Classic Woody

“The Kugelmass Episode,” a Woody Allen short story published in the New Yorker in 1977, has all the familiar Allen ingredients: The protagonist is an intellectual — Professor Kugelmass — who feels the ennui of middle age and his unhappy marriage and seeks out an affair. A magician transports Kugelmass into a book, Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary” and, much like in Allen’s recent movie “Midnight in Paris,” the protagonist becomes overwhelmed by the extreme personality of a literary figure, in this case Emma Bovary. The story will be staged by Word for Word, the San Francisco performing arts company.

8 p.m. Thursday, May 24 at Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F. $22-$27. www.cityarts.net

tuesday/22

“Nu Wurks.” Festival of plays written and performed by students at Jewish Community High School of the Bay. At JCHS, 1835 Ellis St., S.F. $5-$10. www.jchsofthebay.org.

ongoing

“Red.” Play about painter Mark Rothko written by Oscar-nominated author John Logan. Through May 12. At Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2025 Addison St, Berkeley. Times vary. www.berkeleyrep.org.