NOTE’s ‘Hunger’ Doesn’t Quite Satisfy

More than once in Ki Gottberg’s “Hunger,” a man named Wolf (Michael Shamus Wiles) lumbers downstage and howls at the moon.

The beast in “Little Red Riding Hood” may have cast a more enchanting spell, but within this wry, dreamlike look at puberty and eros, now at Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood, the lupine image has a loony logic of its own.

Mathilde (Margo Rose-Thomas) is a curious teen-ager confronted with three very different feminine role models. Her divorced mother Marlene (Sarah Lilly) is a no-nonsense homebody (she is always seen peeling carrots). Aunt Lily (Shanti Khan) is a free spirit who recites original poems while accompanying herself on bongo drums. And schoolmate Gwen (Amy Court) is a pig-tailed Lolita both titillated and troubled by attention from men.

Unfortunately, director Jill C. Klein’s production obscures what should have been a moonstruck comic fantasy. A strong visual sense is conspicuously absent, down to some clumsy blocking on the mostly bare stage. And although the actors attack the roles with gusto, Rose-Thomas in particular seems far too mature to persuade as the innocent Mathilde.

* “Hunger,” Theatre of NOTE, 1517 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Sept. 30. $7-$12. (213) 856-8611. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.