Beating Himself Up : ‘Freak of Nature’ chronicles one man’s journey to find self-worth. Part of the proceeds will benefit a homeless shelter.

Jo-Jo thinks of himself as a freak.

“It’s a fictional play, based on a friend I knew when I was getting my MFA in Indiana,” says Ken Hanes, whose dark comedy “Freak of Nature” premieres at the Road Theatre, beginning previews Wednesday. “This guy was extremely smart, extremely athletic, extremely good-looking--the kind every girl would want to take home to mom,” adds the playwright. “But he was the most tortured person I ever knew.”

Hanes’ friend had been a model; when the writer met him, he’d given that up to go back to school. Yet the distorted self-image was deeply entrenched.

“In the late 19th Century, there was a popular freak in the circus, Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy,” Hanes says. “Jo-Jo the character really identifies with him. The real guy I knew would do things like shave half of his head, get into bulimic stuff and self-flagellation, have dreams about disfiguring himself. As a writer, I loved the image of someone who has what most people want--and he doesn’t.”

The piece, which Hanes quips is set alternately “in heaven and hell, New York and L.A.,” employs seven actors in 25 roles, including angels, God and a priest.

Each production at the Road Theatre benefits a different charity. This time out, a portion of the show’s proceeds will go to Women’s Care Cottage, a San Fernando Valley shelter for homeless women and children. (Not coincidentally, Hanes’ mother also serves on the shelter’s board.)

A Los Angeles native, the 34-year-old writer received his undergraduate degree in linguistics from UC Berkeley and a master of fine arts in playwriting from Indiana University in Bloomington. Also, he says, “I bummed around, put myself through school as a chef, wrote a novel, participated in the Bay Area Playwrights Festival.” Two of his six plays have been done locally: “Family Chills” (The Complex, 1991) and “Lives on the Line” (Celebration Theatre, 1993).

Director Che’Rae Adams first came to the Road Theatre in 1992 as the producer of Ric Krause’s “Why Things Burn,” a project she had been involved with as an assistant producer in the Mark Taper Forum’s Mentor Playwriting Series. Adams, who describes herself as a “baby 25,” grew up in Encino and graduated from Cal State Northridge in 1991; she made her directorial debut in 1992 with Steve Simon’s “Back Bar” at the Lee Strasberg Institute.

The development of “Freak”--which included several readings, rewrites and improvisational work with the cast--has stretched out almost a year. “I adore Ken,” Adams says firmly. “I never had a writer this open to working on a play.”

She describes the story as “a journey one man takes to find self-worth, self-esteem. I related to the idea of suppressing feelings so long, and learning not to do that anymore. Structurally, it’s half-fantasy, half-reality. And it’s funny. It’s hysterical.”

Where and When What: “Freak of Nature.” Location: The Road Theatre Company, 14141 Covello St., No. 9-D, Van Nuys. Hours: Previews Wednesday and Thursday; opens Feb. 18 and plays Thursdays through Sundays at 8 p.m. Closes March 26. Price: $12.50. Call: (818) 785-6175.