Eight plays from one playwright

Hybrid invention decorates “Asian Acting,” an eclectic octet of Asiatic one-acts by Rude Guerrilla Theater Company stalwart Aurelio Locsin.

Sara Guerrero stages the opener, “Legend of the First Banana,” a free-trade fable of Filipino/Chinese forbidden love, with pornographic abandon. Jenny Lee, Marc Macalintal and Stephen Oyoung make selfless puppet principals; Peter Balgoyen and Yuki Matsuzaki are shameless monkey narrators.

“Midnight Maneuver” is a restrained monologue confronting homophobia. Naoko Okamoto’s immigrant mother is convincing under Jody J. Reeves’ direction. A dance scenario, “How China Defused the Cuban Missile Crisis,” thrives on choreographer Erika Tai’s kicky moves.

Old-school naturalism graces “Mrs. M.’s Tea,” a WWII-era saga of a young GI (Keith Bennett, never better), his Japanese godmother (the wonderful Trina Mendiola) and internment. Director Sharyn Case sustains the pull of a superior “Hallmark Hall of Fame” entry.

“American Express,” a commercial for Thai prostitution, is a throwaway, despite Scott Barber’s staging, David Cramer’s tourist and Jon Apostol’s MC. “Tongue Lashing,” a Thomas Harris-flavored chiller, has unsettling force. Macalintal portrays a blood-curdling psychotic, Bennett is heart-rending as his prey, and only director Reeves’ awkward exit maneuver dulls the horrific thrust.

In “Xian,” Steven Parker’s stylish direction masks the spy-ware embedded in this allegory of pregnant ninjas Tai, Lee and Jalin Hsu. “Marriage Monkey,” based on a landmark California court decision, needs expansion, though director Tai and actors Apostol, Cramer and Wendy Braun do yeoman work.

The erratic aspects, a liability of multiple directors and omnibus structure, are fleeting. Tech is respectable, notably the costumes and Dawn Hess’ lighting. But it’s all about Locsin’s writing, which is original, sometimes inspired and superbly played.

-- David C. Nichols

“Asian Acting: An Evening of One-Act Plays,” Rude Guerrilla Theater Company, 200 N. Broadway, Artist Village, Santa Ana. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20 only. Ends Jan. 22. Mature audiences. $15 (714) 547-4688. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.

*

Daughters, moms come together

Upon learning of her father’s critical illness, local folk musician Leah (Michaela Watkins) telephones her sister Janelle in Manhattan. Janelle (Beth Skipp), dryly embittered with good reason, barks, “Stop smoking. Smoking in Los Angeles is redundant.” Leah fires back, “Acting in New York is a cliche, but you don’t let that stop you.”

This opens “Me, My Guitar & Don Henley” at 2100 Square Feet. Krista Vernoff’s promising dramedy about the nature of truth abounds in post-feminist wit.

Television writer Vernoff (“Charmed”) aims beyond laughs in her portrait of a failed flower child drawn by the women whose lives he has affected. The telling Pirandello riffs, one character spontaneously revising another’s remembrances, outstrip the tickling chick-flick quips.

Narrator Leah helps us negotiate the family snarl, hoping for objective perspective. In the ‘60s, Leah and Janelle’s mother, astrologer Isis (Suzanne Ford), stole musician Bob from pregnant Judy (Rebecca Wackler) after carrying on with Bob’s best friend. Devastated Judy kept her daughter Sarah (Kate Anthony) in the dark about her parentage, unlike outre Isis and illegitimate Janelle. Bob then stuck with free-spirited Sunny (Sharonlee McLean), now in denial about her mate’s condition. Everyone else wants closure, leading to confrontations whose soapy contours emit flashes of raw feeling.

A two-act form might better ensure optimal impact. The compressed atmosphere suggests “Oprah Winfrey Presents” by the final quarter. Still, the capital cast, funny and touching, sells it. Director Emily Simon keeps the tone honest and, barring David Holmes’ distracting abstract set, the designs are unobtrusive, which suits this amiable populist effort.

-- D.C.N.

“Me, My Guitar & Don Henley,” 2100 Square Feet Theater, 5615 San Vicente Blvd., L.A. 7 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Ends Feb. 12. Mature audiences. $15. (323) 850-8591. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

*

‘The Butler Did It’ proves clueless

Imprecise parody can be disheartening stuff. Note the Knightsbridge Theatre’s current production of “The Butler Did It.” Given a reasonably purposeful production, Tim Kelly’s innocuous send-up of the detective genre might have been mildly amusing, However, Scott Dittman’s floppy staging misses the point.

The action commences in an isolated island manor, where, in defiance of a withering storm outside, mystery writer Miss Maple (Diane Perell) is hosting a special gathering of fellow scribes. In compliance with Miss Maple’s express wishes, the guests must impersonate the characters of the famous fictional sleuths that they have themselves created. When one of the party winds up dead, the others try to trace the killer before he or she strikes again.

For reasons not quite clear, the characters persist in their impersonations long past the point of credibility, comedic or otherwise. Still, handled with care, Kelly’s unlikely premise could have been good fun, in a Bulwer-Lytton kind of way.

Unfortunately, Dittman’s cast just isn’t up to the task. Stacey James starts the evening on a jarring note as Haversham, a shady domestic with an irritatingly screechy line delivery. A parody of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, Perell’s Miss Maple comes across more as an adenoidal Beverly Hills matron than as a venerable British crime solver. Off-kilter, also, is Ben Gregory’s inelegant Peter Flimsey, a character that bears only scant resemblance to Dorothy Sayers’ dashing aristocrat, Lord Peter Wimsey.

Others give marginally more serviceable performances. In particular, George Alvarez is comically hard-boiled as tough guy private eye Chandler Marlowe.

On most other counts, however, this dark and stormy night turns dispiritingly soggy.

-- F. Kathleen Foley

“The Butler Did It,” the Knightsbridge Theatre, 1944 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles. 5 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends Feb. 26. $20. (323) 667-0955. www.knightsbridgetheatre.com. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.