‘Moudio’s Son’ Finds Trouble in Polygamy

Proudly out of step with our monogamous times, the new production of “Agatha Moudio’s Son” at the West Angeles Christian Arts Center adapts Francis Bebey’s novel about polygamy in French-occupied Cameroon.

Mbenda (Hilton Brown), a prize wrestler and the most eligible bachelor in the village of Douala, is torn between Fanny (Rochelle Lee Cunningham), the young girl the village elders have arranged for him to marry, and Agatha (Tangi Miller), the volatile temptress he loves.

Unable to choose, Mbenda finally wangles a way to have them both. That’s when his real troubles start.

Some viewers may be understandably turned off by the tale’s deeply anti-feminist implications. But a more immediate problem in writer-director Joan Lampkin Boicel’s competent if rather stilted staging is the 474-seat venue, which greatly hampers intimacy. Brisker pacing and transitions would likely improve performances.

* “Agatha Moudio’s Son,” West Angeles Christian Arts Center, 3020 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Ends Sunday. $15. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes.