Selected Shorts: A Touch of Magic

Selected Shorts: A Touch of Magic

In an exclusive Bay Area appearance,  the hit radio show and podcast Selected Shorts presents an evening of funny, moving, and spellbinding short fiction in which a pinch of enchantment transforms the everyday, revealing wonder in unexpected places.  Performers include Yetide Badaki (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds), Justin Kirk (Succession), and Wendie Malick (Shrinking).

Selected Shorts is produced by Symphony Space in New York City and is broadcast on over 150 radio stations and enjoys more than 100,000 downloads a week.

Presidio Theatre Program - Hosted by Wendie Malick

Petronella by Jay Williams - Performed by Wendie Malick

The Veldt by Ray Bradbury - Performed by Yetide 

INTERMISSION

Humblepuppy by Joan Aiken - Performed by Wendie Malick

The Comebacker by Dave Eggers - Performed by Justin Kirk

THE ARTISTS

Joan Aiken (1924 – 2004) was a prolific British author of fantasy, adventure, horror, and suspense tales for both juvenile and adult readers, including The Wolves of Willoughby Chase series. In 1999, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Yetide is a Nigerian-born actress known for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and American Gods, as well as appearances on Lost, Touch, Criminal Minds, Masters of Sex, and This Is Us. She won Best Actress for her role in the film Precipice at the Indie Short Fest. Badaki can currently be seen in Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. Her film credits include RISE, Cardinal X, A Chance of Rain, What We Found, and Run Fast. Yetide wrote, produced, and starred in the short In Hollywoodland.

In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury (1920 - 2012) was a prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, teleplays, and screenplays. His works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. He adapted sixty-five of his stories for television's The Ray Bradbury Theater. Bradbury was the recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, among many honors.

Dave Eggers is the author of many books for adults and kids. He’s the founder of McSweeney's and the co-founder of 826 Valencia and the International Alliance of Youth Writing Centers. A finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, he was recently awarded the Newbery Medal for his all-ages book, The Eyes and the Impossible. His latest novel, Contrapposto, was published on June 9th. 

Justin Kirk is best known for his roles on the television shows Succession, Perry Mason, Weeds, Jack & Jill, and the miniseries Angels in America. Additional screen credits include Modern Family, The Blacklist, Wayward Pines, You’re the Worst, Ghostbusters (2016), APB, Molly’s Game, Vice, Kidding, Interview with the Vampire, Talamasca: The Secret Order, The ’Burbs, and Ghosts. Kirk can currently be seen on Criminal Minds and The Vampire Lestat. 

Jay Williams (1914 – 1978) was an American author of science fiction (often for children), fantasy, historical fiction, non-fiction, and radical theater. He is probably best known for his young adult Danny Dunn science fiction/fantasy series, which he co-authored with Raymond Abrashkin.