s “commanding performance, delivered with authority.” The show was then performed on The Marsh Main Stage in February 2017. Its popularity led to two extensions, followed by a transfer to the Berkeley Marsh stage in June 2017. Reviewers were unanimous in their praise: Theatre Eddys noted “Maureen Langan grabs the audience in the palm of her hand and will not let go of them for seventy-five minutes.” The Daily Cal noted, “It is pretty unusual to walk into a comedy show and find yourself moved to tears. An insightful exploration of family dynamics that we can all recognize and identify with.”

Maureen Langan (Actor/Writer) is a broadcast journalist turned standup comic and radio talk show host. She has performed with Rosie O’Donnell at Broadway’s Town Hall Theatre and has opened for Steven Wright, Dennis Miller, Joy Behar, and Gladys Knight. Langan has been featured on HBO and Gotham Live, is a regular at Carolines on Broadway, and has performed at festivals in Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, Ireland, and the UK. For seven years, she hosted Hanging with Langan, a three-hour talk show broadcast on KGO Radio, San Francisco’s premiere radio station. Langan created and hosted Bloomberg TV & Radio’s award-winning entertainment program, Surviving with a Smile, where she was named Best Female Commentator by the Newswomen’s Club of NYC. She also won two Cable Ace Awards for her documentaries that aired on PBS Television. Langan grew up in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey – where this is no lake – and currently lives in New York City.

David Ford (Director) has been collaborating on new and unusual theater for three decades and has been associated with The Marsh for most of that time. The San Francisco press has variously called him “the solo performer maven,” “the monologue maestro,” “the dean of solo performance,” and “the solo performer’s best friend.” Collaborators include Geoff Hoyle, Echo Brown, Brian Copeland, Charlie Varon, Marilyn Pittman, Rebecca Fisher, Wayne Harris, and Marga Gomez. As a director, Mr. Ford has directed both solo and ensemble work regionally at the Public Theater, Second Stage, St. Clement’s, Dixon’s Place, One Dream Theatre, and Theatre for the New City (NY), Highways Performance Space (LA), and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (DC), as well as at theaters around the Bay Area including Magic Theatre and Marin Theatre Company. He is also a published playwright.

The Marsh is known as “a breeding ground for new performance.” It was launched in 1989 by Founder and Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman, and now annually hosts more than 600 performances of 175 shows across the company’s two venues in San Francisco and Berkeley. A leading outlet for solo performers, The Marsh’s specialty has been hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “solo performances that celebrate the power of storytelling at its simplest and purest.” The East Bay Times named The Marsh one of Bay Area’s best intimate theaters, calling it “one of the most thriving solo theaters in the nation. The live theatrical energy is simply irresistible.”