BUILDING THE BARBARY
This is not a dream.
It’s a finish line.
Come meet us there.
Join us in this next chapter.
We’re Ray of Light.
Twenty-five years ago I started Ray of Light because I wanted a home — for the theater kids, the observers, the people who grew up feeling everything and needed somewhere to put it. I wanted a place in SF where we could put passion, danger, hilarity, and rebellion on stage (often all at once) and not be precious about it; a place where audiences could have a great time and still walk out changed. We’ve built every show on volunteer labor and love, and after two and a half decades of making this work in other people's spaces, we are building something permanent, a home of our own:
The Barbary Stage.
Jackson Square, San Francisco.
We named it after the original Barbary Coast of San Francisco, a messy, vibrant place where the marginalized could perform and gather outside the mainstream. As often happens in this city, that neighborhood became something else. That's the story of SF. But we're not interested in nostalgia, we're interested in continuity.
The Barbary Stage is a bet that what made this city iconic isn't gone yet — just looking for a room.
Help us open it.
Shane Ray
Founding Artistic Director
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We’re Ray of Light.
We put passion, danger, hilarity, and rebellion on stage — often all at once. We are not precious about it. We are rigorous about it. There's a difference, and our audiences know it.
We choose shows with our gut — the story that won't leave us alone, the musical nobody's doing because nobody's sure it'll work, the one that feels dangerous and necessary at the same time. Rocky Horror. Hedwig. American Psycho. The Wild Party. Jesus Christ Superstar. Kinky Boots. Next to Normal. Heathers.
There's something about a Ray of Light show that can be hard to explain after the fact. You were there, something happened, and now you're coming back. Maybe it's that nobody's performing at you — the fourth wall here has always been more of a suggestion. Maybe it's the doubles at the bar. Maybe it's that the person next to you is crying and laughing at the same time and so are you and somehow that feels completely normal. Most theater companies have a relationship with their audience that feels a little formal — you're a patron, they're an institution. Ray of Light is more like the friend who texts you about a show, meets you at the bar before, and genuinely wants to know what you thought after. The work may be rigorous but the vibe is not.
All of our shows are built by volunteers with day jobs who show up anyway because they love making art in this city.
We are the cool kids who were never cool — the observers, the ones who grew up reading everything and feeling everything and decided the best way to process all of it was to put it on a stage. Pop culture sensibility with a real sense of duty. We strive to make work that's inclusive, that celebrates difference, that's defined by diversity of storytelling and aesthetic.
I’ve always felt that theater should make you feel alive — and then maybe call your mom on the way home.After 25 years of making this work in other people's spaces, we are building a home of our own.
The Barbary Stage. Jackson Square, San Francisco.
Our lease is signed and renovations are nearly done. We’ve announced our inaugural season in our new home — Mean Girls, Urinetown, and Once Upon a One More Time (a Britney Spears jukebox musical about fairy tales and feminist awakening that is exactly as fun as it sounds). This is not a dream we're asking you to fund. It's a finish line we're asking you to help us cross.
San Francisco has always remade itself by erasing the thing that made it worth remaking. The original Barbary Coast, after which we named our new home, was a messy, vibrant, place where marginalized people could perform and gather outside the mainstream. But, as often happens in this city, it became something else. That's the story of SF. We're not interested in nostalgia, we're interested in continuity.The Barbary Stage is a bet that what made this city iconic isn't gone yet — just looking for a room.
Help support our new home and join us in this next chapter.
Where your money goes:
Build Out Costs
The lighting grid, the sound infrastructure, the stage itself. The bones that make everything else possible.
Our Inaugural Season
Mean Girls. Urinetown. Once Upon a One More Time. Three casts, three design teams, three chances to show San Francisco what we can do in our own home. We make it work on volunteer labor. The materials still cost what they cost.
Production Infrastructure
The equipment and systems that let a fully volunteer company operate a permanent venue at the level our audiences expect.
“ we’re transforming the space into something worthy of the artists and audiences who will fill it.”
Pick your level. Make it real.
$25
You know every word. You've always known every word. → Your name in the digital program for the inaugural Barbary Stage season
$100
Generous by nature. That's how we do things here. → Everything above + a free drink on us at your first show of the season.
$250
You know the risks. You show up anyway. Front row forever. → Everything above + invitation to Alumni Night Reception — drinks and genuine chaos with cast members from across Ray of Light's 25-year history
$500
It looks chaotic. It is extremely controlled. You understand the difference. → Everything above + invitation to a sitzprobe — the first rehearsal where the cast sings through the show with the full band. Very few people ever get to see this.
$1000
You're part of the show now. You always kind of were. → Everything above + invitation to the Opening Night After Party with the full production team.
$2500+
You built this with us. Your name belongs on the wall. → Everything above + permanent recognition as a Founding Patron of The Barbary Stage — name on the wall, in the program, in our hearts. We will probably cry when we thank you.