‘MET’ Mixes Camp, Hilarity, Oddity

“MET a magic,” the inaugural production by the MET Acting Company, is an uneven bill of short dramas and comedies with one real clunker, some glimmers of promise and a few moments of theatrical magic. Topics range from alcoholic fathers to odd conversations with a tipsy God to rental boyfriends to cannibal queens.

“Mute,” by Carolyn Carpenter, attempts to compare troubled high school girls (Lia Chapman and Carolyn Lawrence) in a guidance counselor’s (Allaire Paterson) office with a boxing match, but the limp script is further KOd by Ilo Orleans’ flat direction.

Better is Stan Sellers’ examination of the legacy of alcoholic fathers, “Sons of the Father.” Director Veronica DiPippo could fine-tune the interaction of Wilson Bell and James Geralden as estranged brothers, and the script could benefit from judicious editing.

Abraham Amedeo’s “The Outside In” is a hilarious scenario that teeters on sacrilegious, pitting a slightly tipsy God (Randall Rapstine) against an angry, sexually confused young man (Amedeo). Jesse Carmichael directs with an acerbic wit.

Mark Levine imagines every girl’s dream is a rental boyfriend in “The Rental.” As the girl getting the great birthday gift, Carolyn Lawrence successfully combines wistfulness with strong modern woman ideals while Gary Paul Clark is attentively romantic and hysterically commercialized. Chuck Rose’s direction is filled with wishful whimsy.

Darker is Alex Dremann’s “Cannibals Gone Bad,” in which people compete for the honor of being the Queen’s (Clarinda Ross) next meal. Under Colin Campbell’s direction, Ross, whose throne is of the porcelain white flushable type, is divinely campy.

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* “MET a magic,” MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays and Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Sept. 26. $15. (213) 957-1152. Running time: 2 hours.