Unless you're hitting A.C.T. or Berkeley Rep, it's a bit tough to find good theater to go to on a Wednesday night. Right now (and at least through early April), however, you're in luck: Tim Barsky and Everyday Theater's The Bright River has meandered from Epic Arts's space in Berkeley to TJT in San Francisco and then back to the east bay with TJT to the Julia Morgan, and now it's landed for an extended run on Wednesday nights only at the Oakland Metro, a performance space that more commonly features live music. Which is just fine for Bright River, because the musical aspect of this show is nothing short of breathtaking. And don't get us wrong -- the storytelling aspect is great, too.

Tim Barsky, who wrote the piece and is its main performer, does a mostly wonderful job. The show is a retelling of The Inferno -- but don't worry: if you haven't read it (and this SFist contributor hasn't), you'll still appreciate the story. Barsky has adapted it to bring in elements of Jewish storytelling, and to that end he's marvelously successful. At times the show seems more about flight than being on a river, as Barsky gathers speed and is suddenly aloft, delivering the story with rhythms and tones of intense Jewish prayer and a little bit of Kabbalistic symbolism (without any Madonna/Esther references, PTL).

More detailed thoughts after the jump.

Barsky is a charismatic storyteller whom the largely packed Metro audience was eagerly willing to follow, if not thoroughly vocally, so among the few false (or forced) notes of the night were the times when Barsky tried to extract approbation from the audience, or when he preached to the choir about the need for independent theater.

But the story itself is interesting -- well, stories, really: the piece is more a collection of episodes as the protagonist, Quick (a self-described fixer), travels through the underworld in search of a rabbi's daughter who committed suicide after learning of the death of her boyfriend, killed while on a tour of duty in Iraq. All the characters in The Bright River are people (and a raven) who never really found their place in the world. Quick's mission is to find the girl, Calliope, so he can send her back to the world of the living. Along the way he visits Purgatory, the Top of the World, and an exclusive nightclub for birds.

We felt the most compelling story of the evening was the soldier's. Barsky does a pretty good job of distinguishing his characters, though they could be a little more distinct. The soldier is a likable young man who got pressed into service after a terrible confluence of events. His Quick is beaten-down, more superintendent-at-large than noir detective. And his narrator converts Dante's verse into hip-hop, slam-style freestyling. We are gratified to announce that the night does not contain one reference to the third eye (he gets close with "mind's eye," but we're told they're not the same thing).

Barsky also does a great job as the raven, with little touches that let you know that he'd be a great teller of many different stories, even if he didn't have himself or his musicians as backup. He accompanies himself admirably on flute and beatbox, sometimes at the same time to terrific effect. But as good as his own beatbox skills are, he's eclipsed by Soulati and Infinite, two performers who absolutely mesmerized the crowd.

Not only were they amazing at creating a huge variety of beats and rhythms, but they also stole the show at two points with muffled pantomimes. In one, Soulati performed all sides of a conversation between three people at a bus station. The words were intentionally unintelligible, so that you needed only the tones and body language to get the point, which was all the more entertaining. Same thing for an exchange later on with both Soulati and Infinite, in which Soulati plays the bouncer at the bird nightclub, selectively letting some in but not others. The exchange between the bouncer and what seemed to be an ostrich/woodpecker/peacock hybrid played by Infinite was the funniest thing of the night. We won't even give everything away; you just have to see it.

The musicians are rounded out by Jess Ivry on cello and Safa Shokrai on acoustic bass, performing some of the most beautifully haunting music we've seen on stage in a very long time. The communication between all the musicians, especially as one or another took solos (all were extremely engaging), was fantastic.

All in all, a great night in downtown Oakland, preceded by a successful return to the House of Chicken and Waffles, which seems to have improved its waffles since we were there last.

The Bright River plays at least through the end of this month. We thought we overheard someone say it was extended into April, but don't wait that long.