Theater Listings

GO BIG BABY Joe Keyes' "serio-comedy" unfurls in a cramped Midwestern apartment shared by Kile (Keyes) and his diminutive, gray-haired mother, June (Danielle Kennedy). This is a couple with colossal issues, and they wear them like comfortable old shoes. Mom is a staunch, churchgoing Catholic who endured an abusive marriage, and constantly fawns over and coddles her grown son. Kile is a scary bundle of pent-up energy and frustration who paces like a caged animal, stays medicated on a bevy of drugs, and frequently gets physical or argues vociferously over the merest trifle. And for most of this 90-minute play, the pair's verbal judo is pretty much what transpires, although Keyes makes the familiar Odd Couple domestic scenario work, thanks to witty writing. Kile's state of perpetual loneliness is unexpectedly transformed when, in a fit of rage, he hurls a broom out of the door and accidentally bloodies the nose of his new neighbor, Nancy (Chloe Taylor). As it turns out, she's got her own emotional baggage, but things really turn funny — and kinky — when Kile discovers that she's a hard-working dominatrix. Notwithstanding a touch of sitcom banality, the script offers its share of laughs, and the three actors perform well under Matt Roth's direction. LOUNGE THEATRE, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Feb. 9. (323) 960-5563. (Lovell Estell III).

CHICAGO CLUB RUMBOOGIE Jerry Jones' gangster drama. Stage 52 Theatre, 5299 W. Washington Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m.; thru Feb. 17. (323) 549-9026.

THE COMMON AIR Six characters in search of an airport departure, by Alex Lyras and Robert McCaskill. Lillian Theatre, 1076 Lillian Way, L.A.; Wed.-Thurs., 8 p.m.; thru Jan. 24. (323) 960-4443, www.thecommonair.com.

EDGE Poet Sylvia Plath (Angelica Torn) starts writer-director Paul Alexander's one-woman play at the brink of suicide, before walking us through the 30 years that led up to that moment. Torn seldom changes tone, except at Plath's visit to her father's grave, when the performance moves from bravado to bravura. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru March 2. (310) 477-2055. (SM)

THE GAY MAFIA: NU-QUEER WINTER In the old Mickey and Judy movie musicals, "Hey, kids, let's put on a show!" provided sufficient purpose to get them through the final credits, but in the real world one hopes for something a little more substantial. The cast are bright and energetic, and the material is fairly amusing but so evanescent that two days later I could barely remember it. Going through my mind at the end was a familiar British locution: "What's this in aid of?" Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; Wed., 8 p.m. thru Jan. 23. www.thegaymafia.net. (NW)

HARM'S WAY Shem Bitterman's play is a thoughtful, stateside view of America's actions in Iraq, centered on an Army atrocity that is investigated by a military father (Jack Stehlin) whose daughter (Katie Lowes) falls in love with the case's chief suspect (Ben Bowen). While it doesn't completely fulfill its dramatic potential, the two-hour show, directed by Steve Zuckerman, mostly avoids editorializing, preferring instead to question how good people do terrible things. A Circus Theatricals Studio Theater production. Hayworth Theater, 2511 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Feb. 9. (323) 960-1054. (SM)

GO HARRISON, TEXAS Playwright Horton Foote's serious and unsentimental comedy about small-town living, composed in three one-acts. Lost Studio, 130 S. La Brea Ave., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 4 p.m.; thru Feb. 17. (800) 595-4849, www.­harrisontexas.org See Stage feature.

IL BIDONE Frederico Fellini's drama adapted for the stage. Bootleg Theater, 2220 Beverly Blvd., L.A. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Feb. 24. Previews Jan. 17 & 18, 8 p.m. (213) 389-3856, www.­rushforthproductions.com.

GO THE LAST SCHWARTZ In her witty, thoughtful play, Deborah Zoe Laufer questions the role of family and religious traditions. As the Schwartz children gather in their now empty childhood Catskills home to honor their father's Yarzheit (the one-year anniversary of his death), an outsider stirs up issues the family prefers left undisturbed. Lee Sankowich's direction is first-rate and designer Giulllio Perrone's set suggests an atmosphere of barrenness, an apt metaphor considering the clan's regretful past and uncertain future. Zephyr Theater, 7456 Melrose Ave., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.; thru Feb. 24. (323) 852-9111. (MH)

LOVE LOVES A PORNOGRAPHER Jillian Armenante directs a perfectly calibrated send-up of English gothic lit in Jeff Goode's new play. The lord and lady of the manor (William Salyers and Gillian Doyle) invite neighbors Miles and Millicent Monger (Jim Anzide and Johanna McKay) for a friendly game of blackmail. Loveworthy is a novelist; Monger, a cleric and viperous literary critic for The Times. Jokes abound about venomous literary critics when most newspaper's book sections are now being eviscerated; the gender superiority of stupid men, and the moral hypocrisy of the English upper class. Are these tired themes worth all these resources? That said, the acting and set are terrific. [Inside] the Ford, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, L.A.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.; thru Jan. 20. (323) 461-3673. (SLM)

METAMORPHOSES Made up of a dozen or so tales, Mary Zimmerman's alternately funny and sorrowful adaptation of Ovid's classic poem relays centuries-old myths with a whimsical and contemporary twist. Laced with erotica, the action takes place in and around a pool of water in which the performers wade and cavort. The small space is imaginatively compensated for with gauzy fabric, stringed lights, and a few colorful slides and props. An Artbrawl production. Ruby Theater at the Complex, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sun., 8 p.m.; thru Jan. 20. (DK)