Theater Listings

GO THE IDIOT BOX Michael Elyanow’s beguiling parody of sitcoms unfolds in a capacious New York penthouse shared by six friends. This disparate group provides comic fodder for most of the first act, as they become embroiled in familiar sitcom foibles embellished with laugh tracks. Just when you get the impression that this is all nothing more than an trivial sitcom run amok, the mood subtly darkens, the sound effects cease and reality intrudes. Elyanow’s intelligent script is rife with humor and irony, and is superbly augmented by Jeremy B. Cohen’s perceptive direction of the fine cast. NEW OPEN FIST THEATRE, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat, 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m., thru Sept. 8. (323) 882-6912 (LE3)

GO THE IDIOTSSomewhere between the insanity of Monty Python, the cynicism of Penn and Teller and the stupidity of the Three Stooges exists this bizarre comedy by writer-performers Craig Anton and Ron Lynch. The conceit framing their wild physical and verbal antics is the reunion of two rivals — respectively the sons of Watson and Crick, who discovered DNA. With the appearance of a guest comic, the hour show flies by with humor and even some human insight and pathos beneath the Idiots’ smug stupidity, a sadness that stems from their emotional slavery to their much smarter and famous fathers. STEVE ALLEN THEATER, 4773 Hollywood Blvd., Los Feliz; last Thurs. of the month, 8 p.m.; indef. (800) 595-4TIX. (TP)

GO INVASION! THE MUSICAL After a mysterious light appears in the sky, the inhabitants of Tucker County, New Mexico, panic and demand answers from Sheriff Brewster (Will Harris), a potbellied mountain of a man who loves liquor and X-rated jokes. Things get stranger when old man Fletcher (Ben Giroux) turns up without genitals, walking like a zombie and chanting the names of menu items from a Mexican restaurant. Playwright-director Aaron Matijasic’s book and lyrics leave no ethnic group unskewered, and the fine ensemble’s physical comedy stays at just the right pitch. HUDSON BACKSTAGE THEATRE, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru Sept. 23. (323) 960-7612 (LE3)

GO JUNK: A ROCK OPERAScandinavian band Brainpool’s decade-plus career ranges from sugary pop to this anticorporate musical that draws on influences as varied as ELO, Meatloaf, Madame Butterfly and Michael Moore. At the headquarters of Junk Inc. (a fascist conglomerate with a tabloid and nightclub), the office drones live in ecstatic fear of The Man, who struts around in Lucifer’s red suit and preys on their self-esteem. The winsome, fanciful music overwhelms the lyrics and plot, which seems to be that diva Martina has big ambitions, but her boyfriend Hanes keeps singing about quitting Junk to work with his hands. The large ensemble invests in the show’s simplistic, agreeable politics with passion, whirling around in neon brights to director Shakina Nayfack and co-choreographer Raime Becker’s mash of moves that recall capoeria, cheerleading and, of course, marionettes. LYRIC THEATRE, 520 N. La Brea Ave., L.A.; Thurs.-Sun., 8 p.m.; thru Sept. 30. (AN)

GO IT’S JUST SEX Writer-director Jeff Gould’s clever comedy relies on the familiar device of a dangerous party game to send its plot spinning, but that familiarity turns provocative and surprisingly enlightening. When Joan (Carolyn Hennesy) finds her husband, Phil (Eric Lutes), inflagrante with a hooker (Tiffany Ellen Solano) in their living room, she’s doubly furious because she’s expecting guests for a party. Gould steers his terrific cast with an unerring eye, and designer Gary Guidinger provides the handsome set. ZEPHYR THEATRE, 7456 Melrose Ave., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru Sept. 23. (323) 960-7721. (NW)

THE LARK This production of Jean Anouilh’s play about Joan of Arc, translated by Lillian Hellman and directed by Robert Craig, is well done. Amanda Karr is an eloquent, spunky Joan, and the clerical forces lined up to destroy her are forcibly presented. The play shows a barbarous assault by a horde of self-righteous Catholics on a naive girl, who, if a man, would surely have been hailed as a hero. Brian Reindel’s set, Vicki Conrad’s costumes and Mike Mahaffey’s fight choreography are all first rate. The play sounded fresh in 1953, but in a new century of shorter attention spans, it drowns in verbosity. KNIGHTSBRIDGE THEATRE, 1944 Riverside Drive, L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; indef. (323) 667-0955. (NW)

THE MAGIC STRING See New Reviews.

MODELOGUES Sarah Happel’s collection of monologues about beauty, fame and fashion. DORIE THEATER AT THE COMPLEX, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Oct. 14. www.­modelogues.com.

OUT OF YOUR MIND! Theatergoers sip wine at a tasteful private home until a pushy assistant director (Patrick Censoplano) announces the first of Steven Kane’s two short plays, In the Night of the Bed. The man (Andrew Macbeth) claims to be an extra, only this isn’t a movie, but Molly’s (Kelly Anne Ford) dream, and the rest of the cast are the regrets and pains she revisits every night. Less pat and engaging is Rhinovirus, a chipper sci-fi saga set in a future New New York where pain, suffering and disease have been criminalized. Under Jane Lanier’s direction, the staging is intimate but the acting is as broad as the Grand Canyon. GuerriLA Theatre at a PRIVATE RESIDENCE, 2806 Nichols Canyon Place, L.A.; schedule varies, call for info; thru Dec. 8. (818) 972-2467. (AN)