Storytelling Enhances ‘Falling Upward!’

The name Ray Bradbury may conjure up visions of burning books and the colonization of Mars, but the author’s “Falling Upward! Or to Eire is Human, to Forbid Divine” at Theatre West in Hollywood isn’t a dark futuristic tale. Instead, Bradbury has delivered a gentle yarn, an Irish fable that centers on a particular bar in a small Irish town. Minor events--including a visit from some sun-kissed fairies and a humorous funeral--become greatly enhanced by whimsical storytelling.

Greg Mullavey’s Garrity serves as the narrator of events linked together as if for a night of tall-tale telling. There’s no strong dramatic arch, but this Theatre West production in association with Pandemonium Theatre Company imbues each characters with a puckish charm that the 90-minutes pass easily enough as the audience learns about the dangers of cycling and the odd sport of anthem sprinting.

Director Charles Rome Smith sets an easygoing pace, allowing time for mugging and other flourishes of character development.

This “Irish Fable in One Act” does have a moral in the end, but it’s served up sweetly. No one really falls upward. That’s just an Irish expression that Garrity explains as he enjoys the companionship of his fellow bar flies.

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“Falling Upward! Or to Eire Is Human, to Forbid Divine,” Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Oct. 14. $25. (323) 851-7977. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.