Editor's Picks: San Hurwitt, January-February 2012 by / Sam Hurwitt

Double Indemnity

San Jose Repertory Theatre

Jan. 12–Feb. 5

James M. Cain’s “Double Indemnity” is hailed as a noir classic, but like several of the prolific author’s other works (including “Mildred Pierce” and “The Postman Always Rings Twice”), it’s better known for the movie it inspired than for the 1935 novella itself. And understandably so: with a snappy adaptation by Raymond Chandler and director Billy Wilder and fantastic performances by Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson, the 1944 film is a treasure. But there’s more than one way to tell Cain’s hard-boiled tale of an insurance salesman seduced by a femme fatale into helping kill her husband for a substantial insurance payout—and in fact, the film took substantial liberties with the original story. Now San Jose Rep unveils a new theatrical adaptation by David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright in a world premiere coproduction with Seattle’s A Contemporary Theatre, which got it first in October. The latter company’s artistic director, Kurt Beattie, helms the production, with Carrie Paff as the steamy dame, John Bogar as her conconspirator, and Richard Ziman as the claims adjuster handling the case. Jessica Martin and Mark Anderson Phillips round out the cast. Visit sjrep.com.

Sam’s Other Picks

Jesus in India

Magic Theatre

Jan. 26–Feb. 26

Playwright Lloyd Suh’s last play at Magic Theatre, 2009’s “American Hwangap,” was a hilarious and touching story of a Korean-American family thrown into disarray when a father comes to celebrate his 60th birthday with the family he abandoned 15 years before. In his latest world premiere, Suh examines a different kind of rootlessness with “Jesus in India,” his take on the biblical savior’s lost teenage years. Jesus of Nazareth and his pal Abigail of Galilee hit the road “towards a spiritual haven full of Maharajas, music and some really good weed,” according to the Magic’s website. Suh’s fellow New Yorker Daniella Topol directs. Visit magictheatre.org.

Blue/Orange

Lorraine Hansberry Theatre

Feb. 5–Mar. 18

Among the curiosities in Steven Anthony Jones’s first season as artistic director of San Francisco’s foremost African-American theatre company is this very British comedy by Joe Penhall for three actors (one black, two white) that had its Bay Area premiere at Aurora Theatre in 2005. In a London psychiatric hospital, a patient claims to be the son of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and two rival psychiatrists battle over his diagnosis and course of treatment, raising questions of race, class and the intricacies of the UK’s medical system. In a casting coup, the production stars Berkeley-based stage and screen star Carl Lumbly of Alias and Cagney and Lacey fame, who’s done superb work in recent shows at SF Playhouse. Visit lhtsf.org.

Legally Blonde: The Musical

Diablo Theatre Company

Feb. 10–Mar. 3

San Francisco got the first look at “Legally Blonde” in 2007 courtesy of SHN a few months before the musical opened on Broadway. Based on the 2001 Reese Witherspoon flick and the Amanda Brown novel that inspired it, “Blonde” turned out to have something in common with its heroine Elle Woods, the exuberant, fashion-obsessed sorority girl who enrolls in Harvard Law School to chase a boy: it’s smarter than anyone would’ve expected. The opening song, “Ohmigod You Guys,” is sure to get stuck in your head until you beg for relief. Diablo Theatre Company’s East Bay premiere stars Bailey Hanks, who played the role on Broadway after winning a 2008 MTV reality-show competition to replace original star Laura Bell Bundy. Visit diablotheatre.org.

SF Sketchfest

Jan. 19–Feb 4

Now in its 11th year, SF Sketchfest has grown from a makeshift lineup of homegrown sketch comedy groups to a star-studded festival of standup, improv and sketch comedy at venues all over San Francisco. This year’s fest boasts a bursting roster at 15 venues, with guests including Drew Carey, Jennifer Coolidge, David Cross, Rachel Dratch, Chris Elliott, Phil LaMarr, Will Forte, Elliot Gould, John Hodgman, Sally Kellerman, Bruce McCulloch, Laraine Newman, Bob Odenkirk, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, John Slattery, Joshua Malina, Kevin Smith, Fred Willard, Busy Phillips, Ann Magnuson, Wil Wheaton, the Mystery Science 3000 crew, the Groundlings, and many, many, many more in countless combinations, plus in-person tributes to Eddie Izzard and the Upright Citizens Brigade.
Visit sfsketchfest.com.