BEST BETS Thursday 2/8

IRVINE

8pm

Theater

“Dionysus 2001” is an attempt to give today’s theatergoer a sense of the essence of theatergoing during the dawn of the art in Athens some 2,500 years ago. Ancient Greeks attending plays at the festivals of Dionysus customarily witnessed a sequence of three tragedies, plus a bawdy, scatological comic “satyr play” to relieve the sobriety. Director-adaptor Brian Doerries, a masters’s candidate at UC Irvine, aims to replicate that experience with four plays by Sophocles. Abridged versions of three tragedies make up the bulk of the program: “Ajax” (about the fall of a great hero and the need for enemies to reconcile), “Antigone” (about the conflict between obligations to family and to country) and “Women of Trachis” (about sexual jealousy and how it brought about the death of Hercules). Then comes “Bloodhounds,” a bit of buffoonery to leave ‘em laughing.

* “Dionysus 2001,” Studio Theatre, Mesa Road and West Peltason Drive on the UC Irvine Campus. Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturday matinees, 2 p.m. Through Feb. 17. $7 to $8. (949) 824-2787.

ORANGE

6pm

Art

Guggenheim Gallery’s new show, “The Soviet Poster 1920-1940 and Its Contemporary Legacy,” celebrates the effect of Soviet propaganda posters from that era on contemporary graphic design. The original posters encouraged citizens to read and vote, support the party and work to build a better world. Today, the language of those early images takes on new meaning as graphic designers throughout the United States sell ideas and products in a capitalist world.

* “The Soviet Poster 1920-1940 and Its Contemporary Legacy,” Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University, 1 University Drive, Orange. One-time reception, 6 p.m., followed by lecture, 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon-5 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Through Feb. 24. (714) 997-6729.

ANAHEIM

8pm

Pop Music

One form of music in noticeably short supply at the new House of Blues in Anaheim is the one in the club’s name--so far the venerable John Lee Hooker has been the only blues act at the venue. Santa Monica-born singer-guitarist Coco Montoya, who spent his apprenticeship working alongside Albert Collins, helps on that front with a show tonight.

* Coco Montoya, House of Blues, 1530 S. Disneyland Drive, Anaheim. 8 p.m. $15. (714) 778-2583.

COSTA MESA

8pm

Music

Though famous for his 19 Hollywood film scores (“Adventures of Robin Hood, “The Sea Hawk”), emigre composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold began his career as a child prodigy and all his life composed serious music. Pacific Symphony concertmaster Raymond Kobler will be soloist in Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D. Conductor Carl St.Clair also will lead Webern’s “Five Pieces for Orchestra,” Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 and Strauss’ “Voices of Spring” and “Egyptian March.”

* Pacific Symphony, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. $19 to $52. (714) 556-2787.

IRVINE

8pm

Music

Named after the famous Georgia poet and musician, Sidney Lanier (“The Marshes of Glynn”), the Lanier Trio was formed in 1979. On this program, violinist William Preucil, cellist Dorothy Lewis and pianist Cary Lewis will play Schubert’s Trio in B-flat, D. 28; Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 and Dvorak’s “Dumky” Trio. Their concert is presented by the Laguna Chamber Music Society and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County.

* Lanier Trio, Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive. 8 p.m. $17 to $28. (949) 854-4646.