An Abstract Flashback

In a rare cross-cultural exchange sponsored by City Garage and Arden 2, “Ferdydurke” opens a tantalizing window into the raucous presentational style of the Polish avant-garde theater.

Showcasing four actors from Poland’s Teatr Provisorium and Kompania Teatr of Lublin, this challenging and somewhat specialized import is an original adaptation of Witold Gombrowicz’s 1937 underground novel on a loosely Faustian theme.

Steeped in a nightmarish world of irrationality and unfettered impulses (even the title is a meaningless neologism), the work revolves around a surreal regression experienced by Joseph (Witold Mazurkiewicz, who co-directed with Janusz Oprynski), a repressed writer in his 30s. Kafkaesque associations are entirely appropriate as this Joseph is sent back as an adult to reexperience his school days, his first love and other episodes from his past.

Presided over by his imperious professor (Jacek Brzezinski), Joseph’s journey is a microcosmic historical tour of European philosophical pitfalls, pitting the realm of pristine, unrealizable ideals against stark realities of low appetites and bodily squalor, exemplified in his oafish schoolmates (Jaroslaw Tomica, Michal Zgiet). Theology, science, sexuality and politics all receive sharply satirical treatment.

Jerzy Rudzki’s spare scenic design situates the play within the confines of a metal rod cube reminiscent of a Francis Bacon painting--all that’s missing are the slabs of meat, though the exchanges between the characters can get pretty raw.

The troupe’s highly physicalized expressionistic style, which renders unfiltered emotions with impressive, universal precision, will appeal to any student of the performing arts. In particular, the approach to absurdist slapstick is distinctively more sardonic and hard-edged than in Western stage traditions.

Following the story, however, can be tough going because of the fractured chronology and sometimes stilted rendering in English (two of the cast speak no English and learned their lines phonetically). A simple plot summary inserted in the program would free the audience to focus on what’s both essential and strikingly successful here: skillfully applied stagecraft from an unfamiliar but potent theatrical tradition.

BE THERE

“Ferdydurke,” City Garage, 1340 1/2 (alley) 4th St., Santa Monica. Tonight-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Ends Sunday. $15 (Sunday at 5:30 p.m. pay-what-you-can). (310) 319-9939. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.