A Fine Whine

British playwright Steven Berkoff has a tart comeback for anyone who shrugs and says they can't complain: Sure you can. You probably will anyway. In Berkoff's comedy Kvetch, married couple Frank and Donna do it all evening at a dinner party where resentment cloaked in socially acceptable chitchat gives way to outright recrimination. Donna thinks Frank is neglecting her to attend to his own needs; Frank's hectic commute to his grueling job as a corporate salesman has left him too drained to respond to Donna's demands. Frank's flatulent mother-in-law, recently divorced co-worker Hal, and pesky client George add to his woes and the general chorus of complaint over humanity's failings. Berkoff's previous works Greek, East, and West targeted London's working class within the context of British society, but Kvetch -- with its insecure, disillusioned characters bitching about work, family, sex, and the general messiness of life -- has a universal appeal (it was one of the longest-running comedies in L.A. after it opened at the Odyssey in 1987). Teatro Shalom stages the San Francisco premiere of the work, which opens Thursday at 8 p.m. (and runs through May 2) at Exit Stage Left, 156 Eddy (at Mason), S.F. Admission is $10-12; call 602-4387.

-- Heather Wisner