Portraying a cold, acerbic, lonely older woman is a stretch for an actress as warm as Carolyn Perlstein. And that’s just the way she likes it.
Perlstein (who performs under the stage name of Carolyn Power) stars as Ruth Steiner in a new production of “Collected Stories,” the 1997 off-Broadway hit by playwright Donald Margulies. The play runs Friday, April 15 to May 7 at Stage Werx in San Francisco.
With overtones of “All About Eve,” the play is about Ruth, a bitter, opinionated writing professor, and her protégé, Lisa, a talented but sycophantic writer who becomes the older woman’s assistant. The two talk art, literature and the New Yorker. Over time, the power positions reverse as student surpasses master, and ethical lines are crossed.
It’s also smart, funny and Jewish, as are many of Margulies’ plays.
“This is the story of a Jewish woman and how she lives her life,” Perlstein says. “She chose writing and education. She lived during that 1950s era when everything was happening in New York.”
When in her first novel Lisa borrows liberally from Ruth’s life stories, including a long-ago fling with a Bohemian poet, Ruth feels betrayed, leading to the play’s savage climax.
“I take the 10 Commandments as the main theme,” Perlstein adds. “Theft and murder. She feels her story is stolen from her. I was brought up Catholic, and in Christianity it’s more about you’re going to get punished if you do something wrong. In Judaism, it’s about what you did to the other person.”
The “other person” for Ruth is Lisa, played by Loring Williams. For years, she and Perlstein have taken acting classes with Bobby Weinapple, who directs the new production.
In those classes, the actors improvise scenes as characters very unlike themselves. That’s where the stretch came in.
“For some actors, laughing might be hard, for others getting angry might be hard,” Perlstein says. “I was in a scene with Loring, playing a Ruth-type character. Authority is my stretch area. Loring said, you’d make a great Ruth Steiner. It scared me to death so I knew I wanted to do it. She’s not warm, but a sharp, businesslike person.”
The two actresses donned their Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland hats, and decided to put on a show. They formed a theater company, Essential Action Productions, found funding and mounted this inaugural play.
“It’s the most surreal experience of my life,” Perlstein adds. “I never planned to run a theater company. I’d never attended a production meeting or been in on the design side. We are learning as we go.”
As an actor, the 63-year-old Texas native has enjoyed a long career in plays and musicals, as well as TV. After earning a theater degree from San Francisco State University, she has appeared in productions from London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Marin Shakespeare Company and Lafayette’s Town Hall Theatre. She was also a member of Women’s Will, the Bay Area’s all-female Shakespeare company.
Through her Jewish husband, who is observant, Perlstein learned much about Judaism and Jewish culture. So much so, she says she often finds herself pointing out aspects of Judaism her Jewish friends didn’t know. And, she adds, a wisp of a Brooklyn lilt occasionally finds its way into her speech.
In the months leading up to the new Stage Werx production, the two actresses rehearsed informally with Weinapple, so that by the time real rehearsals began last month, both were “off book” and deep into their characters.
For Perlstein, the character of Ruth is complicated: fragile, tragic and lonely, just as the character of Lisa is not a clear-cut villain or ingratiating dweeb.
“You’ve got to respect Ruth for who she is,” Perlstein says. “She creates an amazing world and gives her all to her students.”
“Collected Stories” runs Friday, April 15 through May 7 at Stage Werx, 533 Sutter St., S.F. $15-$25. Info: www.essentialactionproductions.com.