Lorri Holt and David Deblinger. PHOTO BY JESSICA PALOPOLI

To understand the characters in Animals Out of Paper, now in its West Coast premiere at SF Playhouse, one must look at their creations.  Freestyle raps, poems, random acts of kindness, a journal of blessings, an origami book called Folding What I Lost and works of origami‑— these creations, and the acts of creating them, defrost icy dispositions and unravel affectation.  But Animals Out of Paper is itself a creation too.  And if it says anything about its creators, it reveals playwright Rajiv Joseph as a brave and honest documenter of simple human transactions, if a heavy-handed one when it comes to the more complicated facets of life.  As for the cast and crew, however, the production is a cumbersome but charming vehicle for considerable artistic talent.

Alone in a filthy, windowless studio, Ilana (Lorri Holt), one of the world’s origami experts, seeks privacy even from her own paper creations, her own past.  Andy (David Deblinger), a high school math teacher, amateur “folderâ€� and doting fan, invades her seclusion with two propositions: (1)‑that she take on one of his students, Suresh (Aly Mawji), as an origami apprentice and, eventually (2)‑that she consider him romantically. 

Playwright Joseph captures with unvarnished naturalism the amorous exchanges between the adults.  Ilana and Andy thrust and parry in the way that people actually talk: awkwardly, nonsensically, fragmentarily.  Their scenes together are the show’s strongest.  Even if Holt doesn’t show enough of the fissures in Ilana’s stony demeanor, Deblinger more than makes up for it by heightening Andy’s (or, as he refers to himself, “Silly Andy’sâ€�) already effusive goodwill and disarming ingenuousness.

But the script runs into problems with Suresh’s character.  He’s an Indian math genius (and origami prodigy) who listens to rap and speaks in that idiom.  Two stereotypes combined into one doesn’t necessarily make for less of a stereotype, though‑— but should we question this confluence of clichés, Joseph preempts us: “That’s racist!â€�  While actor Mawji finds ample opportunity for comic relief in Suresh’s shenanigans, the character is impossible to take seriously, even as a wise fool, because Joseph paints Suresh’s world in disappointingly simple colors.  Suresh’s mother died recently, lest accusations of racism do not suppress questions about his aggressive behavior.  Folding is either improvised (his way) or rigorous (Ilana’s way).  There’s no middle ground.  To compare Suresh to his creations, what’s more, Joseph resorts to metaphor-qua-pedantry: “With each fold, another memory, another experience… It’s all twisted into something so far from what it used to be… Folds leave scars.â€�

In this production, those folds could have spoken for themselves.  Created by actual experts, all the origami props are exquisite‑— a beetle and a frog look too intricate to be made from folds alone.  The other design elements build on tropes in the script.  Director Amy Glazer has situated the audience practically in a closet in Ilana’s studio, trapping all present in a fold.  Michael Oesch’s lighting design highlights the tenuousness of characters’ defenses, where the walls they put up are as thin as origami paper.  And Steve Schoenbeck’s jazzy sound design lends credence to Suresh’s insistence on improvisation.

When Joseph writes like a jazz musician, recording the improvised rhythms of natural speech, the result is magical.  Let us hope he develops this strength in future plays, instead of relying on the crutches of stereotype.

Animals Out of Paper continues (Tuesday to Saturday, various times) until Feb. 27 at The SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter Street, San Francisco.  For tickets ($40) call (415) 677-9596 or at sfplayhouse.org.

Check out Lily Janiak’s blog at http://lilyjaniak.blogspot.com/