Jeff Burkhart brings his ‘Barfly’ stories to the stage

Jeff Burkhart has always written with images in mind. Before becoming one of Marin County’s most beloved authors, bartenders and all-around media personalities, the longtime Marin IJ columnist set out to be a screenwriter.

“My initial college experience was headed in that direction,” he said. “Then I recalibrated and got my degree in journalism, because I figured journalism was a better way to make a buck. Whether that’s turned out to be the case or not, I’m not sure.”

Though the “Barfly” columnist has yet to make any moves toward Hollywood, he and co-writer Lou Lesko are staging a play based on Burkhart’s first book, “Twenty Years Behind Bars,” which came out in 2012. Called “Tale of a Barfly,” the performance debuts at 8 p.m. Thursday at Marin Center’s Showcase Theater at 20 Avenue of the Flags in San Rafael.

Admission is $62. Get tickets at tickets.marincenter.org.

“Tale of a Barfly” stars Isabelle Barkey as Isabelle Tennyson, a young woman who decides to learn bartending from the legendary but struggling mixologist Claire Jordan, played by Burkhart’s daughter, Callan Taylor.

“It’s a very Marin County arc that’s relatable to anyone who’s grown up or been around Marin County for a long time,” Burkhart said.

Taylor has acted on TV series like “Delirium” and “13 Reasons Why” and starred in “Testing 1, 2, 3,” an award-winning short film by Marin filmmaker Robin Lee based on another story from Burkhart’s book. Like her dad, she also works as a bartender.

“It’s interesting to see her, because it’s just so natural,” Burkhart said. “It’s fun to be on stage in a performance by you featuring your daughter. That’s a pretty unique thing — not a lot of people get to experience that.”

According to Burkhart, the two women in the play represent two different sides of his own personality. Barkey’s character represents “the more romantic writer side,” while Taylor’s hardworking and hard-bitten character embodies the “cynical, bartending aspect of my character.”

Meanwhile, Burkhart himself appears on stage in a role he compares to that of Rod Serling, the wry and mysterious host of the original “Twilight Zone” TV series: “I kind of comment on the action and then leave.”

The genesis of “Tale of a Barfly” came from a series of “enhanced readings” Burkhart staged in collaboration with Lesko at Mill Valley’s Sweetwater Music Hall, in which Burkhart acts as the narrator for his own work while actors act out scenes.

“The first time I did it, there was one actor,” Burkhart said. “The second time I did it, there were four actors. The last time I did it, there were six or seven actors. Finally Lou said, ‘Why not let the actors just act?’”

Burkhart’s ability to write in scene and his visual approach to storytelling meant much of the duo’s work in bringing “Barfly” off the page and onto the stage was already done for them. Yet while writing, the duo realized they needed more than just good nightlife anecdotes; they needed a hero, a storyline and themes.

The decision to make the Burkhart avatars two women came mostly through the casting of Taylor.

“She was living in Los Angeles for a while, but she happened to be up here, so it was a perfect opportunity to combine her thing with my thing,” Burkhart said.

Burkhart describes the theme of the show as “the idea that sometimes when you go out into the world, what you’re looking for turns out to be right back where you started.”

It’s symbolic of Taylor’s Marin homecoming, as well as Burkhart’s own rediscovery of his inner dramaturge while mounting this new production.

“It’s the full-circle effect, right?” Burkhart said. “You start off doing one thing, and you end up doing something else, and that something else leads you back to that original thing. That’s been my writing experience in general.”