THEATER : ‘Earth’ Poetry Is in Motion : Mystery thriller has an unusual twist: As the murder tale moves forward, the love story goes in reverse.

The venerable Actors Forum Theatre, for 19 years a staple at its previous Cahuenga Boulevard West venue, is in a new location in North Hollywood, and there’s a hint of a new agenda. Actors Forum refers to it as a “possible series of mysteries.” Its first production in the new space was “Monique,” a mystery in the usual sense.

Its second production, opening tonight, is in the same genre, but with an intriguing difference. Billed as a “poetic mystery” by Chicago playwright Douglas Post, it’s called “Earth and Sky,” a title gleaned from the works of Dylan Thomas.

The “poetic” shouldn’t put off died-in-the-wool mystery fans. It’s a genuine thriller in the Hammett vein, but an original thread runs through it. Its heroine, Sara McKeon, poet and librarian, has met David, the sudden love of her life. Then, too soon, his murder leads her on an odyssey through Chicago’s underbelly in a search for the actual reasons for his death.

Director Larry Lederman, a founding member of AFT and guiding hand for local productions such as “Deathtrap” and “The Sea Horse,” says it was this extra tone in Post’s script that attracted him to the project.

“There are the issues,” Lederman says, “that Sara is concerned with. She’s kind of an idealist and trusts her heart. And that may be the crux of the play, about trusting your gut. This is what drives her, in the face of much information that is contrary to her beliefs. That’s the heart of the piece.”

Lederman was also fascinated by the structure of the play, the twist that Post gives to the telling of his tale. Although Sara’s search for the truth is told in real time, moving forward, the story of her romance with David moves backward from their last confrontation to the moment of their meeting and their realization that they are in love.

Lederman says, “I thought that would be really interesting to work on. It was intelligently written. We have the juxtaposition of the two stories at once.”

There was also what Lederman calls the sweetness inherent in Sara’s story, a quality not often found in hard-hitting thrillers.

“I liked the color of it,” he says. “And I liked the issues and the poetry. It has a soft side and a gritty side. It’s a textural mix I think will intrigue people, more than just the grit we’re used to seeing in that kind of thing on television or in films. There’s a human value underneath that moves Sara, more than just her bitterness.”

Richard D’Alessandro, who plays the fated David, agrees with Lederman on the script’s attractions. Most recently recognizable for playing Abbie Hoffman in the film “Forrest Gump,” D’Alessandro was especially intrigued by the challenge in playing the romantic scenes in reverse order.

“It’s interesting,” he says, “because the intensity of their first meeting takes place the last second of the play. There’s more to it, the way we’re doing it.”

With a director’s smile, Lederman explains that early in rehearsals the romantic scenes were rehearsed in real-time order, and later were placed in the proper scripted order.

Lederman continues, “When an actor is discovering what he knows in a sequence, you have a chronology, and you build. The energy shifts, because in life we don’t know where we’re going. As we experience, it becomes part of us. That’s what keeps the drama alive.”

D’Alessandro says he believes the play’s unusual structure is significant as a strong reason for live theater.

“Today,” the actor says, “people sort of forget to bring their imaginations when they come to the theater, they’re so zoned in on movies and television, where everything has to be so specific. But there’s a turn, and people are coming back to the theater now. It makes you use your mind.”

WHERE AND WHEN

What: “Earth and Sky.”

Location: Actors Forum Theatre, 10655 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood.

Hours: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday. Ends Sept. 10.

Price: $15.

Call: (818) 506-0600.