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Regional Reviews: San Francisco A Smart Production of Alice Munro's The Office and Dolly Also see Richard's reviews of Dame Edna's Glorious Goodbye and Breaking the Code
Director Joel Mullennix has assembled a fine cast to present two sharp and emotional Munro short stories. The Office is from the short story collection "Dance of the Happy Shades" and centers on a young housewife (Jeri Lynn Cohen) who decides to rent a small office as a place where she can pursue her dream of being a writer. Her husband (Howard Swain) is plainly uninterested when she announces this decision. The housewife finds a small office to rent, finishes it with a card table, her typewriter, hot plate, and tea kettle and starts to write the Great American Novel. However, her overprotective landlord Mr. Malley (Paul Finocchiaro) soon showers her with gifts, such as a potted plant, a china teapot, and even a pencil sharpener. She learns that she cannot concentrate on her writing with this unwanted relationship. The second story is Dolly, an entertaining and more serious story about an elderly, happy couple (Shelia Balter and Howard Swain) who are surprisingly disrupted by a strange visitor named Gwen (Susan Harloe), whom the husband knew in his past. This is a more complex story that The Office. Joel Mullennix has done a superb job conveying the amusing and poignant words of this famous authoress. Jeri Lynn Cohen gives a vivid performance as the dogmatic, liberated woman in The Office, and Paul Finocchiaro is perfect as the creepy landlord Mr. Malley with the unwanted gifts. He brings a certain amount of authentic eeriness to the role. They play off of each other strikingly in this 50-minute play. Howard Swain gives an engaging performance in the show's second half as the aging Frank, a laid back husband who wrote poetry in the past. Sheila Balter is charming as his wife Gwen who still writes biographies about little known Canadian writers. She gives a sympathetic and contemplative performance. Susan Harloe is charismatic as the woman who has had a past with Frank. These two stories demonstrate Munro's genius in exploring the inner and outer lives of everyday people. Word for Word's Stories by Alice Munro runs through April 12, 2015, at Z Below, 470 Florida Street, San Francisco. For tickets call 866-811-4111 or visit www.zspace.org.
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