SFMOMA has joined forces with YBCA to recreate Four Saints in Three Acts, Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson’s 1934 experimental opera. The original work’s nonlinear narrative follows Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola, and other saints as they muse in heaven about their mortal lives. The multimedia adaptation maintains the essence of its predecessor but gives it a modern spin with a varied cast of collaborators that include Bay Area contemporary chamber opera group Ensemble Parallèle, composer Luciano Chessa, and New York’s hyped video-performance artist Kalup Linzy. Oddities fill the performance—actors sing stage directions and dance a tango-infused ballet while Linzy’s projections add darker elements and meditations on the nature of sin. Aug. 18–21; Novellus Theater, 700 Howard (at Third), 415-978-2787, ybca.org
