ADRIFT ON AN OCEAN OF INEBRIATION: A SELECTION OF LUCIA BERLIN STORIES BY WORD FOR WORD AT Z BELOW. Through March 11, Word for Word, which has been creating theatre out of short stories for over 20 years, presents ‘Lucia Berlin: Stories,’ five short pieces that paint a woman’s journey through alcoholism and the unlikely places it takes her. Berlin rose to literary fame in Aug. 2015, 11 years after her death, with the publication of a volume of her selected stories, ‘A Manual For Cleaning Women.’ It hit The New York Times Bestseller List in its second week, and within a few weeks, had outsold all her previous books combined. Word for Word’s chosen stories from that book — “Her First Detox,” “Emergency Room Notebook 1977,” “Unmanageable,” “502” and “Here It Is Saturday” — are set to a jazz score by Marcus Shelby. Directed by Nancy Shelby and JoAnne Winter. Two hours and 20 minutes with one intermission.
STAGE DIRECTIONS AND TICKETS. Z Below is an intimate performance space that keeps the audience close to the on-stage action. 470 Florida St. (between 17th and Mariposa streets). San Francisco. The neighborhood is punctuated with trendy art galleries and restaurants. Performances are 7 p.m. Wednesday - Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday - Saturday; and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $20-50 at zspace.org or (866) 811-4111. Through March 11.
AN ASIDE: Directors Nancy Shelby and JoAnne Winter said: “With Word for Word, extraordinarily crafted language is always the baseline when choosing works to perform. Wit and irony run through Lucia’s stories. Reading them you feel like you are sitting at her table gossiping with her, but the writing is also smart, sometimes devastating. We have chosen five of Berlin’s stories which track a woman’s journey to sobriety. It is a hero’s journey. And at its end, like the Joseph Campbell archetype, Lucia Berlin’s hero brings the benefits of her struggles in the innermost cave back to her community.”
FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE: BE THERE AT THE BEGINNING. Word for Word invites audiences to public, staged readings of short stories under consideration as future shows, to see the very first steps of the process of bringing a work from the page to the stage in the Word for Word style. After the reading, viewers engage in a conversation with company members. For information about upcoming readings visit http://www.zspace.org/aboutwordforword/ or call (866) 811-4111.
STILL TIME FOR COMEDY: GARSON KANIN’S “BORN YESTERDAY” CONTINUES THROUGH MARCH 10 AT SAN FRANCISCO PLAYHOUSE. “Born Yesterday.” It was the 1946 Broadway stage hit and the 1950 screen gem that made a star out of Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn, the former showgirl and not-quite-fiancée to Harry Brock, a loutish businessman come to Washington, D.C., to seal some deals. The rough-edged Harry thinks it’s Billie who needs “polishing,” so while he pursues his unsavory negotiations, he hires a journalist to “smarten her up.” But Billie’s sudden intake of book-learning gives Harry more than he bargained for as it gets her thinking about what her life with Harry is ... and what a life without Harry might be. With a smashing Millie Brooks sparkling as the ditzy Billie, this classic, fast-paced, wisecrack-filled comedy is as fresh as newly minted and as smart as it can be. For tickets (from $25) or information call (415) 677-9596 or visit www.sfplayhouse.org. San Francisco Playhouse is located at 450 Post St. in San Francisco, on the second floor of the Kensington Park Hotel, one-half block from Union Square in the heart of Downtown San Francisco.
Susan Cohn is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and the American Theatre Critics Association. She may be reached at susan@smdailyjournal.com.
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