‘fofo: EchoGreco’ Strings Together Amusing, Disquieting Pieces

The groom’s new manservant is the bride’s old flame, making for an edgy wedding celebration in “fofo: EchoGreco” at the Met Theatre. This amusing yet somewhat disquieting theatrical spectacle features fanciful puppetry, slightly queasy acts of magic, flirty modern ballet, impressive acrobatics, whimsical scholarly intervals, pseudo-serious poetry and a bit of nudity.

Paul Raczkowski, in his and Larry Minion’s “The Lecture,” opens the performance as an absent-minded mythology professor who throughout the evening reminds the audience how to act in this class.

Binding all the other acts together is the myth of Dionysus, the god of wine, who is about to marry Ariadne (Montana Miller). Ariadne still loves Theseus (Matt Walker), who dumped her after killing her half-brother, the Minotaur. The sly, squirmy and decidedly unheroic Theseus finds himself trapped in Dionysus’ court, hoping that Ariadne won’t reveal his identity and their shared past.

Dionysus is a slightly malevolent puppet (manipulated by Marlan Clarke) created by Evan A. Bartoletti and Joe Seely. With a clown-like white face and reddened nose, this Dionysus towers over the rest of the cast, especially Miller’s petite and thinly muscular Ariadne.

Most of the acts are enjoyable, but some become tedious. In Carol Guidry’s “Three Muses and Apollo,” lusty muses (Maria Larisa Ramirez, Guidry and Veronica Caudillo) fight over Apollo (Solomon Eversole) for a bit too long. A short slide show, “The Minotaur and the Minobike,” isn’t visually interesting.

Better is Bari Hochwald and Thomas Dean Kellogg’s “The City,” a poem performed by a Greek chorus of men in suits with skyscraper masks. Minion’s “Miss Greek Pageant” has short, dumpy Gretchen the Grecian (Laurie Woolery) competing against the tall, sophisticated Helen of Troy (Erin Matthews).

Brandon Scott as the Master of Light performs feats of magic before Dionysus punishes him for his presumptuousness in Kellogg and Minion’s “Eros and Thanatos or the Tale of Joe the Dog.”

Kellogg has directed all but two of these pieces and they all fit nicely. Love and death, the ancient past and the present intermingle for a slightly disturbing wedding celebration.

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* “fofo: EchoGreco,” Met Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 9 p.m. Ends May 16. $10. (213) 960-2065. Running time: 2 hours.