Brian Dykstra as Johnny “Rooster” Byron in Jerusalem at SF Playhouse. Photo by Jessica Palopoli

 [rating:4] (4/5 stars)

San Francisco Playhouse Artistic Director Bill English and Production Director Susi Damilano have launched the New Year with the West Coast’s first production of Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth’s epic Tony and Olivier award winning play.

Bill English directs and Brian Dykstra stars in the role of Johnny “Rooster” Byron.  On St. George’s Day, the morning of the local county fair, Byron, local waster and modern day Pied Piper is a wanted man.  The council officials want to serve him an eviction notice, while his son, Marky (Calum John) wants his dad to take him to the fair.  Troy Whitworth (Joe Estlack) wants to give him a serious kicking and a motley crew of mates wants his ample supply of drugs and alcohol. This play makes frequent allusions to William Blake’s famous poem from which the title is derived.

Jerusalem has a large cast of around 15 characters. Some of the main ones are as follows: particular attention should be paid to Brian Dykstra as the die hard, drug dealing, rural squatter and master-of-illicit-ceremonies, Johnny “Rooster” Byron. Ian Scott McGregor plays Ginger, the pathetic underdog of the group.  He is older than the others who hang around with Johnny, never having grown out of this lifestyle. He aspires to be a D.J. but is in fact, an unemployed plasterer.

Richard Louis James plays the Professor both vague and whimsical—he spouts philosophical nothings and unwittingly takes LSD. Joshua Shell plays Davey, a young teenager who visits “Rooster” regularly for free drugs and alcohol. Joe Estlack is Troy Whitworth, a local thug and villain of the play who beats up Johnny.  Paris Hunter Paul is Lee, a young teen who enters the play having been hidden in the sofa, asleep after the first 15 minutes of the play. Julia Belanoff stars as Phaedra (Troy’s stepdaughter), who opens the play singing the hymn Jerusalem, dressed in fairy wings. Pea (Devon Simpson) and Tanya (Riley Krull) are two local girls who emerge from underneath Johnny’s caravan, having fallen asleep drunk.  Maggie Mason is Dawn, Johnny’s ex-girlfriend and mother to his child. She disapproves of his lifestyle.  Christopher Reber is a delight as Wesley, the local pub landlord who is involved in the festivities for St. George’s Day and has been roped into doing the Morris Dancing. Courtney Walsh plays Fawcett and Aaron Murphy plays Parsons, the County officials who place eviction notices on Johnny’s mobile home.

Bill English’s set is impressive, showing Johnny’s old mobile home.  This play, although beautifully directed by Bill English and performed by a very large cast is overly long at over three hours.

Jerusalem plays at SF Playhouse January 26-March 8, 2014.  Performances are Tuesday-Thursday at 7p.m., Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets, call 415-677-9596 or go online to www.sfplayhouse.org. The SF Playhouse is located at 450 Post Street (2^nd Floor of Kensington Park Hotel b/n Powell and Mason), San Francisco.

Coming up next at SF Playhouse is Bauer by Lauren Gunderson and directed by Bill English, March 18-April 19, 2014.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

 

 

Tom Hudgens, David Yen & Francis Serpa in Journey’s End at RVP.  Photo by Robin Jackson.

 [rating:4] (4/5 stars)

Ross Valley Players presents the West Coast Premiere of the World War I drama Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff. Set in the trenches of war, the play gives us a look into the experiences of the officers of a British Army infantry company as they prepare for an enemy attack.  Set in a dugout at St. Quentin, France in 1918, toward the end of the war, the entire story plays out over four days—March 18, 1918 to March 21, 1918.

First of all the set (Ron Krempetz) was excellent. A window dead center was brilliantly lit by Ellen Brooks and really helps to set the scene, as day breaks, the sun streams down and at night, the candles and lamps glow in the darkness.  The attention to meticulous detail takes us straight back to the damp, inhospitable setting of the trenches.  We could see two bunks, a table with candles and several makeshift chairs.

The play begins as Captain Hardy (Steve Price) prepares to go on leave—new officers will replace him for the next six days.  Captain Stanhope (David Yen) has been at the front for three years, is mentally on the edge and is always drinking whiskey. He is joined by Lt. Osborne (Tom Hudgens), 2^nd Lt. Raleigh (Francis Serpa), 2^nd Lt. Trotter (Stephen Dietz), and 2^nd Lt. Hibbert (Phillip Goleman).  Sean Gunnell (Private Mason) is the omnipresent cook that appears hour after hour.  Jeff Taylor has a wonderful cameo as the company sergeant major.  The men eat, smoke and drink all to excess since there is nothing else to do in between being on duty. There is tension, sadness and constant fear but stories and laughter too.

The performances from the nine strong ensemble are exceptionally good with brilliant performances from many. The sound design (Stephen Dietz) really set the tone of the play and rather than drown us with constant fire, gave us deafening bombardment to spectacular effect, when necessary, but mostly, just eerie silence and pops of distant shells.  The end of the journey is a sad one, but the story of the journey is highly recommended, due to Dunn’s magnificent staging and his sterling ensemble cast.  Everything about this production has been rendered with a sensitivity and craftsmanship that represents theatre at its finest.

Journey’s End runs January 16, 2014-February 16, 2014.  Regular Thursday performances are at 7:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. All performances are held at the Barn Theatre, home of the Ross Valley Players, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross, CA.  For tickets, call 415-456-9555, extension 1 or go to www.rossvalleyplayers.com.

Coming up next at Ross Valley Players will be Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw and directed by Cris Cassell, March 14-April 13, 2014.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

Borough President (Gabriel Marin) begins to “feel alive” in Storefront Church

 [rating:5] (5/5 stars)

San Francisco Playhouse presents Storefront Church, the third play in John Patrick Shanley’s “Church and State” trilogy.  This play stands up to the two previous plays–the Pulitzer Prize winning Doubt (2004) and Defiance (2006).  Here the playwright grapples with conflict between greed and redemption.

Brilliantly directed by Joy Carlin and featuring an accomplished cast, Storefront Church is a beautifully constructed play.  Thrown together by a mortgage crisis, a basically decent, ethically conflicted Bronx borough President (Gabriel Marin) and a high minded preacher who’s a Katrina refugee from New Orleans (Carl Lumbly) square off in an intense confrontation about their individual commitments to their social and spiritual beliefs.

Gabriel Marin is scrappy and cynical as an up and coming politician Donaldo whose somewhat naïve constituent, Jessie Cortez (a whimsically funny Gloria Weinstock) comes to him for help with an imminent foreclosure after ill advisedly taking out a second mortgage so the preacher could renovate her first floor storefront into a church.

Jessie believes the preacher (strongly portrayed by Carl Lumbly), even though he hasn’t paid her back any money in ten months.  After her husband (a down on his luck, hard working, elderly accountant played mainly for laughs by Ray Reinhardt) has a heart attack in front of the loan office, Jessie is determined to get Donaldo to intercede with the bank.

Rod Gnapp is excellent as Loan Officer, Reed.  Derek Fischer, as a senior bank officer, plays his part with a well-tuned false heartiness.

When all six characters come together for a Sunday morning service in the humble storefront church, the outcome is both surprising and satisfying.  Even a shabby room can become a community—a sanctuary for respite from what the preacher calls “mindless activity” and “organized greed.”

All of the play’s wonder is made possible with Bill English’s remarkable set, Abra Berman’s costumes and David K.H. Elliott’s lighting. The entire production is a delightful Christmas gift from the remarkable San Francisco Playhouse.

Storefront Church runs November 26, 2013-January 11, 2014. SF Playhouse is located at 450 Post Street (2^nd floor of Kensington Park Hotel, b/n Powell and Mason), San Francisco. Performances are held Tuesday-Thursday at 7 p.m. and Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. Matinees are 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday with an added 7 p.m. Sunday performance on December 22. No show December 24, 25 and January 1. For tickets, call 415-677-9596 or go online at www.sfplayhouse.org.

Coming up next at SF Playhouse will be Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth and directed by Bill English January 22-March 8, 2014.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

Nicholas Pelczar (Ebenezer Scrooge, foreground) and Khris Lewin (Jacob Marley’s ghost as Spirit of Christmas Present) in Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol. Photo by Kevin Berne.

[rating:4/5]

In Tom Mula’s retelling of the holiday classic, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, our focus shifts to Jacob Marley, partner in life to Ebenezer Scrooge–left in Dickens’ original to help Scrooge find a change of heart without getting a second chance of his own.  The Marley of Mula’s story is still deeply human despite his supernatural circumstances in the afterlife and he must use his human instincts in addition to his newfound power to aid Scrooge’s transformation.

Director Jon Tracy, his actors and designers are full of inventive stagecraft. Four actors not only play all the parts but also handle much of the staging, which is quite compelling.  Much of the illumination is done with flashlights held by the actors in the dark.

The story starts out in a word for word approach of Dickens’ classic, which is eventually abandoned for a more conversational style.

Khris Lewin makes a sympathetic Marley as he faces a very Dickensonian form of afterlife bureaucracy.  His unearthly companion Bogle (Rami Margron) is delightfully versatile in his new physicality.  Nicholas Pelczar as Scrooge becomes a minor character to be redeemed.  Last but not least is an old favorite, Stacy Ross as the Record Keeper in the purgatorial counting house

Tom Mula passes lightly over much of what happens to Scrooge to focus on Marley.  Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol befits the season and makes an old classic new again.

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol runs from November 21-December 22, 2013.  Performances are held at the Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Avenue in Mill Valley, Tuesday and Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m.; Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m.  Matinee performances are Thursday at 1 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday at 2 p.m.  For tickets, call the box office at 415-388-5208 or go online at www.marintheatre.org.

Coming up next at Marin Theatre Company will be Lasso of Truth by Carson Kreitzer and directed by Jasson Minadakis, February 20-March 16, 2014.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

 

 

Elwood P. Dowd (Steve Price) in Harvey at Ross Valley Players. Photo by Robin Jackson.

Ross Valley Players present Harvey, by American playwright Mary Coyle Chase.  Chase was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama when Harvey was named Best Play of the 1944-45 Season.  Harvey has been adapted for film and television several times, most notably in a 1950 film starring James Stewart.

Elwood P. Dowd (Steve Price) is an affable man who claims to have an unseen, and presumably imaginary, friend, “Harvey”—whom Elwood describes as a six foot, three and one half inch tall pooka.  Elwood introduces Harvey to everyone he meets.  His social climbing sister, Veta (Pamela Ciochetti), increasingly finds his eccentric behavior embarrassing.  She persuades family friend Judge Omar Gaffney (Wood Lockhart) to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her and her daughter Myrtle Mae (Robyn Grahn) from future embarrassment.

When they arrive at the sanitarium, a comedy of errors ensues.  The doctors commit Veta instead of Elwood, but when the truth comes out, the search is on for Elwood and his invisible companion.  When Elwood shows up to the sanitarium looking for his best friend Harvey, it seems that the mild mannered Elwood’s delusion has had a strange influence on the staff, including sanitarium Director, Dr. Chumley (Norman Hall) and his business partner, Dr. Lyman Sanderson (Philip Goleman).  Only just before Elwood is supposed to be given an injection that will make him into a “perfectly normal” human being, do you know what “bastards they are” (in the words of a taxi cab driver played by James Dunn) who has become involved in the proceedings and Veta realizes she’d rather have Elwood the same as he’s always been—carefree and kind –even if it means living with Harvey.

This nostalgic production directed by Ross Valley Players Artistic Director, Robert Wilson, is old home week to many returning Ross Valley Players—Stephanie Saunders Ahlberg as Betty Chumley (Dr. Chumley’s wife), Norman Hall as Dr. William Chumley, Wood Lockhart as Judge Gaffney, Robyn Grahn as Myrtle Mae Simmons, Robin Wiley as Ethel Chauvenent, legendary stage director James Dunn as E.J. Lofgren, Pamela Ciochetti as Veta Louise Simmons and last but not least, Steve Price as Elwood P. Dowd. Ross Valley Players newcomer Lydia Singleton gives an impressive performance as Nurse Ruth Kelly.

The two sets by award winning Set Designer Ken Rowland are truly amazing. Michael A. Berg’s period costumes are quite authentic.

Harvey is a timeless masterpiece that audiences find hilarious even to this day.

Harvey runs November 15-December 15, 2013, Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Barn Theatre, home of Ross Valley Players, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross.  To order tickets, call 415-456-9555 or go online at www.rossvalleyplayers.com.

Coming up next at Ross Valley Players is Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff directed by James Dunn, January 17-February 16, 2014.

Off Broadway West presents The Weir at the Phoenix Theatre in San Francisco

[rating:4] (4/5 stars)

Off Broadway West opened The Weir Friday, November 8, 2013. The Weir is by Conor McPherson an award winning Irish playwright and is directed by Richard D. Harder, Artistic Director of Off Broadway West.

The play opens in a rural Irish pub with Brendan (Adam Simpson), the owner of the pub and Jack (Keith Burkland), a car mechanic and garage owner.  These two begin to discuss their respective days and are soon joined by Jim (Brian O’Connor), Jack’s assistant.  The three discuss Valerie (Jocelyn Stringer), a pretty young woman from Dublin who has just rented an old home in the area.

Finbar (Shane Fahy), a businessman, arrives with Valerie and the play revolves around reminiscing and the kind of banter that only comes about among men who have a shared upbringing.  After a few drinks, the group begins telling ghost stories with a supernatural slant related to their own experiences and those of others in the area.  After each man (with the exception of Brendan), has told a story, Valerie tells her own; the reason why she left Dublin.  Valerie’s story is melancholy with a ghostly twist echoing the earlier tales and shocks the men who become softer and kinder.

Finbar and Jim leave and in the last part of the play, Jack’s final monologue is a story of personal loss which, he comments, is at heart, not a ghostly tale, but in some ways is none the less about a haunting.

This play is typically Irish, both sad and sweet and is as much about lack of close relationships and missed connections as it is about anything else. The Weir of the title is a hydroelectric dam on a nearby waterway that is mentioned only in passing as Finbar describes the local attractions to Valerie.  It anticipates and symbolizes the flow of the stories into and around each other.

All of the actors in this wonderful cast bring a new refreshingly, solid meaning to the phrase “ensemble” acting.  Richard Harder’s direction is precise and effective. Bert van Aalsburg creatively designs the set, a small pub in rural Ireland.  Head to Off Broadway West’s The Weir for a night of Guinness beer, old friends and ghost stories, a perfect way to spend a cold autumn night.

The Weir runs November 8-December 7, 2013, Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m. (closed 11/28 for Thanksgiving), Off Broadway West Theatre Company is located at the Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason Street, Suite 601, San Francisco (between Geary and Post).  For tickets, call 1-800-838-3006 or go online at www.offbroadwaywest.org.

Off Broadway West is an award winning, nonprofit, San Francisco Theatre Company in its 7^th season continuing its mission to provide the Bay Area theatre community with plays that engage and challenge without forgetting to entertain.

Coming up next at Off Broadway West will be The Marriage by George Bernard Shaw, June 20-July 19, 2014 at the Phoenix Theatre.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

 

 

Marin Onstage presents A Doll House through November 17 at the Little Theater at St. Vincent’s in San Rafael.

A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen is a play that looks at the emancipation of women. Reflecting the beginnings of the women’s movement in the 19^th century, the play is the story of Nora, a seemingly content and carefree mother of three daughters who soon comes to realize that her life is a sham and she will never be a good wife and good mother until she discovers herself.  This is almost impossible in 1878 when women have few rights. The theme in the play that interested Ibsen most was the different ethical code by which men and women live.

Although Director Ron Nash has gone for more conversational language than the customary translations, he never allows the play to drag and the evening doesn’t seem to long despite its three-hour duration.

A Doll House looks at the marriage of Nora Helmer (Stephanie Ann Foster), a supposedly loving wife and wonderful mother and Torvald (Gabriel A. Ross), who has landed a decent job, finally giving the family financial security.  But as characters from the past enter their cheerful home, cracks gradually appear in the couple’s relationship and an intense struggle develops between love and truth, honor and betrayal, and finally between an old-fashioned husband and disobedient wife.

Stephanie Ann Foster is magnificent as Nora—a frivolous, irresponsible, spendthrift.  Initially she seems almost shallow, but becomes more three-dimensional as the play goes along.  Gabriel A. Ross gives a solid performance in the difficult role as her domineering husband, a hard nosed business man whose level headed exterior evaporates when he encounters Nora’s irrational behavior.

There is a superb supporting cast including Kelsey Sloan as Kristine Lind, an old friend of Nora’s and Jim McFadden as the manipulative Nils Krogstad, who provides an interesting contrast to the Helmer’s.  Both are people who have been nearly destroyed by life, yet are able to create a second chance for happiness for themselves.  Bill McClave portrays Dr. Rank, the dependable friend who confesses his love for Nora when he discloses he is dying.  Lynn Sotos is endearing as Anne-Marie who takes care of the children and Helmer’s household.

Designer Gary Gonser’s set is typically Scandinavian, a plain middle class home in which there seems to be a doll—until she realizes she is first and foremost a human being and her duty is to herself before being a wife and mother.

Gary Gonser co-founded the Novato Arts Foundation in 2004 and started the production arm, Marin Onstage in 2012.  A Doll House runs through November 17, Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Performances are held t the Little Theater at St Vincent’s, 1 St. Vincent’s Drive, San Rafael.  For tickets, call 415-448-6152 or go online at www.marinonstage.org.

Coming up next will be an evening of short plays. The Jewish Wife by Bertolt Brecht, Trifles by Susan Glaspell, and Miss Julie by August Strindberg, February 14-March 2, 2014.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

 

 

Devion McArthur (Anthony) and Jessica Lynn Carroll (Caroline) I and You at Marin Theatre Company. Photo by Ed Smith.

I and You is a heartfelt new play focuses on how the work of Walt Whitman inspires two teenagers.  This play involves two ethnically different teens, cranky Caroline (Jessica Lynn Carroll) who is waiting for a liver transplant, and a level- headed basketball star, Anthony who loves John Coltrane, (Devion McArthur). At the beginning of the play, Anthony shows up in Caroline’s bedroom to get her to collaborate on a project to deconstruct a poem, “Leaves of Grass,” by Walt Whitman which is about the interconnectivity of everything.  But as the two cram to finish their presentation, they learn not only how to work together, but just how fundamentally, they complement each other.

Lauren Gunderson is currently a hot new playwright. Her plays are performed at Theatre Works , San Francisco Playhouse, Shotgun Players, and Crowded Fire.  Director Sarah Rasmussen, the Resident Director for Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Black Swan Lab brings a fresh touch to the direction.  Michael Locher’s colorful attic bedroom set almost becomes a character in the play.  Devion McArthur gives a wonderfully sympathetic and supportive performance as he tries to win over Caroline.  Jessica Lynn Carroll gives a challenging performance as Caroline who is difficult every step of the way.

I and You begins its life at Marin Theatre Company and immediately goes on to productions in Maryland and Indiana.  With this play, Gunderson writes in the voice of two intelligent kids, members of a savvy generation who have a lot to say about how fast the world around them is moving.  She explains their journey of self discovery with a similar journey expressed by one of America’s finest poets over 150 years ago in a beautifully articulated, revealing piece of literature.

I and You runs October 10-November 3, 2013 at Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley. Performances are Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. Sunday matinees are held at 2 p.m. with a Saturday, November 2 performance at 2 p.m. and Thursday, October 24 at 1 p.m. For tickets, call the box office at 415-388-0208 or go online at www.marintheatre.org.

Coming up next at Marin Theatre Company will be Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol by Tom Mula and directed by John Tracy, November 21-December 15. 2013.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

 

 

 

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Suzanne and Greg [rating:5] (5/5 stars)

 

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo

Photos by Ed Smith

Good People is Brilliantly-Crafted, Compelling Start to MTC’s New Season

As its 2013-2014 season opener, Marin Theatre Company has chosen Good People, a Broadway hit in its Bay Area premiere. The story is provocative; the vivid characters sparkle like gems in a setting of steel.  Playwright, screenwriter and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire has won the Pulitzer Prize (Rabbit Hole), and was nominated for a Grammy and several Tony Awards (Shrek the Musical, Rabbit Hole).  Good People opened on Broadway in 2011 and garnered him yet another Tony nod.

With humor and brutal honesty, Good People suggests that the choices we make are not always our own, and that some of us are not able to make choices that put us on the path to success, or even stability. We see Margaret, a hardscrabble single mom, struggling to hold her life together as she cares for her special-needs adult daughter in Southie, a working-class Irish section of south Boston. She’s got her neighborhood pals Jean and Dottie to lean on, but no thanks to her boss Stevie, life is tough and getting tougher by the minute. Her encounter with Mike, an old high-school boyfriend, promises to be a game-changer.

Amy Resnick as Margaret – Margie to her pals – is likeable and authentic in her role, as familiar as a favorite pair of jeans. Margie’s often given to outbursts where she ends up not-really apologizing, with trademark lines like “pardon my French” and ”I’m just bustin’ balls”. Sympathetic but confusing, she’s painfully blunt and seems to take pride in looking foolish or crude. But we soon learn that she’s reluctant to take action in simple, honest ways that could make life easier for herself and her daughter. Is she truly proud of who she is, or is she so invested in her Southie identity that she is unable or unwilling to change it?

Mark Anderson Phillips is Mike, Margie’s former flame from the old neighborhood. In a masterful performance, Phillips shows us hints of zaniness, anarchy and fear lurking just below Mike’s smooth surface. Now a successful doctor, Mike fondly endures Margie’s digs about becoming “lace-curtain Irish”, a reference to his moving up in the world. Later on, Margie visits the home of Mike and his elegant young African-American wife Kate, played with compassionate sophistication by ZZ Moor. It ends up being a night of unraveling and uproar, with Mike showing his true colors and Kate challenging Margie’s life choices.

Margie’s best friends Dottie (Ann Darragh) and Jean (Jamie Jones) are so endearing, and offer such skillful comic relief that you wish you could have them over for the weekend. Between bingo games and swapping tales, these ladies are the heart of the story, which has a satisfying conclusion after the convoluted road it travels to get there.

An unforeseen event threatened one recent matinee performance: Ben Euphrat, who plays Stevie, got stuck in traffic from the Bay Bridge closure and missed the first scene, a crucial one with Resnick that establishes the entire storyline. Phillips covered the part, script in hand, and even though he performed well, Euphrat’s absence threw the beginning of the first act off-kilter.  He did finally arrive in time for his next scene and hit the ground running, fully recovering the momentum of the show and turning in a fine performance.

Direction by Tracy Young in her MTC debut is inventive yet efficient, keeping the cast in almost constant motion. Nina Ball’s clean and simple set design allows for effortless scene changes. Young makes use of the clever set platforms that roll backwards or forwards, sometimes while the actors are still performing. Sliding backdrop partitions come and go from the wings on either side. Thus the stage is transformed: from an alleyway to a doctor’s office to a bingo hall; from a subway platform to a high-class home. The gritty urban-rock score, used in between scenes by composer Chris Houston, keeps the energy level high throughout the show.

There are no heroes or villains in Good People. It takes us on a journey to a place where we can stand and peer into the age-old abyss between the classes. It raises questions that have no easy answers, but that need to be asked anyway.

When: now through September 15, 2013

8 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays

7:30 p.m. Wednesdays

2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays

2 p.m. Saturday, September 14

1 p.m. Thursday, September 5

Tickets: $37 to $58

Location: Marin Theatre Company

397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley CA 94941
Phone: 415-388-5208

Website: www.marintheatre.org

Flora Lynn [rating:5] (5/5 stars)

Tiger (Will Marchetti) talks to God in SF Playhouse’s current production. Photo by Jessica Palopoli.

The San Francisco Playhouse has launched the first year of their second decade, now in a new venue, at 450 Post Street, with a Tony nominated and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo by Rajiv David and directed by Bill English.

This show is about a tiger (Will Marchetti) that haunts the streets of present day Baghdad seeking the meaning of life.  As he witnesses the puzzling absurdities of war, the tiger encounters Americans and Iraqis who are searching for friendship and redemption.

This tiger lives in the Baghdad zoo. He tells the audience that most of the animals have fled to “freedom” because of the Iraq invasion, only to be shot dead by soldiers.  That night United States soldiers come to guard the zoo.  The tiger, driven by fear and hunger, bites off the hand of Tom (Gabriel Marin), a soldier.  Kev (Craig Marker), another soldier shoots the tiger, mortally wounding him.

Kev finds himself haunted by the ghost of the tiger, who wanders about Baghdad.  Due to an outburst while searching an Iraqi home, Kev is sent to the hospital.  Back in Baghdad with a prosthetic hand, Tom pays a visit to Kev.  It is revealed that the gun Kev used to shoot the tiger was taken from the palace of the late Uday Hussein. Tom wants the gun back so he can start a new life in the U.S. by selling the gold plated gun. During the exchange however, the gun falls into the hands of Uday’s former gardener, Masa (Kuros Charney), who is also working as a translator for the soldiers.  He is frequently visited by Uday’s ghost (Pomme Koch).

The rest of the show involves the living characters interacting with the dead ones as the war happens around them.  Will Marchetti gives an amazing performance as the tiger (worth the price of admission) and is ably assisted by Gabriel Marin and Craig Marker as the two Marines.

Director Bill English chose this play because “it asks the biggest question of our lives—why are we here…we are all part animal, part spirit and our success at being human is defined by how we balance our contradictory nature.” In addition, English has created a fantastic set which is augmented by the imaginative lighting design of Dan Reed.

Playwright Rajiv Joseph tells us “Bengal Tiger is more of a ghost story than a war story in which we are haunted by our struggle to define guilt and responsibility—to define ourselves in relation to the universe and to find a moral compass to guide us.”

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo runs October 1-November 16, 2013. Performances are Tuesday-Thursday at  7 p.m., Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. plus Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. SF Playhouse is located at 450 Post Street (2^nd floor of Kensington Park Hotel b/n Powell and Mason). For tickets, call the box office at 415-677-9596 or go online at www.sfplayhouse.org.

Coming up next at SF Playhouse will be Store Front Church by John Patrick Shanley and directed by Bill English, November 26-January 11, 2014.

Flora Lynn Isaacson