Word for Word: “The Strange Library” ★★★★ BANG

WE NOW NOTICE THAT ALL PERFORMANCES FOR THIS SHOW HAVE BEEN SOLD OUT! PLEASE CHECK WITH BOX OFFICE FOR CANCELLATIONS.

Haruki Murakami’s stories are frequently weird but always inventive. The new Word For Word production of “The Strange Library” is all that, plus unique, fun and a feast for the eyes. 

Acting must be mentioned first: Jed Parsario is fabulous as The Boy, confused but always hopeful as his woeful situation becomes more and more worrisome; and Julie Kuwabara is perfect as Sheep Man, who is probably The Boy’s friend, but with a Murakami story you never know for sure. There are also strong performances by a young girl who is clearly not real, being manipulated puppet-style by Ogie Zulueta and Vivienne Truong. Chuck Lacson is hilarious as a library girl with a mustache and beard, to say nothing about Hattam, the hulking and bejeweled Turkish Tax Collector. And in case you are not suffering from enough nightmares these days, the evil old man (Zulueta) will add to your load. 

Poor Boy. All he wanted to do was go to the library, like the obedient child he is. He is at once frightened but also perfectly willing to enjoy Sheep Man’s doughnuts to say nothing about the little girl’s kiss on his cheek. Parsario has us on our toes worrying about what will happen to him. And Kuwabara gives Sheep Man a child-like sheen, though his situation is at least as precarious as The Boy's.

We wish there were a chance to applaud for the actors at the end. This production decision makes us feel incomplete. If there is one flaw in an excellent evening of theater, this is it. 

Kudos to co-directors Lisa Hori-Garcia and Keiko Shimosato Carreiro for direction as well as choreography, and to the entire company for this adaptation. 

RATINGS  ★★★★ BANG

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Department, Nightmare Division, grants “The Strange Library” Four Stars with a BANGLE OF PRAISE. This is a high award for a first-rate production. We add the BANGLE for Mikiko Uesegi’s set design and the infinitely labyrinthine arrangements on stage.

"Word for Word: "Strange Library"

Z-Space Below

499 Florida St., San Francisco

Through Dec. 8

SORRY! SOLD OUT! 

Don Reed: "The DMV" ★★★

There are always terrific bits in Don Reed shows, and "The DMV" is no exception. We see seven folding chairs set up next to each other on the stage and Reed takes turns sitting in one after the other. The premise is that each chair holds a different character waiting for his or her number to be called. We all have been caught up in the endless slog that is the DMV, so we understand how there is plenty of time for the performer to give a five or ten minute monologue in the voice of each of the seven unfortunate people.

There are standout characters -- Alberta, the DMV lady behind the counter probably being the most memorable, with Reed's palm serving hysterically as Alberta's hair flips. We also loved the dick jokes - "muledick" being the best -- and especially enjoyed the Punjabi Dance. Don Reed is a funny man but he is also a great dancer. The final bit, where he does a modern-dance to an ethereal song being played over the house speakers -- is a tour de force. 

We wish there were more about the DMV. We modern humans may not be able to agree on much but everyone of us gags at going to the DMV.  Every reference Reed makes to that  dreaded place drags a dyspeptic "Oh, yeah!" out of us. But there weren't nearly enough of those. The show could have been set in a doctor's office or on the moon. 

RATINGS: ★ ★ ★

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division grants THREE STARS to "The DMV." We have seen Don Reed many times before. He's a personable man and excellent performer. He is breaking no new ground here, but he is still a Bay Area treasure. 

Don Reed: "The DMV"

The Marsh

1062 Valencia. San Francisco

Through Nov 22

$20-$35 (sliding scale)

Baba Yaga ★

San Francisco Theater Blog has been reviewing theater in San Francisco since 2002. In all that time the only rule that we have religiously adhered to is No Walking Out At Intermission. You might miss something. 

But, you know, we're not getting any younger. Each hour counts more than it used to. There could be an earthquake that knocks over the Golden Gate Bridge. Time is Money. (Except that we're theatre reviewers so, ha ha ha, no.) Still. Dysfunctional times call for exceptional responses. 

As for "Baba Yaga," Lance Gardener's newest production at Marin Theater Company, written by Kat Sandler, let's just say that when I asked my wife why she didn't insist that we stay for Act Two, after 20+ years of insisting that we show enough respect to the actors to remain in our seats for the entire production, no matter how cringy Act One had been, her answer, tonight, was "I was afraid I had carbon monoxide poisoning because I kept passing out." 

I wanted to slap the actor (I will not say his name) playing the two male leads (each actor plays several parts). It wasn't his fault, he was saying the lines written by the playwright while following the director's orders to make sure his characters were so supercilious and insincere that the audience won't mind when, presumably, they are killed and eaten by the witch in Act Two. 

But it's hard to watch.

The two female leads were trying really hard to pretend to fall for these pathetic young men. The older woman was going to kill the detective, clearly, or at the very least strip him of his bones and grind them down to sprinkle on her vegetables. The younger woman just seemed...empty, as if she had fallen down a well and no one had called Lassie. 

It is possible that this whole thing is a spoof and that Act Two will pay it all off. I may have missed the joke: it has happened before and I won't know until tomorrow when I poll those reviewers whose partners would not let them leave. To be honest, there was lots of squealy laughter from one particular spot in the center of the audience, perhaps from relatives who live deep in the forest and don't get out much. They thought it absolutely spectacular that the young man would kiss the older woman. Can you imagine! Old people kissing! They applauded and whistled. 

There is one big positive: The Super-Duper Burger across the street is as good as ever. 

RATINGS: ★

You get one Star just for showing up.

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division knows how difficult this business is. We are not mentioning actors' names, for search-engine purposes. But for the sake of our readers, if you do attend, bring a wooden cross and for the love of God do not kiss anybody.

"Baba Yaga"

Marin Theatre Company

397 Miller Avenue. Mill Valley

Until Nov. 3

$30-$80

King James: ★★★ Bang

We never see the King but he's always in the picture.

Rajiv Joseph's terrific take on friendship, as seen through the eyes of two diehard Cleveland Cavalier basketball fans, spans the years between Lebron James's arrival on the Cavaliers as an eighteen-year-old phenom through James's "taking his talents" to the Miami Heat and then (after Intermission) returning to Cleveland years later. The friendship between Shawn (Kenny Scott) and Matt (Jordan Lane Shappell) has its own range of emotional upheavals and is the heart of this touching story.

Matt has season tickets to Cavs games that have belonged to his father. He remembers going the arena with his Dad and hates the fact that his financial difficulties have forced him to sell the tickets for this season. Shawn wants to buy them but doesn't really have the money. Not only that, but he is purchasing a pair of tickets and doesn't have anybody to accompany him to the games. 

Next scene: Not only LeBron leaves Cleveland, but so does Shawn. He is accepted into a writers' graduate program in New York. LeBron! How can you leave Cleveland? Shawn! How can you do it too? Matt is left to carry on.

We especially like Kenny, as we're supposed to, but remain suspicious of Matt. Both Scott and Shappell have their characters' mannerisms down. This is a sports fan's dream story, as the whole concept of fandom is examined in light of friendship and our need to celebrate together. We all need friends as well as teams to cheer for. 

Extra kudos to director Giovanna Sardelli and the production team who use music (Gregory Robinson) and lighting (Steven B. Manshardt) to make extensive scene changes into something fun to watch by themselves.

RATINGS: ★★★ Bang

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division grants "King James" THREE STARS with a Bangle of Praise. Directing, Staging and Acting earn one Star each and the cool lighting and music merit a well-deserved Bangle.

"King James"

Mountain View Center for Performing Arts

500 Castro St., Mountain View

Through Nov. 3, 2024

$34-$115

Brian Copeland's "Great American Sh*t Show": UNRATED

We are Brian Copeland fans but we're done with hearing about Donald Trump. Copeland's "Great American Sh*t Show," written with Charlie Varon, was first performed by Copeland and Varon in the runup to the 2020 election. It is all about outrage -- how could America possibly have chosen for President this bad talk-show host and fascist as well?

True that. But it's 2024 and here we are again. There's another election coming up, and, wonder of wonders, the Evil Orange is coming at us again. The problem is the same old outrage doesn't cut it anymore.Yes, he's a psychopath and a racist and a pathological liar, and yes, half of America is likely to vote for him again. We've heard it all before. And there is nothing funny about it.

So we would need Brian Copeland to give us something new, like "The Bucket List" or "Grandma and Me," where there is a story to tell. Even an actor as personable as Copeland can't just keep telling us what we already know, without the show feeling like that uncle at Thanksgiving who won't stop spewing the same complaints you heard last year and the year before.

There are some funny bits: naming the tiki torch-wielding white nationalists at Charlottesville "Orchard Supply Racists" -- and being called the N-word by a man driving a Prius -- I guess these are humorous. And perhaps if you still get perverse pleasure in hearing about Trump's many faults, you'll enjoy hearing about them again. 

Better yet, let us all get down on our knees and pray that in a few months we will never have to see that face and hear that name again, on stage or off.

RATINGS: UNRATED

The San Francisco Theater Blog has chosen not to give Brian Copeland's "Great American Sh*t Show" a rating. In our opinion, this is a step up from a rant and not even close to the brilliant performances we have seen from this normally funny and insightful actor.

Brian Copeland's "The Great American Sh*t Show"

October 24, 2024

The Marsh

1062 Valencia St. San Francisco

SF Mime Troupe: American Dreams: ★ ★ ★

Michael Gene Sullivan is fabulous. We knew he could write, but who knew he could sing? And as he says each year after every show, the Mime Troupe is dedicated as ever to smashing capitalism one musical at a time. 

Every political season gives us a harvest of new lampoonable fruit. 2024's “American Dreams," starring Sullivan, Andre Amarotico, Mikki Johnson and Lizzie Calogero, deals with censorship in Academia and the politics around campus protests. It is timely and, as always, both funny and ludicrous.

This year's music and lyrics are by Daniel Savio. We love “We’re Gonna Make America Great Again, Again,” though it brings our fears about The Big Orange right up to the surface.

I

It’s hard to imagine summer in San Francisco without sitting in the park to watch the Mime Troupe, surrounded by the same carnival atmosphere and, more or less, the same audience, aging a bit more each season, but losing nothing in enthusiasm. The shows are free but the bucket gets passed at the end, proving that money still talks, even while making us laugh about it.

RATINGS ★ ★ ★

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division grants THREE STARS to "American Dreams," for writing, performance and music. We would also like to thank the Troupe for Chancellor Quisling. We’re old enough to get that joke. 

The San Francisco Mime Troupe: “American Dreams”

Various parks and venues around the Bay Area. 

See SFMT.org for locations and times

Through Sep. 8

FREE (Donations Accepted)

Evita:★★★

 

We throughly enjoyed San Francisco Playhouse's new production of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice's "Evita." Amazingly, this show premiered back in 1978. Anyone familiar with politics then and now will see an obvious similarity between the Trumpies of today and the Peronistas of the 1950s. And we know how that one turned out.

There have always been problems with the score to Evita, all the Tonys notwithstanding. As in many ALW shows, we get one song to hum, one to recall, and the others are basically complex melodies designed to fit Rice's lyrics. LOTS of words. But it all hangs together when high standards are met for acting, singing and dancing. In this production, Nicole Helfer's choreography is a delight. The dancers come right at us in the small theater and we love it.

Sophia Alawi plays Evita with energy but she also lets us into the inner drive of this extraordinary woman. Alawi can sing. As for Juan Perón, played by Peter Gregus, he's got a great chin. And in real life, some of Colonel Perón's moves didn't quite hit the note either.

Alex Rodriguez plays Che, the smug, doubting narrator who is not swept up in the mania about Evita. He has the most complex role in the show. 

By this time, "Evita" is an Old Chestnut musical. One goes to see Old Chestnuts to be swept up in the grandeur of a Broadway musical. "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" is enough to keep us in our seats to watch Evita become the revered icon she still is in her home country, seventy years after her death, as she sings: 

"They Need to Adore Me

To Christian Dior Me"

Knowing history, we are also aware that for this snakebite land, she was as good as they were going to get. 

RATINGS  ★★★

The San Francisco Theater Blog Old Chestnut Division grants Three Stars to San Francisco Playhouse's "Evita." It's a night that will make you feel confident about the future of the American musical in San Francisco.

"Evita"

San Francisco Playhouse

450 Post St.

2d Floor of Kensington Park Hotel

Through Sept. 7, 2024

$30-$125