THEATER BEAT

Theatre Banshee’s vanilla staging of “Macbeth” offers little in terms of theatrical innovation or conceptual bravado. But this somewhat bland production features an outstanding performance by Andrew Leman as the murderous Scottish thane whose power lust proves to be his ultimate undoing.

Leman’s interpretation of the title role is quiet and introspective, a slow boil of ambition that curdles into something more sinister. The actor delivers Shakespeare’s words with a calmness that respects both the text and the audience’s ability to comprehend the verse without the help of actorly emoting.

But spotty acting by the rest of the cast -- as well as an overall lack of theatrical inspiration -- makes this production of Shakespeare’s tragedy a rather pedestrian affair. The supporting cast tends to oversell their lines (the younger cast members are far more guilty of this than their restrained elders) and the result is ultimately fatiguing for the viewer.

The production, directed by Sean Branney, eschews the contemporary drag that is de rigueur for Shakespearean revivals in favor of traditional medieval couture. The bloodthirsty Lady Macbeth (McKerrin Kelly) cuts an appropriately imperious figure, while the three witches (Annie Abrams, Kacey Camp and Rebecca Wackler) look convincingly diseased and pustular. Music by local Celtic group Wicked Tinkers is used mostly for scene changes, providing much- needed ambience for this under-imagined production.

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-- David Ng

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“Macbeth,” Theatre Banshee, 3435 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends April 26. $20. (818) 846-5323. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

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An intense but uneven debut

Keith Bridges’ psychosexual drama “Lie With Me” has an instructive title -- the characters are either crawling into bed with one another or they’re telling hurtful stories of dubious veracity.

This intensely acted but deeply flawed new play follows the lives of two sisters: Carla (Taylor Coffman), a sex worker who can’t seem to work up much passion for her live-in boyfriend, and Susan (Amber Hamilton), a barely legal nymphet who struts around the house in her underwear.

The sisters perform a synchronized cannonball into the deep end of familial dysfunction. Their father, Stan (Christian Lebano), harbors a festering sexual secret of his own, while their mother (Emily Morrison) hurls insults from her hospital deathbed. The confluence of repressed anger and hatred climaxes in a gruesome family smash-up.

Bridges’ play (which serves as the first outing for the new Mutineer Theatre Company) struggles to find a consistent -- or at least consistently inconsistent -- tone. Scenes of campy comedy randomly cohabit with moments of heart-tugging sincerity. When the plot’s big secret is revealed, it feels contrived and unconvincing -- just another twist in the story’s flow chart of sexual pathology.

Still, the play (directed by Joe Banno) contains a few powerful scenes, the most memorable of which is a bathroom seduction between the Lolita-esque Susan and her sister’s boyfriend (Jon Cohn). Cheerfully trashy and unafraid of being gross, the scene -- which involves urination and a jar of vomitus -- has a concision and formal elegance that the rest of the drama sorely lacks.

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-- David Ng

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“Lie With Me,”Art/Works, 6569 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m., Sundays. Ends April 5. $18. (323) 960-7787. Running time: 2 hours.

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A promising duo is getting started

Commercial seduction battles existential simplicity amid the abstract angles of “The Parabox” at Son of Semele theater. This guest attraction from Post Fact Productions enfolds its core message within a relatively ornate avant-garde framework.

Make that “avant hard,” which is how co-directors/performers Rachel Kolar and Lauren Brown describe their ethos. Merging movement, sound, text and socially conscious subjects, Post Fact aims to create widespread experimental performance through the marriage of local progressive music and theater.

Accordingly, “Parabox” features a vivid soundtrack from Future Pigeon and Lucky Dragons, and intriguing designs on a dime, with Dayv Sweetland’s lighting especially mordant. Kolar’s oblique narrative concerns a pair of elemental entities who run the gamut of postmodern desires and conflicts after exposure to the title object, a metaphor for television and the influence of Madison Avenue.

Highlights include the tickling opening video set on a craggy beach, a side-by-side erotic interlude behind hanging frames that dominate the bare-bones set, and the climactic arrival of competitive trains of silver-sprayed cardboard boxes.

Both artists are notably talented, lithe in their unitards, landing Brown’s choreography and the stylized dialogue with easily correlated conviction. Kolar is a shade more facially resonant, Brown a bit wider of vocal range, but they make an impressively well-matched duo.

Less decisive is the brevity of the piece, which barely makes its ambitious case before it abruptly ends. The various performance art techniques on display are admirable, yet at times flashes of art-school whimsy less paradoxical than precious are detectable.

There are interesting, worthy notions in “The Parabox.” Its creators are certainly an experimental pair to keep an eye on. However, its resourceful packaging rather outstrips its slender content.

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-- David C. Nichols

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“The Parabox,” Son of Semele, 3301 Beverly Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends March 29. $12. (781) 710-1402. Running time: 35 minutes.

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Deciding who receives dialysis

March is National Kidney Month, which makes the docudrama “Who Lives?” only appropriate. Christopher Meeks’ fact-based play about an anonymous citizens committee charged with deciding dialysis candidates receives an agreeable staging at Pico Playhouse.

Presented by the Renal Support Network, “Who Lives?” transpires in 1963 Seattle, as the silhouetted skyline along designer Will Pellegrini’s set indicates. A classical violinist (Richard Adkins) eventually proves pivotal to a plot that follows attorney Gabriel Hornstein (Matt Gottlieb). After an opening scene of discord with wife Margaret (Monica Himmel), Gabriel’s physical symptoms land him in the hospital. Despite the reluctance of resident Dr. Shuster (Matt Crabtree), hard-nosed Gabriel demands and gets the truth: end-stage renal disease, almost certainly terminal.

When the panel rejects his application, Gabriel tricks his way into facing the people he deems responsible for his death verdict. His legal-eagle badgering ends up putting both patient and doctor on the committee. Thus, against the Hornsteins’ domestic unease and the ethical, social and spiritual quandaries raised behind closed doors, a morality tale unfolds.

It’s handsomely appointed, with Catherine Glover’s period costumes, Jeffrey Porter’s sound and Jeremy Pivnick’s lights giving the monochromatic decor depth of field. Under Joe Ochman’s direction, so does the cast, starting with Gottlieb, whose middle-period Alan Arkin quality keeps us from hating his spiky character. Himmel underplays to get past some cliches of dialogue, Crabtree’s sensitivity is palpable, and their colleagues -- including real-life transplant recipients R. Martin Klein and Dale Wade Davis -- generally do yeoman work.

The sincerity of the entire enterprise goes as far as possible to counter the vagaries of an old-school script that occasionally suggests several Stanley Kramer screenplays at once. Given its singular intent, however, “Who Lives?” is respectable. Those who have personal experience with its topic should perhaps bring Kleenex.

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-- David C. Nichols

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“Who Lives?” Pico Playhouse, 10508 W. Pico Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends March 29. $20-$25. (866) 903-1728. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.