Gamblin' Life or Death: UNRATED

Dereck S. Chan, the writer and director of Compassion Collab's "Gamblin' Life or Death," having its World Premiere at Potrero Playhouse, comes out on stage at show's opening and explains what we are about to see. He speaks entirely in English which is the last time anyone does. Compassion Collab's mission is to make theater accessible to all those who may speak different languages.

This is a noble attempt.

However, having each actor speak his or her lines first in Cantonese, Polish, French or Spanish, followed by English --- for this reviewer --- is tough for an audience, if for no other reason than all dialogue is now twice as long as it needs to be and this makes for a show that feels long. Also, the English translations are stilted. 

The lead actor, Mangling Tan is terrific. She is the one character seemingly unshackled by a plot that feels simplistic, forcing us to ask: Where are we? Which century? How much money? What's with the Spanish Dancer and the Chinese spirit healer and the French-speaking Loan Shark?

The company's operatic sensibility is fascinating and we hope the company will continue to refine this theatrical conceit. But we don't think an actor speaking dialogue in several languages at once will ever feel like real people talking. 

RATINGS: UNRATED

The San Francisco Theater Blog is honored to be part of a new company's breakout performance. We wish them the very best and hope to see more in the future. We will withhold a rating until next time.

"Gamblin' Life or Death"

Potrero Playhouse

1695 18th St., San Francisco

THURS-SUN, Nov 8, 2026

$0-$35

"Betrayal" ★★ baub

Give it to Nobel-Prize winner Harold Pinter for understanding titles. His three-hander "Betrayal," written in 1978, is about three empty, self-indulgent people, all of whom deserve to be betrayed, or at the very least doomed to spend eternity with each other. The play takes place in mid-1970s London, and could be seen as a lampoon of Mid-Century English mores, but this Marin Theatre Company production, directed by Carey Perloff, contains little humor or irony. 

We open with a delicious example of two people at a small table in a café, drinking tea and talking while saying nothing they really feel to each other. Emma (the excellent Liz Sklar) has decided to invite her ex-lover Jerry (Tasso Feldman) to tea. She has recently discovered her husband, Robert (Charlie Semine) has been unfaithful to her for years, while she has all the while been unfaithful to him with Jerry, who happens to be Robert's oldest and closest friend. So Jerry has managed to be unfaithful times two. 

But Jerry is such a schmuck. It never makes sense what Emma sees in him. Robert shares betrayability with Jerry but at least he's tall and good-looking. 

The sets, beautifully designed by Yuki Izumihara (with fine musical interludes by Fiona Sharkey during set changes), are either today's living room, or the past's London flat where for seven years Emma and Jerry had their Thursday Afternoon Doodling Date.

Pinter is a national treasure. If you're a fan, you'll see more of what you love. If not, you may end up feeling disheartened by characters who never open up, concealing how they really feel, not only from each other, but from us. 

RATINGS: ★★ baub

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division grants Two Stars with a Bauble of Despair to Marin Theatre's production of "Betrayal." Despair haunts any Harold Pinter production, so the baub should not be surprising. This review has been written during a celebratory week in American politics. We refuse to feel as empty as Emma, Jerry and Robert.

"Betrayal"

Marin Theatre

397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley

Through Nov 15

$39-$110

Word for Word: Assimilation ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

WE SAW THE FIRST PREVIEW PERFORMANCE. THESE COMMENTS WILL BE MODIFED AS THE RUN CONTINUES.

Word For Word's latest production is "Assimilation," with the subtitle "Love is a Strange Thing; It Has a Thousand Faces." Indeed, this evening of staged productions of two short stories, one by E.L. Doctorow ("Assimilation") and one by Tatyana Tolstaya (Smoke and Shadows"), gives us stories within stories and faces blinded by cigarette smoke and politics, all within the lives of Russian emigres in New York.

The first third of the evening features Brady Morales-Wollery as Ramón, a New Yorker who is a graduate from City College but has somehow slipped through the tunnel and ended up as a busboy in a Russian restaurant in what appears to be Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Morales-Woolery is steadfast and honest, qualities that seem to be getting him deeper and deeper into an immigration scheme hatched by his employer, Borislav (Soren Oliver) and Borislav's shrew of a wife, Anya, played to terrifying perfection by Stacy Ross. The idea is to have Ramón marry Borislav's niece Jelena (Kayla McConnell) and then, presumably, to get rid of Ramón. We can't tell you what happens, but Ramón is a very good guy, 

Tolstaya's "Smoke and Mirrors" is not so upbeat. Ross and Morales-Woolery are two professors trying to have an affair at their upstate New York college, but they are poleaxed by guilt (Russians are quite good at this) and fear of Woolery's wife Emma (played by McConnell). There are some very funny lines, such as Ross's prayer: "Tell me. God, why him? Specifically?"), but the angst becomes a bit overpowering as the show keeps heading for the finish line. The ice may or may not be metaphorical. 

An evening of Word For Word is always fun. They push boundaries and make all us reviewers feel blessed that we get to see these innovative productions and, also, that we don't have a wife like Stacy Ross's Anya.

RATINGS: ⭐⭐⭐

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division grants "Assimilation" TRI  ZVESDY, approximately equal to THREE STARS. We made them Red Stars this time. "Assimilation" is nearly perfect as it is and "Smoke and Shadows" is just about there. You don't often see a cafe full of hexadactyls. 

"WORD FOR WORD: ASSIMILATION"

Z-Space Downstairs

Florida St., San Francisco

Through Nov. 8

$50-$75

"Peter Pan Goes Wrong" ★ ★ ★★ BANG

We laughed and laughed and never stopped laughing. Sight gags and pratfalls and scenic backgrounds spinning out of control and Peter Pan crashing to the floor in a heap, causing him to face his duplicitous relationship with Tink — add in an actor whose grandfather donated the money for the show and another with incurable stage fright. And don’t forget electrocution. 

The result is curtain-to-curtain mayhem, but don’t get comfortable because the curtains are certain to fall down too.

Who’s the star here? Our favorite might be Renee Rogoff (far right, above) whose various roles include Ms. Darling and Liza the maid, often at split-second intervals, as well as Tinkerbell herself.  We love Patrick Russell who tries gamely to be Peter Pan's Shadow and also plays the cute-as-a-tennis shoe Nana the dog. And Captain Hook! Jomar Tagatac, who doubles as Mr. Darling, is the perfect admiral for the idiocracy known as The Cornley Dramatic Society.

We love Joe Ayers, the money boy, who plays four-year-old Michael and reprises as a fabulous crocodile riding a skateboard. Oh, phooey: we love everybody. They all deserve a raise.

Even Hook.

Susi Damilano has turned into the Farce Accompli of San Francisco Playhouse. Her Direction somehow manages to keep everyone alive and in one piece, and this is no minor accomplishment. 

Tick. Tick. Tick. Get your tickets quick, before the croc gives you the hook. 

RATINGS ★★★★ BANG

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division grants "Peter Pan Goes Wrong" Four Stars with a Bangle of Praise for Matt, the audience member forced to open the bottle of poison for Captain Hook because, see, Hook's got a hook.

All Four Stars shall be made of a really tough material that even these clowns can’t destroy.

“Peter Pan Goes Wrong”

San Francisco Playhouse

450 Post St., San Francisco

(2d Floor of Kensington Park Hotel)

Through Nov. 28, 2026

$52-$145

R.O.I. (Return on Investment) ★★★ BANG

We didn't manage to catch SF Playhouse's production of R.O.I. (Return on Investment) at the Creativity Theater until close to the end. Sorry to say (but happy for the Playhouse) the show is sold out for the rest of the run. But you will hear of this one again.

This is a breakout role for Lauren English. She's tough and she's sharp and she's also manipulative and out of her mind, but we don't see what's happening for awhile. She plays Willa, a scientist who has (we all believe) come up with a cure for cancer. She has come to May Lee (Sharon Shao), an employee at the Montrose Fund, headed up by Paul Montrose (Anthony Fusco) with her idea, and Paul and May Lee immediately spot her as a unicorn, someone with a billion dollar idea. The race is on to grab investors for her and cash in.

If you think this is a feel-good story about creating something wonderful for humanity, think again. Greed, as always, is an equal partner.

We weren't nuts about Anthony Fusco's reading of Paul. He seemed too childish for us to believe he was a great player in the world of finance. Sharon Shao, who plays May Lee, on the other hand, was perfect for her role as someone who believes in Paul until...well, that's what the play is about.

Politics, corruption, noble ideas turning into cash cows. Yup. Nothing new here.

RATINGS ★★★ BANG

The San Francisco Theater Blog Hi-Tech Award Division grants Three Stars with a Bangle of Praise to Aaron Loeb's "R.O.I. (Return on Investment)." Keep this one in your rolodex and catch it next time.

R.O.I. (Return on Investment)

Creativity Theater

Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco

Through Sept. 5 ONLY

"The White Chip" ★ ?

We all love happy endings. We need them. But this one scares me. I fear the sugary conclusion to Sean Daniels's "The White Chip," running through September at Marin Theatre, may influence my fellow reviewers to speak fondly of a show that does not feel ready for Prime Time. Caught between the desire to speak about the horror of alcoholism and the decision to use slapstick to attempt to get the audience laughing at a serious problem, "The White Chip" accomplishes neither. 

Young Steven is an alcoholic. But there is little explanation for his self-destructive behavior, short of "It makes me feel good," so we must watch a solid ninety minutes of denial/rehab/bender/tears/promises/lies with little understanding about why this young man seems so paralyzed by alcohol. We already know alcoholism is nasty, but why THIS alcoholic? 

Steven, played by Benjamin Clark, does a fine job with the task he has been given on stage -- to attempt to work around his two chirpy supporting actors who giggle and frown and hurl props onto the stage. Each time this happens, the motion of the story is interrupted. Steven even tosses jokes at "the four people in the top row who understood that one," breaking the fourth wall like an audition at a comedy club.

Before the show begins, Director Lance Gardner makes the announcement that he is celebrating twenty years of sobriety and that he feels his life has been saved by this action. Of course, we all applaud his bravery. Perhaps Gardner is trying to soften the pain that he remembers from his own life by instructing Danny Scheie and Lindsey Kail, both playing multiple roles, to make light of every word that comes out of their mouths. 

There are some good lines: Scheie, as a tough Jesus-touting counselor, says: "You're not confused! You're just fused with your con!" 

But then he says, "You need to see the Jews," and we are incomprehensibly taken to Scheie and Kail playing two Jewish counselors, with terrible accents, who toss in every stereotype while teaching Steven about science and chemistry.

To be fair, the glib Mormon insults at the beginning of the play are in even worse taste.

RATINGS: ★?

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division grants "The White Chip" One Star with a Question Mark. The star is for Benjamin Clark who is engaging and believable. The Question Mark is because perhaps we caught a show before it was ready. It will be interesting to see how this cast can bring either more understanding or less silliness into their performances. Either will do, but both would make "The White Chip" feel a little less tipsy. 

"The White Chip"

Marin Theatre

397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley

Through 9-20-26

$39-$110

The Employee Dharma Handbook: ★ ★ ★ ★

Geetha Reddy has written that rare theatrical treasure: a show that makes us laugh and think at the same time. We live within our own walls and tend to forget that we are not the only people dealing with the same intractable issues. Racism is 400 years old in America but the Caste system is several thousand years old in India. Bring Indian tech workers to a Silicon Valley aerospace company where company rules insist on equal treatment of all employees -- and watch how fast ancient prejudices rise up to muddy the waters.

t's a terrific cast, anchored by Kathryn Smith-McGlynn as Val, the H.R. person whose job it is to enforce the idealistic employee handbook. The employees, however, want nothing to do with it.  Boss C.K., played by Ranjita Chakravarty, needs to keep her company up and running so the upcoming launch can be successful. An IPO would be triggered thereafter, making everyone rich. So she doesn't much care about Leela (Megan Siri)'s squabbles with Krish (Kapil Talwalkar), nor Krish's with Baasu (Kunal Dudheker), nor even her college romance with none other than Val.

We have a bit of a problem with the quite improbable love story, but we know it sells tickets. After all, love is, as C.K. says: "An ancient solution to resolve a modern problem."

We especially enjoyed the section of the story where several employees, all of whom have agreed to use only English in the office, become furious at each other and begin back-and-forthing in a blistering native language that not only they understand, but a substantial part of the theater audience. Some of us will never know what they were saying, but on Opening Night we were in the minority. 

RATINGS:★★★★

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division grants FOUR STARS to "The Employee Dharma Handbook." Writing, directing, acting and Wilson Chin's Scenic design deserve one star each. It's a terrific show.

"The Employee Dharma Handbook"

Lucie Stern Theatre

1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto

Through 8/2/26

$54-$104