[1] The Magic Theatre originated in 1967[2] when John Lion, a student of Jan Kott at the University of California, directed a production of Eugène Ionesco's The Lesson at the Steppenwolf Bar in Berkeley.

Lion responded by moving the theatre across the bay to San Francisco, where it resided in a series of low-rent venues including another bar, the Rose and Thistle.

The Magic produced the world premiere productions of his Inacoma (1977), Buried Child (1978), Suicide in B-flat, True West (1980) directed by Robert Woodruff, Fool for Love (1983), and The Late Henry Moss (2000).

[6] The Magic performed "The Brothers Size", which was directed by Octavio Solis and starred Tobie Windham, Joshua Elijah Reese, and Alex Ubokudom,[7] with a set design by James Faerron.

[8] Among the other plays at the Magic in 2010 two were listed in the San Francisco Chronicle's Top Ten: Luis Alfaro's Oedipus el Rey and Liz Duffy Adams' Or.

[1][9] Actors who have performed at the Magic include Danny Glover,[10] Peter Coyote,[10] Kathy Baker,[11] Ed Harris,[10][11] John O'Keefe (also playwright), and the original cast of The Late Henry Moss, Nick Nolte,[12] Sean Penn,[13] Woody Harrelson,[12] James Gammon[14] and Cheech Marin.