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