Last Chance

Theater

Trainspotting--Would it be bad taste to call the stage adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s “Trainspotting”--first a novel, then a movie--about dropout heroin junkies in Edinburgh, Scotland, a shot in the arm? Sure, but no more so than anything else about the fierce, bold, harrowing production on stage at Hollywood’s Theatre/Theater. For those who recall graphic scenes from the 1996 movie, the first thing that pops to mind before seeing the stage version is: They can’t really do that on stage, can they? Yes, they can. Yeah, they do. If anything, the stage version, directed by Roger Mathey, is even more in-your-face. Your guide through this world is Mark Renton, played by the engaging Justin Zachary, who narrates the tale with a humorous but heartbreaking combination of amorality and innocence. The cast provides a fragile humanity that renders this dance with death ultimately life-affirming.

Diane Haithman

Ends Saturday at Theatre/Theater, 6425 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (661) 837-4819.

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Also closing this weekend:

Red Thread--Stephen Legawiec’s enchanting adaptation of a tale about a hired assassin whose new Buddhist beliefs conflict with her violent trade, replete with graceful martial arts and music, ends Sunday at the Gascon Center Theatre, 8737 Washington Blvd., Culver City, (310) 842-5737.

Proof--David Auburn’s Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a depressed young woman, her forceful sister, their brilliant mathematician father and his former student ends Sunday at the Wilshire Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (213) 365-3500, (714) 740-7878.

A Class Act--An ambitious, deeply flawed musical tribute to an ambitious, deeply flawed musical theater composer and lyricist Edward Kleban (“A Chorus Line”), “A Class Act” does have a brilliant, antiheroic star performance from Robert Picardo. It ends Sunday at the Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, (626) 356-7529.

Tartuffe--Moliere’s farce is whipped to a comedic frenzy, light and unchallenging perhaps, but it’s a definite crowd-pleaser, ending Sunday at the La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla Village Drive and Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, (858) 550-1010.

Facing the Calm--Jim Lunsford’s play about a confrontation between estranged siblings after the death of their father ends Sunday at the Knightsbridge Theatre Los Angeles, 1944 Riverside Drive, L.A., (626) 440-0821.

It’s Just Sex--Despite some set-up artifice, Jeff Gould steers an appealing cast through his thoughtful, consistently engaging dramedy about consensual infidelity. It ends Sunday at the Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 487-7391.

MsTrial--Former prosecutor-turned-

actor and writer Dep Kirkland parlays an insider’s eye for the ethical limitations of the legal system into a sobering tale of a sexual assault and its aftermath. It ends Sunday at the Court Theatre, 722 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 655-8587.