Tom Jacobson's The Chinese Massacre (Annotated) and House of the Rising Son

The play concerns issues of secrecy versus candor, of ghost stories versus empirical research, and the legacy of persecuted subcultures driven underground, who form their own rules to play by. This is a legacy that dates back to the Roman Empire.

Under Michael Michetti's direction, Menzies is particularly fine as the wry and cantankerous dying patriarch. As his son, Hurley contains a genteel and gentle Southern swagger that's as endearing as it is wise. Witten and Coombs also have a rapport that sparks.

PHOTO BY SHANE WILLIAM ZWIENER

Culture clash over a 19th-century Chinese Massacre

PHOTO BY SHANE WILLIAM ZWIENER

Ghostbusters in House of the Rising Son

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The visual delights include Richard Hoover's Gothic carpeted set with furniture set at angles askew, like a House of Usher that's tilting from a sinking foundation. Sound designer Bruno Louchouarn floats in chords and brief anthems to accentuate moments of Gothic melodrama. Nothing is what it seems. This whole blasted crew may just be a swirl of ghosts. The characters talk and act as though from a play by Tennessee Williams, but if they looked in the mirror, they might see Noël Coward's reflection.

Spirits haven't been so blithe in a long time.

THE CHINESE MASSACRE (ANNOTATED) | By Tom Jacobson | Presented by Circle X Theatre Company at the Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village | Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 2 & 8 p.m. | Through May 28 | (213) 368-9552, circlextheatre.org

HOUSE OF THE RISING SON | By Tom Jacobson | Presented by Ensemble Studio Theatre L.A. at the Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village | Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 2 p.m. | Through May 29 | (323) 644-1929, ensemblestudiotheatrela.org