STAGE REVIEWS / OPEN FESTIVAL : ‘Pacific Room’ Has Too Many Cooks

Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water of the Pacific Rim, along comes “The Pacific Room.” This murky joint work by David Hodgson, Erika Sukstorf and Lui Sanchez might work if somebody were spoofing performance artists stricken with a case of empty pretensions. At the Callboard Theatre, though, nobody is spoofing.

While it’s clear who wrote--if that’s the word for it--the seven disconnected portions of “Room,” and crystal clear that Hodgson did the choreography (with bows to Etienne Decroux), it’s also painfully clear that too many co-directors have their hands in the show. Namely Hodgson, Sukstorf and Sanchez, in deep need of an editor.

Pieces such as “Ya Chou Yu,” “Classroom,” and “Fijian Woman” have Sukstorf playing with such poor East Asian and American ethnic accents that they unintentionally reinforce stereotypes. Sanchez’s “Universo Nativo” is all emotion and no content, while the group pieces--”Island” and “A Peaceful Space on the Edge”--are no emotion and no content.

Ironically, the work far from the Pacific Rim remains in the mind: Hodgson’s “Du Mein Herz,” sharply coupled with Schumann lieder.

At 8541 Melrose Place, on Mondays through Wednesdays, 8 p.m., Fridays, 10:30 p.m., until Sept. 21. $12; (213) 466-1767.