‘Complex’ Is Just a Simple L.A. Story

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: An out-of-towner moves to L.A. and decides he’s the only sane person around--until, just weeks later, the city makes him as crazy as everyone else.

Yes, it’s an idea as old as the Hollywood Hills, but that hasn’t stopped the Action/Reaction Theater Company at Chandler Studio from introducing yet another version of it in David Fonvielle’s “Hollywood Complex.”

A young writer who, like his protagonist, moved here from out of state, Fonvielle characterizes L.A. as a land of soulless film industry wannabes who salve their sorry lives with kinky group showers and hot-chocolate enemas. (No, that last one doesn’t make a bit of sense, but that’s the level of humor we’re dealing with here.)

Fonvielle plays the central role of Tom, a screenwriting hopeful who has arranged to share a Hollywood apartment with a guy he’s never met. This turns out to be Jude (Jason Cramer), a low-level actor whose constant companion, Clint (Christopher Brewster), is probably homicidal. Jude maintains an open-door policy, which makes the apartment a gathering place for the building’s other kooks: Roger (Steve Jarrard), a slimy, would-be producer; Elaine (Francy Cline), a pathological liar who claims to be president of Paramount Pictures; and Meg (Emily English), a fast-aging ingenue.

Fonvielle musters a homely, hapless charm, while Cramer steals the show as an amoral hipster whose ego outstrips his talent. English provides solid support as a seeming sweetheart who may, in truth, be the most depraved of the bunch.

Director Michael Holmes tries to rev the action to farcical levels, but he succeeds only near the end, in a scene meant to show that Angelenos can’t differentiate real life from an acting exercise.

“Hollywood Complex,” Chandler Studio, 12443 Chandler Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 4 p.m. Ends March 31. $15. (818) 786-1045. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.