An everyman on the brink of homelessness and insanity faces The Eviction in Victor Lodato's dream-like play, premiering Feb. 8-March 3 at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. Juliette Carrillo (Eyes for Consuela) directs the piece, which officially opens Feb. 15.

Using puppets and two actors, The Eviction plays out the many — and often contradictory — voices in the head of The Man, who finds himself increasingly unable to tell reality from fantasy. Presiding over him and the figments of his imagination is The Reader, who is either narrating the action or controlling it. Lodato, who won the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays for Eviction, is also the author of The Mystery School, Mega World Destroyer, A Book of Harsh Geometry and The Bread of Winter.

David Gunderman is The Man with Howard Swain as The Reader. As a child, Gunderman appeared in "E.T.", before going on to Broadway in A Change in the Heir and Meet Me in St. Louis and on national tour in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Master puppeteer Chrystene Ells provides the mixed Bunraku, hand and rod puppets. A co-founder and artistic director of Bindlestiff Studio, Ells worked on "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Monkeybone."

Tickets are $17. The Magic Theatre is located in Building D at the Fort Mason Center on Marina Boulevard. For reservations, (415) 441-8822. The Magic Theatre is on line at http://www.magictheatre.org. — By Christine Ehren