"Concerning Strange Devices From the Distant West": ☼ ☼ ☼

There is no absolute truth. The eyes discern only a portion of reality and leave it to the brain to interpret what is real and what is not. Also, people lie. And photographs are staged.

Is this what Naomi Iizuka's new play "Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West" is about?

Perhaps. It may also be a study of imperfection. Each of her characters is flawed, and each has something important to hide. Nineteenth Century characters Isabel Hewlett (Kate Eastwood Norris) and her husband Edmund (Danny Wolohan) are hiding desires for illicit and exotic sex (he, in addition, has a secret Japanese mistress and daughter). Twenty First Century characters Kiku (Teresa Avia Lim), Hiro (Johnny Wu) and Dmitri Mendelssohn (Bruce McKenzie) are con artists. The depth of their various shell games do not come clear until the very end -- if then.

Even the tattooed man is just an actor.



Playwright Iizuka has written that she loves "stage magic" and Director Les Waters and Lighting Designer Alexander V. Nichols use it to further distort reality. Each scene changes with a brilliant flashbulb effect, the centuries go bouncing back and forth, the actors play multiple roles and even the walls drop in and out of focus -- much like a real camera attempting to fine tune reality. It all makes for a fascinating trip but one which requires an audience to concentrate.



Berkeley Rep commissioned "Strange Devices" and we are seeing the World Premiere. So it's a new show and still has some bumps. At this point, the production is what one notices, not the characters. Perhaps this is because the story's twists and multiple characters require the actors to be picture perfect. There is one wordy set piece featuring Lim and McKenzie where all the in-and-out-of-focus tricks in the book cannot disguise a scene that needs to be trimmed.



But these are niggles. "Concerning Strange Devices From the Distant West" is a fascinating tale and a feast for the eyes. It's a play that will grow more haunting with time.



RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "Concerning Strange Devices From the Distant West" Three Stars. One star is for Mimi Lien's inventive scenic design, one is for Nichols's lighting coupled with Bray Poor's Sound Design (we loved it when the music came up as the drinks on the wall of the bar became distorted). The third star is for Danny Wolohan -- he was the one character who seemed to have the green light to go a little bit deeper. He may have had the most flaws of all, but he made us care about him.

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"Concerning Strange Devices From the Distant West"
Berkeley Rep
2025 Addison Street, Berkeley
Through April 11
$33-$63

"The Real Americans": ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

Poor Dan Hoyle. Like Woody Allen, who was never forgiven for growing up, Dan Hoyle is going to have to carry his previous show "'Tings Dey Happen" around with him for a long time. It's a tough act to follow.

And -- sure enough -- after seeing Hoyle's very entertaining "The Real Americans" last night at the Marsh, this reviewer found himself wondering why such a fascinating premise, brought to fruition by a performer with such amazing chops, would lead to a show that - subtract the genius of the writer and performer -- leaves you with so little to chew on?

Everyone who loves performance in general, and one-man shows in particular, should see "The Real Americans," because Dan Hoyle has hit his stride as a performer. His Wisconsin football father, his Texas preacher grandfather and his San Francisco slacker friends, in particular, touch all the right buttons. These characters have nuance. The Wisconsin dad is a Vietnam vet in addition to rooting for his boy on the football field, the Texas preacher has a grandson who is leaving for Afghanistan as well as a most-likely gay son, and the thirty-somethings in San Francisco make you cringe with recognition.

So what's the problem? For us it's that Dan Hoyle set off across America with the premise of learning how Americans, real Americans, are feeling. He seems to have interviewed the same kinds of people over and over. Sure enough, what he learned was that people are angry.

As the reviewer's grandmother would have said: "This is news?"



Why are they angry? The answer appears to be because they are under-educated or live in backwards places, or sometimes they are just plain ignorant.

Or, the answer may well be, as the show's one black character says: "Shit done changed."

The show has fabulous moments, particularly every time Dan Hoyle sings or dances, or speaks through his own character, Dan. His musings about what he, Dan, is seeing are the most interesting part of the show.

And of course the show is new, and is far more interesting now than it was in its first rehearsal run-through of a few months ago. The addition of the Danny Hoch-like young Dominican moving with his family through the midwest is by far the best part of the show, and the most revealing about seeing America through different eyes. This kind of character is is what Hoyle did best in his previous work, and we would like to see more of that here.

Less rednecks, please. We know about rednecks. So did you, before you left. Tell us something we don't know.



Did I say the show is brilliant? I did. Did I say you should see it, particularly at low Marsh prices? Absolutely. The show is excellent already, but Dan Hoyle has set a treacherously high bar for himself. This show can only keep getting better.

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RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "The Real Americans" Three Stars with a BANGLE of PRAISE. The three stars are for Dan Hoyle and Charlie Varon's vision, though it may be that the form itself is becoming a bit dated, the same thing we felt with Varon's "Rabbi Sam." Hoyle snaps out of that static form when he sings or dances, creating a hybrid that is entertaining as well as feeling new.

The BANGLE is for his Bill Cosby imitation, and everyone's reaction afterwards. It has nothing to do with the story, it's just really, really funny. In the end, you can't beat really, really funny.

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"The Real Americans"
The Marsh
1062 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Through May 30, select evenings
$15-$35

"Den of Thieves'": ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

There are very funny moments in Stephen Adly Guirgis's 'Den of Thieves,' light hearted but still full of soul. Casey Jackson's Paul, Chad Deverman's Flaco and Ashkon Davaran's Little Tuna steal the show, with all the good lines and the most impossible situations. And when Boochie shows up everything gets ramped up another notch.

Paul is a self-help devotee, a compulsive shoplifter, who has been theft-free for 682 days, since his last SNIB (we're going to let you find out about that on your own). He is also a compulsive overeater and compulsive talker, and is attracted to Maggie (Kathryn Tkel), another compulsive shoplifter. She is trying to get over her relationship with Flaco, who is too stupid to be compulsive anything, except crazy.



Maggie, Paul and Flaco, with the help of Flaco's fabulous girl friend Boochie (Corinne Proctor), plan a heist of $750,000, which probably doesn't do much for their compulsive shoplifter classes.

The crime is so simple, it can't possibly fail. No way.



Act Two's opening sequence is priceless, when Little Tuna, his cousin Sal (Peter Ruocco, who was so slimy in the Aurora Theater's "Fat Pig") and the Big Tuna himself (Joe Madero) arrive on stage. These mobsters have foiled the heist of their money, but they now have to figure out what to do with the morons they are holding prisoner. Death is an option, but one that is not very attractive to anyone, especially Little Tuna, whose heart is just not into executions.

Lots of good lines, lots of laughs, lots of silly situations. On the plus side you get exchanges like:

Paul to Little Tuna: "Have you ever been in therapy?"
Little Tuna: "Have you ever been in a coma?"



On the minus side the first act is too short and the last act is too long. Big Tuna ought to be stupider or smarter -- as the big boss he is the least plausible of all and rolls over 'way too easily.

But "Den of Thieves" is not about real life, it's about fun. Fun it is. Everybody wins.

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RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "Den of Thieves" Three Stars with a BANGLE OF PRAISE. The Three Stars are for the cast, the opening of Act Two and for the fascinating construct of having Maggie, Paul, Flaco and Boochie have to give a speech as to why the world would suffer if he or she had to die. It leads to some self-searching and a surprise at the end.

The BANGLE is easy: Little Tuna's line to Maggie: "I hope you live. I got two tickets for Mariah Carey next week Fifth Row."



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"Den of Thieves"
San Francisco Playhouse
533 Sutter Street, San Francisco
Through April 17
$40

"The Safe House": UNRATED with BANG

"The Sandbox Series" has gotten the official go-ahead for three years of productions, according to Jon Tracy, Director of Artistic Development at San Francisco Playhouse, and that's good news for up-and-coming local playwrights. The idea is to use the playhouse's second stage to promote new works while the playwrights get to employ top drawer actors and directors. Geetha Reddy's "The Safe House" opens on Saturday, Feb. 13 and stars the amazing Amy Resnick, who knocked everybody's socks off in December's "She Stoops to Comedy," plus Brian Herndon, Marissa Keltie and Cole Alexander Smith. Nancy Carlin directs.

Judging from an earlier Preview, "The Safe House" is both weird and mesmerizing. Few design elements are included in Sandbox productions but you can see how a little more staging would ramp up the emotional impact of this survivalist farce. It's a hard show to categorize, and perhaps not one for everyone. But we found it fascinating and well written.



Crossbows, guns, knives, 9-11, Oklahoma City, the Unabomber and a family trying to hack out a haven within a world filled with real and imagined terrors -- "The Safe House" is already very good and will get better.

RATINGS: UNRATED with BANG

The San Francisco Theater Blog hopes to see every last Sandbox production, but due to viewing this show in an early Preview, SFTB will abstain from rating "The Safe House" at this time. Unofficially, however, we can say this much: even brand new and unadorned it's already intriguing. Staging will go a long way -- and maybe they'll look twice at the smug survivalist ranger -- we're still not sure what he's doing there, except to give Cole Alexander Smith a cool shot at a double role.

Even though the show is Unrated, we're handing out a BANGLE of EXCELLENCE because of the way the playwright handles time. You're backwards, you're forwards, you work your brain to keep up -- and then, at the end it all makes sense. We always like that.



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"The Safe House"
San Francisco Playhouse
533 Sutter Street, San Francisco
Through March 6
$30

"Oedipus el Rey": ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG BANG

Talking after the show Wednesday Night with Romi Dias, who plays Jocasta in Luis Alfaro's "Oedipus el Rey," having its World Premiere at the Magic Theatre, we understand that Alfaro gives very few staging suggestions in his scripts. This has left it up to Loretta Greco, Artistic Director of the Magic and director of the production, to interpret Alfaro's words. She has done a brilliant job. We imagine Luis Alfaro is grinning ear to ear, if playwrights ever do.

The story is bleak, for any age. Sophocles wrote "Oedipus the King" during the zenith of Greek drama and employed the classic Greek Chorus to explain and advance his retelling of the myth of King Oedipus of Thebes. Oedipus has vowed to rid the city of plague by finding and destroying the murderer of the previous King, Laius, but he is his own worst enemy. In the end he will be successful but destroy everything he knows and loves.



In Alfaro's version, the story takes place in a California prison. The four man Greek chorus is now Chicano and they wear orange prison costumes. Oedipus is a prisoner too, but has designs on becoming the King of a small neighborhood in L.A. Through a series of events, the ultimate fate of Oedipus, the Chicano, and Oedipus, the Theban are linked. The result is the same.

Joshua Torrez is a spectacular Oedipus, who battles the demons he knows and the myths he fears. Romi Dias's Jocasta, Oedipus's mother and lover, has a demanding part as both lover and protector of Oedipus; and the chorus is used innovatively, especially Marc David Pinate as blind Tiresias, Oedipus' presumptive father.



In modern times, the Oedipus we are familiar with is a demon who killed his father and slept with his mother. In Sophocles, and Luis Alfaro as well, the story is far more nuanced. Does it all come down to fate? Today we think we can control our destiny. These characters believe they are doing nothing but acting out the will of the Gods.

What is real? As Oedipus says, "we are all guilty of the lies we believe, the lies we choose." Now, as then, we are left to figure it out for ourselves.

RATINGS ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG BANG

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "Oedipus el Rey" Three Stars with Two BANGLES of PRAISE. Loretta Greco's innovative staging and pacing earns one star, the leads the second and the chorus the third. One BANGLE is given out for Jake Rodriquez's sound design where fifties songs always (and forever) appear at the right time. The second BANGLE is for the extra digs you'll hear if you speak Spanish -- for example, when one member of the chorus says of another: "He loves the I Ching." Another answers: "Yeah, Ai Chingado." (Untranslatable in a family blog.)

Great show. See it.





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"Oedipus el Rey"
Magic Theatre
Fort Mason, San Francisco
Through Feb. 28
$40-$55

"The First Grade": ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG baub

"Congenial." "Pertinacious." "Altruistic." "Solipsism."

These are the multi-syllabic words that the kids in first-grade teacher Sydney's class love to bring in to her. She treasures their open minds, while understanding that it's just a matter of time until that openness is beaten out of them.

And there you have the theme of Joel Drake Johnson's "First Grade," which is having its World Premiere at the Aurora Theatre: The innocence of childhood leads to the confusion of adulthood. There are three principle couples involved in the action, all three are separated and estranged from each other, and none of them is coping very well with either their mates, their children or their parents.

Julia Brothers's Sydney never stops talking, and is cruel most of the time to everyone except her beloved first graders. Her ex-husband Nat (Warren David Keith), who still lives in the house with Sydney and their daughter Angie (Rebecca Schweitzer), is a "working alcoholic," who is having a fling with Missy (whom we never actually see), a younger woman, but worst of all: a Republican. Angie, meanwhile, is in the middle of a nervous breakdown, and appears to be suicidal or perhaps homicidal. If you ask Angie, she gives her infant son small does of ritalin to allow him to function, but if you ask Sydney her daughter is turning Sydney's grandson into a drug addict.



Add Mora (Tina Sanchez) into the picture, the physical therapist who seems sensible at first but turns out to be nuttier than a can of cashews, and you've pretty much got the picture.



Tom Ross's direction keeps the action flowing in an agreeable way -- we never stop wondering what is going to happen next, as the plot thickens and more and more characters and situations are introduced. But sadly some of these characters -- Mora's husband and father-in-law in particular -- seem to have little purpose and the Spanish language/translation is distracting. There is one line about cancer and chemo tossed in somewhere but never explained, and then there's the matter of Mora's delusions.

Perhaps this is the point -- all these characters are laboring under delusions, about themselves, about their mates, about the world around them. "The First Grade" comes across as a soap opera, and it's fun, but it could all be fleshed out better. We are interested in the Dad/Mom/Daughter triangle and we know that Sydney could be as nice to her family as she is to her students, if she tried a little harder. She is good at heart.

This reviewer wishes the show had an Act Two -- to better tie up all the loose ends. As it is, the happy ending is telegraphed from the very beginning, and while audiences tend to like these sweet solutions, reviewers are far more crotchety.



RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG baub

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "The First Grade" Three Stars with a BANGLE of PRAISE and a bauble of despair. The stars are for Julia Brothers and Rebecca Schweitzer in particular, whose mother/daughter relationship is the most interesting subplot. Schweitzer earns the BANGLE OF PRAISE for her ability to convey fear, anger, hope and love all at the same time. Her part is not the biggest but it feels the truest.

The bauble of despair is for that pat ending -- but maybe Nat is drunk. Or lonesome. Probably both.

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"The First Grade"
The Aurora Theatre
2081 Addison Street, Berkeley
Through Feb. 28
$15-$55

"Animals Out of Paper": ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ !

Reviewers don't generally get to sit next to the young star's father and mother in the audience on Opening Night. The reviewer knew this gentleman was Aly Mawji's father by the way his smile was crackling for two full acts, as his son received an ovation after his first entrance and, along with the two other cast members, another one after the final curtain.

In San Francisco Playhouse's West Coast premiere of Rajiv Joseph's "Animals Out of Paper," Aly Mawji plays Suresh, a young hip-hopper who just happens to be a genius when it comes to folding origami. Lorri Holt is Ilana, Suresh's mentor and perhaps a bit more, and David Deblinger is Andy, the high school calculus teacher whose heart is not only on his sleeve but written out in his book of blessings.




There is so much here to see, hear, feel, experience and think about afterwards. Perhaps loneliness is most important, and how three people find a common thread to try and deal with their personal isolation. Playwright Joseph has created two characters, Suresh and Ilana, whose tragedies have driven them to anger, while the third, Andy, deflects his pain by writing down everything that has happened to him in his journal. He has done this since he was 12 years old. He calls the entries blessings: we might call them agony.

Andy is the bridge between Ilana and Suresh. When Andy leaves his journal in Ilana's apartment she reads it, to discover the inner torment of a person she had previously written off as a kook. The story takes off from there. The playwright's message is that everyone suffers tragedies. We overcome them by opening ourselves to other people.

Bill English really outdid himself this time with a gorgeous Japanese-inspired set; Steve Schoenbeck's jazzy music with a welcome touch of hip-hop is perfectly timed with the action and Amy Glazer's direction is flawless, full of humor and angst, in perfect proportion like a good martini.



But it's all on the page. This is really a good play.

The ovation at the end continued a long time. When the lights came on, Aly Mawji's father whispered to this reviewer: "That's my boy." He's going to have to share his son with a lot of people from now on.

RATINGS ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ !

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "Animals Out of Paper" Four Stars with an exclamation point. Holt, Deblinger and Mawji earn one star each and the perfect script plus spot-on direction earn the fourth. A special kudos must be mentioned about the origami itself -- pause on the stage when the show is over and look at some of these amazing sculptures, folded from pieces of colored paper. A small army of real life origamists created them for the show.



One more special note: when Ilana has read Andy's journal of blessings, in which he has bared his heart, he complains that she now knows him far too well.

"It's weird not to be able to lie to someone, even a little bit."

"Then don't," Ilana answers.

Good answer. There is a lot of honest truth in this show.

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"Animals Out of Paper"
San Francisco Playhouse
533 Sutter Street, San Francisco
Through Feb. 27
$40