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Accessible Performances

The Bay Area’s March lineup of accessible and inclusive performances

This month, we have accessible performances that will put a spring in your step.

The Bay Area’s March lineup of accessible and inclusive performances
Hugh Bonneville, Melanie Field, and Craig Wallace (Ílya Ílyich Telégin) in Uncle Vanya at Berkeley Rep. | Photo by Kevin Berne

March in the Bay Area welcomes the fresh energy of spring with new shows and a continued commitment to accessibility in the arts. From ASL-interpreted and audio-described performances to sensory-friendly experiences, organizations across the region are ensuring that live theatre, musicals, and more are open to all. Whether you're looking for something bold and new or a familiar favorite, this month’s lineup offers engaging performances that bring the community together.

Nobody Loves You

  • Open Captioned: March 22 at 2 p.m.

The game of love is on! “Nobody Loves You” is a wildly popular reality dating show in which eager contestants compete for love (and social media stardom). When Jeff, a philosophy grad student, snags a spot on the show to win back his ex, he breaks all the rules and tries to blow the game wide open. 

American Conservatory Theater
act-sf.org

The Thing About Jellyfish

  • Closed Captioned: March 1–6 at 2 p.m.
  • Audio Described: March 8 at 2 p.m.

Adapted from the best-selling novel, The Thing About Jellyfish is a visually stunning and deeply emotional coming-of-age story about love, loss, friendship, and the profound expansiveness of the human spirit.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre
berkeleyrep.org

Uncle Vanya

  • Closed Captioned: March 1–20 at 2 p.m.
  • Audio Described: March 22 at 2 p.m.

When the distinguished elderly proprietor of a rural estate returns with a new, young wife, chaos erupts. Tensions run high, marriages reach their limits, confessions—and vodka—flow freely, and weapons are drawn. Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Paddington) plays Uncle Vanya in this heartbreaking comedy about the eternal battle between futility and change.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre
berkeleyrep.org

The Cher Show

  • Close Captioned: March 19 at 7:30 p.m.
  • ASL Interpreted: March 22 at 2 p.m.
  • Audio Described: March 23 at 1 p.m.
  • Open Captioned: March 23 at 6:30 p.m.

For six straight decades, only one unstoppable force has flat-out dominated popular culture-breaking down barriers, pushing boundaries and letting nothing and no one stand in her way. The Cher Show is the Tony Award-winning musical of her story, and it’s packed with so much Cher that it takes three women to play her: the kid starting out, the glam pop star, and the icon.

Broadway San Jose
broadwaysanjose.com

Five Black men sit talking, they're all wearing matching suits and smiling.
Cast of touring company of Ain't Too Proud. | Photo by Joan Marcus

Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations

  • ASL Interpreted: March 1 at 1 p.m.
  • Audio Described: March 2 at 1 p.m.
  • Closed Captioned: Available at all performances with GalaPro

Set to the beat of the group’s treasured hits, including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Get Ready,” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” Ain’t too Proud tells the unforgettable story of the legendary quintet the Billboard Magazine named the greatest R&B group of all time. 

BroadwaySF
broadwaysf.com

Back to the Future

  • ASL Interpreted: March 8 at 1 p.m.
  • Closed Captioned: Available at all performances with GalaPro

When Marty McFly finds himself transported back to 1955 in a time machine built by the eccentric scientist Doc Brown, he accidentally changes the course of history. Now he’s in a race against time to fix the present, escape the past, and send himself... back to the future. When Back to the Future hits 88mph, it’ll change musical theatre history forever.

BroadwaySF
broadwaysf.com

Chicago

  • ASL Interpreted: March 8 at 1 p.m.
  • Closed Captioned: Available at all performances with GalaPro

Chicago is still the one musical with everything that makes Broadway shimmy-shake: a universal tale of fame, fortune, and all that jazz, with one showstopping song after another and the most astonishing dancing you've ever seen.

BroadwaySF
broadwaysf.com

A man sits on stage on plats of wood, a large portrait is on the screen, and a woman plays the piano.
William Kentridge’s The Great Yes, The Great No at Cal Performances. | Photo by Monika Rittershaus

William Kentridge’s The Great Yes, The Great No

  • Haptic Tour March 16 at 2:15 p.m.
  • Audio Described: March 16 at 3 p.m.

Internationally acclaimed for his visual art and theatre productions, South African artist William Kentridge returns to campus with his latest creation for the stage, a chamber opera set on a 1941 sea voyage from Marseille to Martinique. 

Cal Performances
calperformances.org

Happy Pleasant Valley

  • ASL Interpreted: March 18 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Open Captioned: March 23 at 2 p.m.; March 23 at 7 p.m.; March 26 at 2 p.m.
  • Audio Described: March 29 at 8 p.m.; March 30 at 2 p.m.

A risqué romp of a musical for the digital age, this joyful mystery brims with laughter and erupts with infectious song. The fun is ageless in this tale of a Gen Z “influencer” whose tenacious Korean American grandmother has much to teach her about life, sex, and murder in a senior citizens home you will never forget. 

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
theatreworks.org

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