Moral truths, spoken with humor, insight

Locals dissatisfied with the current divide on morality must see “Three,” the latest offering from Apartment A, at the Electric Lodge in Venice. Patricia Cotter’s acerbic study of three couples upended after one pair’s drunken menage a trois addresses monogamy with considerable convulsive insight.

Music supervisor Peymon Maskan’s pre-show mix and Scott Siedman’s Modernist setting hint at the flip tone. “Three” opens in the Brooklyn loft of Karla and Brian (Heather Long and Michael Gallagher, both giving breakout performances). After an Oscar party, these spouses bring a female third, Megan (Marissa Hall), home to experiment.

We join them at the point of diminishing returns. Swinging proves too much for self-conscious Karla, despite Brian’s eagerness and Megan’s flexibility. The awkward situation stimulates the often-burned Megan to leave. Her return interrupts them; the downstairs door requires a key. Brian exits to deal with it, but Megan lingers upstairs, spurring Karla to an admission and a perversely funny reversal.

Next come Karla and Brian’s friends, same-sex couples whose dilemmas complicate the Oscar-night consequences. Emily (Jennifer DeMartino) and Rachel (Casey Siegenfeld) approach meltdown in their relationship. Emily wants a child, an idea Rachel rejects: “Why is every woman in the world having this conversation? We’re like a mouthpiece for the Lifetime network.”

Danny (Jay Huguley) and Jonathan (Ian Jensen) seem the healthiest; only Jonathan questions their open arrangement. His need for fidelity causes Danny severe anxiety attacks, no more than he deserves for “falling in love with someone outside your decade.”

By the bittersweet ending, everyone learns love and change are not mutually exclusive, nor codified by sexual orientation.

Cotter has some slogans and stereotypes that need revising, and leans heavily on the marketable wisecracks. Still, her vernacular ease and singular wit recall Richard Greenberg and Wendy Wasserstein.

Director Michael Angelo Stuno manages a sly, invisible momentum, and the cast is terrific. Siedman’s paint-washed wood pieces, Sara Huddleston’s sound and Kathi O’Donohue’s lighting follow his lead.

“Three” is no miracle, but it reveals an original, affecting authorial voice.

*

‘Three’

Where: Electric Lodge Performance Space, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice

When: . 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Ends: Dec. 4

Price: $20

Contact: (310) 823-0710, Ext. 3, or www.apartmentA.org

Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes