Before even descending the staircase to the lobby of Z Below in San Francisco for Word for Word’s latest production, a verbatim staging of Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s children’s story “The Strange Library,” patrons are drawn right in.
In an introductory ritual devised by co-directors Lisa Hori-Garcia and Keiko Shimosato Carreiro (both San Francisco Mime Troupe veterans), theatergoers are greeted by a host of ever-so-courteous library employees in identical, immaculate black-and-white outfits.
Downstairs, the lobby walls are covered with outsized projected images of books, and, hilariously, a wall-mounted video offers precise instructions about how to use the toilet. A voice on a loudspeaker details all the rigid library rules, a librarian at a desk stamps a card and hands visitors a book; then they’re ushered through a sort of onstage labyrinth to their seats. A hushed, expectant silence falls. A bell rings. A stern head librarian (a very funny Chuck Lacson) appears, to scowl and reiterate the rules.
An imaginative story such as this, about a library, would seem like a perfect match for this beloved literary company.
But Murakami’s story is not well-suited to Word’s patented theatrical style in which the actors speak every word, sharing the prose in ways that can be not only funny and poignant but also powerfully illuminate the text. Here, a few too many ensemble members voice some of the lines for no clear-cut reason, especially since the story is written in first-person.
The plot involves a boy (a charming Jed Parsario) who finds himself trapped by an evil librarian (deliciously creepy Ogie Zulueta) in a scary dank basement in the city library, attached to a ball and chain and destined for a gory death.
If only Murakami’s writing itself (as translated by Ted Goossen) were as luminous as the literature usually performed by Word. Here, though, the text lacks the depth and wit that often characterizes the stories that Word for Word chooses. Instead, it’s full of uninspired cliches.
The tale is appealing enough. The boy, who chastises himself for being such a good kid, never saying “no” to a higher authority, is lured into his own imprisonment. There, attached to a ball and chain, he makes friends with an abused library servant, the Sheep Man (Julie Kuwabara, looking more rabbity than sheepish) and a beautiful girl who serves him meals, portrayed by a girl-sized puppet (operated by Vivienne Truong) that’s unfortunately physically blank and inexpressive.
The story does have intriguing layers: a ferocious dog, a beloved bird and the boy’s mother all figure in, and some shadow puppetry nicely plays against the multiple Japanese-style sliding panels that form the set designed by Mikiko Uesugi.
An impressively large artistic team collaborated to visualize this short, unnerving tale. But what’s missing is Word for Word’s usual gift for conjuring true literary magic.
Word for Word’s “The Strange Library” continues through Dec. 8 at Z Below, 450 Florida St., San Francisco. Tickets are $40-$65 at zspace.org/murakami.
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