You may not find logic in this quirky tale about love, marriage and the enigma of sexual attraction, but you'll recognize a lot of human truth. Riddled with irony and dark dry humor, writer-director-performer Stefan Marks' take on the Mars-Venus conundrum revolves around the coming together and splitting apart — not necessarily in that order — of two misfit individuals: Clark (Marks), a nerdy statistician for whom human bonding is basically a mystery; and Alice (Beth Patrik), an insecure and painfully candid writer of children's books who understands what love is about but can't make a successful connection any more easily than Clark can. The more conventionally charted of the duo, Alice searches for true love through Internet dating, while Clark, an uncontestably weird personality, makes random phone calls to households where he inquires about the age and sex of the residents. Eventually these star-crossed lovers meet in a dream, later in a real-life supermarket — or do they? In fact, we're never actually sure how much of this strange courtship and marriage is mere imaginative conjuring. That's less important, however, than what the play says about the way we lie to ourselves. Directing oneself can be foolhardy, but that's not so in this case. Framed by a black backdrop, with white paper panels to emphasize their purposefully maladroit entrances and exits, Marks and Patrik execute a comedic and accomplished pas de deux. Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru Oct. 30. (888) 210-0183.

Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Thu., Oct. 28, 8 p.m. Starts: Sept. 24. Continues through Oct. 30, 2010

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