‘Breeks’ Is a Buried Treasure

Premature burial--both literal and metaphorical--is the morbid theme that begetslaughs, chills and unexpectedly deep meditations on the need for human connection in “The Wooden Breeks” at Open Fist Theatre.

Set in a desolate, famine-ridden corner of 19th century Britain, Glen Berger’s eloquent fairy tale receives ingenious staging by Dan Fields, employing haunting performances, shadow puppetry and miniature set components to evoke the aptly named town of Brood.

Brood’s inhabitants are “stuck like reeds in the mud”--a state of mind wrought by isolation and petty self-interest chronicled by the glum narrator, a wandering Tinker (Bart Tengredi) obsessed with his true love’s untimely death during childbirth. His tales, recited to her simple-minded orphan (Rob Moore), pivot on the sudden appearance of her dead ringer, Miss Spoon (Martha Demson), a traveling saleswoman cashing in on the era’s rampant phobia of being accidentally buried alive in their wooden breeks (period slang for coffins).

Spoon’s product is a bell device installed atop a grave to allow signaling for help should the need--and the occupant--arise. The contraption is unexpectedly put to the test as the collective small-mindedness of the townsfolk leads to tragic consequences.

Yet Spoon’s presence also rousts the town from its own kind of suspended animation. Her most profound influence is on a reclusive, scholarly lighthouse dweller (Matthew Fox) who derives his experience entirely through books.

Playwright Berger displays rare virtuosity in his richly comic portraits: a spinster (Shana Wride) keeps ashes of her would-be suitors in a pair of hourglasses, a hypocritical vicar (Russell Milton) and his grave-robber henchman (Seth Ullian).

While some redundant territory calls out for judicious pruning, this quirky gem never fails to engage.

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* “The Wooden Breeks,” Open Fist Theatre, 1625 N. La Brea Ave., L.A., Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends April 21. $15. (323) 882-6912. Running time: 3 hours, 10 minutes.