A thirty-something comic book writer's search for Mr. Right goes very wrong in Brad Fraser's Martin Yesterday, making its West Coast premiere at the New Conservatory Theatre Center Feb. 14-April 7. Opening night is Feb. 24.

Martin Yesterday centers on the relationship between the city councillor Martin Yesterday and comic book artist Matt, who falls hard for him. After years of having nothing more than flings with increasingly younger partners, Matt wants to settle down with someone mature and committed. Yesterday seems to fit the bill in every way, except one — he won't reveal anything about his past. When Matt discovers his dream lover's secrets, it may be too late.

Fraser, whose work has been produced extensively in Canada and the UK, is the author of Poor Super Man, Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, The Ugly Man, Prom Night of the Living Dead, Young Art, and Wolf Boy. His screenplay credits include Love and Human Remains.

Fraser won a London Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright. Martin Yesterday was originally commissioned for BBC Radio, but made its stage debut first in Toronto in Oct., 1997. Theatre Network in Edmonton staged a revised version of the play in May 1998.

Christopher Jenkins directs. A former managing director of Buffalo United Artists in New York, he helmed their productions of Gross Indecency, The Food Chain and Three Guys Naked From the Waist Down. He has also directed two other Fraser plays - Unidentified Human Remains and Poor Super Man. Tickets are $25-$15. The New Conservatory Theatre Center is located at 25 Van Ness Avenue near Market Street. For tickets, call (415) 861-8972. The New Conservatory Theatre Center is on the web at http://www.nctcsf.org.

— By Christine Ehren