‘Brides’ Heads to Altar, Three Times

Before his untimely death from complications of AIDS, Obie Award-winning playwright Harry Kondoleon left behind a substantial body of work that included “The Brides,” the philosophically supercharged tone poem now at the Sacred Fools Theater. Dreamlike and lyrically intense, the play is a lacerating allegory of feminine subjugation and romantic yearning, a fractured fairy tale for the paranoiac postmodern set.

Never content to do anything by halves, the intrepid Sacred Fools opted to present three different versions of the play in diverse interpretations by different directors and casts. It’s an intellectually fascinating exercise, a daring exploit by an up-and-coming company. In execution, however, the effect is occasionally tedious.

Michael Rainey’s imaginative lighting and Zachary J. Rau’s versatile scenic design--a series of opaque screens behind which the actors are frequently seen in silhouette--serve all three versions.

First out of the chute is director Pogo Saito’s simply conceived but rigorous interpretation, which layers elements of dance and choral technique onto the text. The talented ensemble seamlessly shifts from playful storytelling to the trance-like atmosphere of religious ritual. The effect is elegant, evocative and surprisingly humorous. Donna Tina Charles contributes an essential video segment.

The second segment, directed and adapted by Gerald McClanahan, is the least successful. The scene is a health spa, where women in terry cloth robes are ministered to by athletic male bath attendants. Dragged down by an inexpert cast, this interpretation never coalesces.

Thanks to director Blake Williams, the third time’s a charm. Set in the 1960s, the action revolves around a campsite in the woods--the ideal setting for hormonal hippies to engage in drug-fueled tirades about life, sex and the devil. Free-flowing and fun, this is a serious opportunity for Williams and his exceptional cast to explore the underlying misogyny of the free love movement, and the growing bond between these exploited young women, who stand poised on the brink of the feminist era.

* “The Brides,” Sacred Fools Theater, 660 N. Heliotrope Drive, Los Angeles. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends April 29. $10. (310) 281-8337. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.