The Dragon Theatre

Went to watch ‘When the rain stops falling’. Absolutely loved the show. The actors were talented and the scenes had been constructed beautifully. The first half lays the groundwork for the second half, which brings the plot together. I was completely immersed in the play for the entire running time.
The theatre itself is very intimate with a capacity of 70 – 80 people. Conveniently located in the Redwood City theatre district, it is close to multiple café’s/restaurants and parking garages. The doors usually open half an hour before the beginning of the show so it is better to go early and get good seats. The show that I went to was on a Saturday night and was houseful. The tickets were $ 30 per person which was worth it. The audience is allowed to bring food/​drinks inside the theatre.
Worth checking this play out.

Show is great! Talented artists!
However, the management is the worst. The owner, manager, and even their staffs are all so arrogant and inconsiderate. They have a very inflated opinion of their worth, and they feel they’re so superior than anyone else.
They trapped their audience with an unnecessary intermission, so they could sell drinks, snacks, or other stuff to the audience. (The show wasn’t long enough to have a intermission.)

We’ve attended four performances here, and have loved every one. A minor grumble about some of the seats, but no big problem. Absolutely the most amazing performance there was the opera Lo speziale, performed in Italian (with hilarious subtitles) by members of the Bay Area Opera Cooperative, around the theme of the TV series Breaking Bad (!!!) Best avant garde performance ever for this viewer!

I saw Lo Speziale on Sunday and was blown away. This was my first opera so I was pretty nervous, but my reservations were instantly put to rest by this creative, well put-​together show. I was impressed and entertained. Well done Bay Area Opera Collaborative!
#BreakingBad + #Opera = #NewBroadwayShow

Wonderful to have this theatre addition in RC, saw Woman in Black and going to ‘A Star without a name’ on Saturday.

Just went there for my first show today. Took my 11 year old son to see Show People. It was awesome! Very funny, and the acting was amazing. I can’t believe I just found this place. My son said he wanted to see another show there. Impressive!

Glad to have Dragon Theater in the increasingly hopping downtown Redwood City area! I now have seen several of their productions since the company’s move from Palo Alto to Redwood City. I love the intimate theater and chance to experience plays I hadn’t known before. Nearly all of what I’ve seen there has been excellent. One play was so-​so.

Unfortunately I did not have the same experience as many others writing a review here. Although the entrance and amenities of the small sized theater were really nice and impressive; the experience of the play «Woman in black» was so bad I saw people sleeping before intermission! The same people (including us) decided to forgo the $ 30/​person at intermission (which, by the way, is a complete rip for the performance) and go home. Although you can see that the actors did well given the limited props, music, and background the entertainment/​experience factor were very much under expectations. I highly recommend you don’t waste your time or money and go somewhere else. Very disappointing. I never give a poor rating but I felt the need to warn people of this theater.

My first one star on Unilocal!This has to be a joke! We saw «the woman in black» and half the theatre went home at intermission, including us. There were 2 actors (which were good) but no props or music, your imagination can only go so far. And they charge $ 30 a person! Please don’t get fooled by the entrance and location, go to The Stage, Lucie Stern, or any other theatre where it is an actual play with more than 2 actors and truly a theatrical production. This is the biggest rip off.

This is an unsuspecting little theatre in the middle of downtown Redwood City.
I came here to see the magic show by David Gerard. It was a very small group of audience, but it was perfect for this intimate setting.
The door usually opens 15 minutes before show time, you can line up if you want the front row seats, but truthfully, I felt that there were no bad seats at this theatre.
I can’t wait to come back again and catch another show!

Very cool. Great addition to downtown RWC.

Before it moved from Palo Alto to Redwood City at the beginning of 2013, I used to say that the Dragon Theatre was one of the unintentionally best-​kept secrets in the Bay Area. Hopefully now that they’ve been in their new digs for a year, the secret is getting out!
I’ve been a theatre aficionado since before I moved here from La Jolla many moons ago, but I had no clue this superb theatre company existed until two years back, when I stumbled across a listing for their production of «Burn This» by Lanford Wilson. Since then, I’ve attended a Baker’s half-​dozen of wonderfully mounted, excellently acted productions at the Dragon, and have come to think of it as one of my favorite theatres on the Peninsula.
«Burn This» is a riveting, intense, sensual drama for three actors that was first shown at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, with John Malkovitch playing the lead role; it’s typical of the type of play you’ll see produced at the Dragon. The Redwood City venue is intimate (only 70 seats total), so it’s best suited for non-​musical productions with smaller casts. Parking is readily available in the immediate area of the theatre, and there are numerous restaurants within walking distance.
Since my first visit to the Dragon, the productions I’ve seen there have been a great cross section of dramas, comedies, and hybrids, like the first play I saw in their Redwood City venue — «November». In this dark and sometimes hysterically funny political satire by Pulitzer prize winning playwright David Mamet, an incumbent American President’s approval ratings are in the cellar because according to his adviser: «you’ve fucked up everything you’ve touched.» With a campaign that’s bankrupt the week before the election, the President is reduced to selling pardons to criminals in order to raise campaign funds, and hiking from $ 50,000 to $ 200 million his fee from a national turkey association for pardoning a Thanksgiving turkey on national TV. Mamet’s dialogue sparkles with P.C.-savaging wit — undone by absurdity that shatters plausibility: Turkeys explode in the anteroom, and a livid, homicidally violent Native American Chief bursts in while the Secret Service is on a coffee break…
The Dragon has quite a number of intriguing-​looking plays on their calendar for 2014. Try one, and you too will probably be hooked on this amazing gem of a theatre company. To make the theatre even more accessible, for 2014 they’ve simplified the ticket prices so that seats for all Main Stage Season plays cost a flat rate of $ 30 each. They’ve also introduced a new series called 2^nd Stages, with tickets priced at $ 15 each.
Tip: For a luxurious, semi-​private theatre experience, The Dragon offers a VIP box.
The VIP balcony box is furnished with a large, comfy couch and a rocking chair, accommodating parties of 2 – 4 patrons. The VIP experience includes a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates!

This was more than I expected. it is a great venue for small cast plays. We saw Mamet;s «November» and liked both the play and the way the actors portrayed the characters.
Small community theater is important and there isn’t enough in America. It provides a training venue for aspiring actors and a place to hear other views and be entertained as an audience. We should do what we can to support this place before it and others like it disappear.
We will return for other performances and recommend Dragon to our friends. An added plus is its proximity to the county parking lot and lots of nearby restaurants to bracket showtime.

My review is based solely on having been here once. We saw their spring production of «Les Liaisons Dangereuses» back in April. That being said, I like the Dragon Theatre’s space… it’s a small theater so you’d be hard pressed to get a bad seat. Lighting & sound were excellent.
The lobby area is attractive but quite small, it was hard to get to the concession area at intermission time… a minor detail.
Hadn’t been to the downtown area of Redwood City before, will go back!

Came here for a David Gerrad magic show on a late Friday night. The theater is central to all the entertainment and restaurants in the area. Inside the theater it was very intimate setting, which is a good thing because I was expecting a good size theater with rows of seating. Bathroom is a far stretch down the hall down some strange passage ways, but overall a great place to take in a show!

Out of Line Improv Troupe was outstanding. Clever, witty, extremely fun characters they create. The long form «action movie» second half of the show was very entertaining. Clearly very hard working team. Lighting /​light man was also well timed.

I loved attending performances when Dragon Theater was in Palo Alto, but the current facility leaves two things to be desired that theatergoers should know in advance. The beautifully restored, upholstered theater seats at the old location are sadly missing, replaced by chairs that are ok for the first 30 minutes and then woefully painful after that. I will warn you to empty your bladder before you arrive and not to drink any liquids until you leave, because the restroom is oh, so yukky. It’s a long walk down a long, long hallway, and the entire time my nose was assaulted by strong chemical odors. The place appeared clean, but someone had not-​too-​long ago doused the place with some noxious chemical «cleaner» that made me hustle down that hallway, arriving at the restroom – gasping – only to discover that it had no ventilation and smelled like… you-​know-​what: naturally occurring noxious odors. No kidding! At intermission I needed another potty break, but instead of running the smelly gauntlet I dashed across the street to Five Guys Burgers. There I had no stinky hallway, but OH, NO. their restroom reeked of a cherry-​scented cleaner. So, folks, I suggest you either wear diapers or forego drinks after 2pm to enjoy your evening at Dragon Theater. I’m not eager to return but might if I heed my own warning.
I did, however, enjoy Les Liaisons Dangereuses!

Saw «After Ashley,» «Les Liaisons Dangereuses» and a read through of «Almost Happy.» All productions (and the read through) were well done, with quality acting and compelling stories. I actually liked this version of Dangerous Liasons even better than the Close/​Malkovich movie version. Spot on.
A great, intimate theater and relatively affordable. Will be coming back for more.

I could give five stars, but gave four this time because there are always some ways to improve even the best!
We saw Les Liaisons Dangereuses here on Saturday evening. The play was brilliant! Many dialogs were really funny implying some naughty things ;-) The free improv show was offered just after the play at 11pm, but we had to go home. If we had been able to stay, two shows for the price of one discount ticket! Good deal!
The theatre is located right in RWC Downtown near many restaurants and free parking (after 6pm). It’s quite small with the capacity of about less than 100 people I think. Our seats were at the last row, but only about 20 feet away from the stage. So, you really get closeups of the actors.
I’m a novice playgoer and have only been to a few theatres in the SF Bay Area, but I think I’ll check out their future shows to go back :-)