Impact Theatre

Small theatre tucked underneath La Val’s. You can bring your pizza and drinks down and enjoy an affordable, intimate, and pretty darn entertaining show.

Saw Christian Cagigal at the Impact and it was great… Very entertaining for the whole family (teenagers and adults) Great way to have weeknight dinner out and a show that’s both quality and reasonable price. Highly recommended!

Really enjoyed the Christian Cagigal show last night, «Obscura»: a «teeny-​tiny magic show» (quoting impacttheatre dot com). He’s performing again 8pm Thu-​Sat next two weekends, through August 8, 2015. Show is about an hour long, very fun.

Consistently fantastic acting, and nonpretentious and cutting edge theater. Have seen 4 or 5 shows here now and have loved every one.

EXCELLENT VENUE! I can’t wait to see another play here. The Dragon Play kept the audience enticed with the great stage design, lighting, passionate actors – and intimate audience seating. It’s cozy down in the basement so if it’s a full house and you’re claustrophic, prepare yourself.
You can take your beer and pizza downstairs; just be mindful and hold that cup like alcohol. Don’t you drop that alcohol, never drop that alcohol… never drop that alcohol. i know you thinking about that alcohol… *Don’t set your drink down if you’re in the front row, it may get in the way of the actors.

I won a pair of tickets from Johnny Funcheap for opening night of THE DRAGON PLAY. It was a great play, great cast, and a fun Thursday evening.
They are in their 20^th season which is so awesome. I really like the environment — a quaint small space located in the basement of a pizza joint in the Northside of Berkeley.
A very intimate setting and food/​drinks are allowed. I wouldn’t eat any loud food (chips, etc) though because it would be distracting. And definitely silence the cell phone: D
Street parking is plentiful in the area and lots of local eateries if pizza doesn’t float your boat.

I LOVE Impact Theatre!!!
The show is always innovative, and with fresh young company members, new playwrights, and creative artistic direction you will never be snoring!
Here’s a tip or two:
Always buy online: it’s a guarantee there will be seats and as it is a small house (55 seat black box) it’s your best bet.
There are two PWYC (pay what you can) previews before each show opens! Check out the website!
BYO Anything. Bring your own food/​beverage (yes, booze encouraged) to the show! You can munch away during the performance! Hint: La Val’s Pizzeria is located right above the theatre!
Do you like to laugh? Do you love Shakespeare? Do you enjoy new works?
Then this theatre has a seat for you!

Troilus and Cressida is fantastic! The actors are spot on, the action is well choreographed, and the whole body of work was entertaining. Opening night was last night, so you still have plenty of time to catch the show! I’d buy tickets online as shows like this sell out. I love the intimate space, too; it feels like you’re in the action!

5 stars for their production of What Every Girl Should Know by Monica Byrne. Set around World War I, four teenagers in a girls reformatory adopt Margaret Sanger as their patron saint and deal with their sexuality. It’s wonderfully written and a funny, sad and magical picture of sexual longings and sexual abuse. It plays through Oct. 13.

Went back and saw the new Jukebox Stories. Anything these guys put out is great. I’d be surprised if they don’t get at least some sort of higher profile show. I genuinely laughed and enjoyed myself, unlike all those fakers down at the Berkeley Rep…

I’ve been happy with most of the plays I’ve seen at Impact. If nothing else, they’re new, and interesting, and they show that Impact is willing to take a risk by showcasing contemporary material. Highlights over the years have been Jukebox Stories, Learn to be Latina, and Milkmilklemonade, all of which had really strong comedy aspects to them. I’ve also seen a few serious shows at Impact; they seemed just fine, but they just weren’t for me. Stage/​set designs are probably low on the special effects (no revolving stages and rarely if ever any fake fog), but there’s always a lot of thought put into the set paintings and the lighting effects. There’s also a projector that’s used in a few shows. More or less, the productions really capture an intimate live theater kind of vibe, and I think that’s something to be appreciated in this day and age.
The venue is cozy. It’s subterranean without being dank, but it definitely still preserves a basement feel. I could picture a band or two practicing in the space during the off-​season. I think at capacity it might seat around 60 – 70 people, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it completely full. La Vals is above, offering yummy pizza and beer for shows, and there’s a comfy couch for the lucky early-​comers. The other seats seem like they might have been transported straight from an old UC Berkeley classroom (they have character.)
Long and short: do see a show here. It’s worth the experience, and you’re helping support a bunch of really great projects that wouldn’t get produced/​realized otherwise.
I’m ticking a star because sometimes prices online don’t match door prices, (I ordered a ticket online to a preview show and paid full price, when later, at the door, it was ‘pay what you will’) and sometimes the coziness of the venue is just a little too cozy.

Impact is always a good time. They do quirky, thought-​provoking new work and wild reimaginings of the classics in a space that’s in a basement and barely bigger than a postage stamp. If you reach out you can touch the actors (but don’t). That’s dedication to the art, and it really shows. You can also have a beer or slice of pizza from the restaurant upstairs while you enjoy the show. Basically, it’s like theatre in your living room, only it doesn’t suck and you don’t have to wash the dishes. Definitely a must visit if you are in Berkeley.

Oh, 2 hours, 2 wonderful hours!
Their acting was awesome, I’ve been going to Impact for 2 years. They have never let me down.
Despite the fact that it’s quite small, their artists just gonna blew your mind. They have this ability to interpret Shakespeare’s to the modern life and bring humor into it.

I guess I am the asshole who deprives Impact of a fifth star. I wish I had known prior to the start of the show that beer and pizza could be brought down from upstairs La Val’s. My friend and I clearly messed up in that regard. Many of the other patrons around us seemed more hip to what was going on with their delicious pies and pitchers. The stage itself was small and intimate and I liked how the action was so close to the audience. Titus Andronicus, the play I saw, was enjoyable enough, but had no idea what era it wanted to be set in. Is it Ancient Rome or modern day? The line was blurred constantly and it made the piece seemed unfocused as opposed to innovative. All in all, this is a neat little venture. I only wish I had discovered it months ago.

I feel like it would be pharisaical of me to give Impact Theatre anything less than 5 stars. And I certainly do not want to be *that* asshole of a person.
Anyone who has seen me act will thank their lucky stars that each time I set foot in a theater, it’s with my butt planted on a seat. I can ride a bike, eat a raw egg, write a grant proposal, and criticize a movie, but I sure as hell can’t act in one. I’ve even tried my hand at play writing, which has not been all disaster.
My acting, on the other hand, could kill you (with embarrassment, for me.) Acting is supremely difficult, and with that being said, I’m glad that Imact is here to do the job for us script-​challenged folk. The troupe does spectacular things with their 15×15 feet of physical space. That you can laugh, cry, drink and eat pizza, while having actors (and their beads of sweat) emote 12 feet from your seat, is wonderfully intimate in a way that most theater isn’t.
Sure, you won’t ever forget that you’re in a subterranean theater (aka, basement) with a huge pillar adulterating the view, and your seat-​desk wobbling every time you laugh… but there is something fresh and heartfelt (and a little drunk– but hey, less inhibition = better theater) about it all. For $ 12, you can treat your inner hipster to a night of unpretentious, calorie-​laden, beer-​fumey, improv fun.
Bottom Line: It’ll make you =) even if you aren’t inebriated.

I’ve seen a few Impact Theater shows, and I’ve never been disappointed. My favorite so far has been «Of Dice & Men,» which I saw with my wife last weekend. It’s a great show, albeit very geeky. Anyone who’s ever played D&D, Magic the Gathering, or even WOW should see this show.
The theater space is in the basement of La Val’s in Berkeley. While you can bring your beer and pizza downstairs to watch the show, I recommend eating upstairs, and just bring the drinks. Less messy that way!

This theater, the actor/​tresses, the seating, the ability to drink beer during the experience, the proximity to Jupiter, and lots of delicious food, puts this place at the top of my list for a cool night… hey, if its even at least better than what you did last Friday night you should go… and believe me, you will have more fun than you thought.
The theater is located underneath the La Val’s pizza joint, so grab a beer and head on downstairs… We saw Dissembly and it was engaging and funny… very funny. The theater is small, so get there early but not too early as you can drink and eat downstairs in the theater… the stairs are steep.
This is a great date place; intimate, funny, pizza, beer…
just go here and don’t worry about what is playing, you will like it. They are passionate about their craft and it clearly shows.

I totally missed this place when I walked into La Val’s the first time for food. And then I almost missed it a second time when my buddy and I were rushing to make Milk Milk Lemonade.
Me: Look a sign!
Buddy: It points inside that restaurant.
Me: Nooo it can’t be there… it’s a pizza place!
And just as I was going to rush back to the sign to look for more hints, he finds it the secret (well not really) stairwell to… the theater!
My first thought walking down those stairs: Sketchy. My first impression: Beautiful space.
The stage was quaint and small, but this allowed for more interaction among the audience.
There were ~50 movie-​theater-​type-​folding seats. It was ²⁄₃ full that night.
The show itself was amazing– great cast, surprising props, humorous, &pulled at the heartstrings.
And best of all! They allowed us to bring food from outside– yea, that’s right, who does this except for a theater underneath a pizza place! *heart*. And I didn’t even have to buy the food there. yayy!

Gotta love local theatre. Hidden under the pizzeria, there’s a humble stage with seating. Props to the actors and the stage director who uses the area so well. Caught the modernized version of Shakespeare’s 12^th Night. Absolutely hilarious. Very well executed. The actors drew in the audience and connected well. Fun, cute, quaint place.

I came across one of the Impact Theater’s random fliers, and decided to check out the theater in the basement of La Val’s. The first show I saw there, «Jukebox Stories,» was so funny. It was a show with little snippets of music and writing from the two performers all linked into a «whodunnit» kind of storyline. I thought it was really creative and well-​performed. After that, i was hooked. I came back for «‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore» and «Ching Chong Chinaman,» and thoroughly enjoyed both of them.
The theater experience at the Impact Theater is much different than other theaters in the area. For one, you can order pizza and beer and take them down to the theater with you. There is also a comfy couch that you can sit on in the front row to the side if you come early enough to grab it. Being in the basement makes the theater seem more intimate, and you are really brought into their performances. Plus, the tickets are so cheap!
The Impact Theater is really a unique asset to Berkeley.