PERFORMANCE ART : Yoshi Oida in ‘Interrogations’

Those who saw Yoshi Oida in Peter Brook’s “The Mahabharata” at the 1987 Los Angeles Festival know he’s a galvanic actor: visceral and vibrantly expressive with both words and movement. But those who see his “Interrogations”--a solo performance, with music by Dieter Trustedt--will get only a glimpse of these talents, the man without the fireworks.

Based on Zen koans, “Interrogations” is the kind of esoteric event where the intellectuals and acting students in the audience nod approval while secretly composing things-to-do lists in their heads. It has the feel of importance--although Oida stops short of pretentiousness--but it remains an exercise in technique, more concerned with the performer and his inner process than with the audience.

Oida relates parables and poses questions that have no answers. Sometimes he illustrates these stories and anecdotes with gestural movements, using four bamboo sticks as props, or he assumes the identity of one of the men in his tales. And it is these lapses into character that are Oida’s finest moments: as a man hanging onto a tree with his teeth, or as a meek, round-shouldered student facing his master.

Most of the time, however, Oida simply stands in the center of the playing area like a village elder in front of a campfire, offering existential tidbits and weaving in the rhetorical question “What is the meaning of life?” at every conceivable juncture.

Trustedt provides subtle accompaniment on a Ch’in-type zither of his own design. Performances continue through Saturday at Patriotic Hall.