‘Man’ Meets His More Primitive Self

As one of three refugees holed up in a desolate theater for an ill-fated play rehearsal explains it, the engineering principle of bombs supplies an unlikely central metaphor for entropy in individual relationships and culture as a whole. Two opposites can coexist for a time, until the introduction of an unstable new condition, and then ... “Bang!”

The final detonation is more of a whimper as a quirky love triangle unfolds against an apocalyptic backdrop in “The Man Who Never Yet Saw Woman’s Nakedness,” a strikingly inventive specimen from the German avant-garde at the Odyssey Theatre. Part of the Goethe Institute’s ongoing Young Berlin Festival, Moritz Rinke’s play spawns plenty of absurdist comedy and a surprising emotional wallop, thanks to the staging creativity of Amelie Niermeyer and set designer Maria Bahra.

The piece transports an ancient German barbarian (Keir O’Donnell) into a rehearsal of the balcony scene from “Romeo and Juliet,” for which only the director (Michael Don Evans) and his leading lady (Lindsay Beamish) have shown up. As the newcomer grapples to master the intricacies of modern life--refrigerators, remote controls, and lots and lots of coffee--he is conscripted into the role of Romeo, on and off the stage.

His absorption of and eventual corruption by modern values parallels the other two’s regression to more elemental relations. Ingenious use of a pivoting wall at rear center stage allows a dual set to contrast worlds of lush romanticism and stark decay.

Rinke’s back story about a society where buildings collapse and cities are devastated has been overtaken by real-world events, but the play’s concluding sense of dread is all too appropriate.

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“The Man Who Never Yet Saw Woman’s Nakedness,” Odyssey Theatre, 2055 Sepulveda Blvd., L.A. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m., except dark tonight and Friday. Ends Oct. 28. $19.50-$23.50. (310) 477-2055. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.