THEATER BEAT

Part docudrama, part classical tragedy and part scathing indictment of social hypocrisy, Moises Kaufman’s “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde” brings strikingly original theatrical flair to an oft-dramatized story.

Kaufman’s kaleidoscopic 1997 script masterfully weaves court transcripts, media coverage and first-hand accounts (both published and unpublished) by the major participants into a gripping story whose dramatic possibilities are substantially though not entirely realized in Susan Lee’s staging for NoHo’s Eclectic Company Theatre revival.

In the title role, actor Kerr Seth Lordygan’s opening quote from Wilde’s “De Profundis” asserts that time and space are merely accidental conditions of thought that the imagination can transcend. However, I discovered my transcending capacity to be sadly limited when it comes to an Oscar Wilde with shaved head and chin strip beard. Designer Bryce Daniels’ well-considered period costumes further accentuate the incongruity -- could someone spring for a wig for those of us with no imagination?

It’s an unfortunate distraction, for in other respects Lordygan does an admirable job portraying Wilde’s razor-sharp wit, his passionate devotion to art and beauty, and the tragic hubris that brought him down. Goaded by his lover Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas (Joshua Grant), Wilde brought the original libel suit against Douglas’ tyrannical father (Andrew Hagan) that backfired with Wilde’s overreaching wisecrack on the witness stand.

Versatile supporting performances from Hagan (doubling as a prosecutor in the later trials) and Darrell Philip, as Wilde’s long-suffering attorney, add dramatic heft to the legal proceedings. The courtroom setting, interspersed with opinionated quotes from contemporaneous luminaries, such as Queen Victoria and George Bernard Shaw, as well as anonymous newspaper editorials, afford an open invitation for grandstanding, at times making the trials of Oscar Wilde seem like a life sentence.

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Philip Brandes --

“Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde,” Eclectic Company Theatre, 5312 Laurel Canyon Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends Oct. 11. $18. (818) 508-3003. Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes

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Shakespeare amid old bear caves

The resourceful folks at the newly formed Vesper Theater Company could have second careers as location scouts. The most captivating aspect of “Much Ado About Nothing,” the group’s first outdoor Shakespeare production, intended as a yearly event, is the locale -- just outside the abandoned bear caves at the old L.A. Zoo in Griffith Park.

Aptly and wittily dubbed “Shakespeare on the Rocks” -- a reference to the cascading man-made boulders that surround the caves -- this initial offering, directed by Tim Landfield, is rough-edged but nonetheless charming, a propitious launch that bodes well for future endeavors.

Of course, Shakespeare’s dark comedy about a young Italian gentlewoman falsely accused of fornication at her own wedding is most famous for the delightfully acid repartee between the bride’s sharp-witted kinswoman, Beatrice (appealingly feisty Courtnie Sauls), and her equally caustic admirer, Benedick (authoritative Corey MacIntosh), who circle around each another like angry cranes in a mating ritual.

As is the problem with many local Shakespearean productions, certain actors are somewhat overwhelmed by the language, which suffers from occasional mush-mouthiness. However, there are excellent performances to be found, particularly Patrick Blakely’s suave Don Pedro, a well-meaning nobleman misled by his scheming bastard brother, Don John (effectively brooding John Dimitri) and Ben Stranahan’s Leonato, an outraged father whose emotions, upon hearing his daughter decried as a “stale,” run from confusion to dismay to righteous wrath.

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F. Kathleen Foley --

“Much Ado About Nothing,” Old L.A. Zoo on Griffith Park Drive. 3:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Ends Oct. 11. Suggested donation $10. (323) 207-6365. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes

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One of Hitler’s key villains

The name of Final Solution architect Reinhard Heydrich isn’t typically remembered among the top tier of Nazi villains, but that’s an oversight that playwright Cornelius Schnauber sets out to correct with his new drama, “Heydrich/Hitler/Holocaust,” at the Met Theatre.

Schnauber, who heads USC’s Max Kade Institute for Austrian-German-Swiss Studies, brings a wealth of historical insight and detail to his account of the pivotal 1942 Wannsee Conference -- where Heydrich, Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders met to develop plans for exterminating Europe’s Jewish population -- and its aftermath.

Director L. Flint Esquerra and his fine cast bring the characters to life with intensity and urgency.

Oliver Finn’s smarmy, good-looking Heydrich is a skillful political infighter who’s parlayed his job as head of counterintelligence into the third most powerful position in the Third Reich, outranked only by his boss and principal antagonist, Heinrich Himmler (dour, relentless Joseph Beck), and Hitler (Don Paul, distinctively ominous and maniacal).

In the play’s games of cat-and-mouse, Heydrich attempts to dodge persistent rumors of his Jewish ancestry, which Hitler perpetuates to curb Heydrich’s power and pit him against Himmler and his other top brass. Meanwhile, Heydrich toys with Anna (Jessica Sherman), a Jewish servant who offers to trade information about an assassination plot against him in exchange for softening his plans for incarcerated Jews.

Amid heady philosophical discussions rationalizing genocide, the Nazis’ horrific logic of brutality is clear and inexorable, but be forewarned that the show often plays more like a debate than a drama. As Anna’s dialogue with Heydrich and later with Hitler invokes morality with eloquence and passion, there’s an air of wish fulfillment about them -- what one would say to Hitler if one had the chance. But there’s no reason to believe such speeches would have been tolerated by a monster who held all the cards. Sadly, it took more than words to bring him down.

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Philip Brandes --

“Heydrich/Hitler/Holocaust,” Met Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends Oct. 11. $15. (323) 957-1152. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

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An ironic mix

in ‘The Seagull’

If love is the ostensible theme of “The Seagull,” what propels Anton Chekhov’s classic, and makes it a comedy, are the ironies that thwart desire. A kind of irony suffuses Marjo-Riikka Makela’s bipolar reading, caught between airy naturalism and stylized comment.

“The Seagull” is perhaps Chekhov’s trickiest work. Overplay for laughs and you shoot subtext in the head. Underline the tragic, and delicacy is lost. Here, famed actress Arkadina enters with a cortege of attached hangers-on, including author Trigorin, her lover. Konstantin, her frustrated son, presents his experimental play upstage as the characters gaze out at us until Nina, his muse, cuts through them, ending in the aisle. Sorin, Arkadina’s ailing brother, warbles snatches of “The Sound of Music,” and so forth.

The apparent intent is to parallel present-day Hollywood with Chekhov’s period-clad characters, as when the estate manager’s daughter Masha inhales snuff like a musician doing blow. Yet the staging succumbs to overt statements, and the acting is wildly variable.

Amelia Rose makes a lovely, promising Nina. Michelle Murphy’s sardonic Masha and Joshua Moore’s inept Medvedenko are essentially apt. Conversely, Devin Mills as Arkadina and George Villas as Trigorin are extravagantly mannered, almost baroque. Bobby Reed’s erudite Sorin might be a Noel Coward refugee, ad infinitum. At the reviewed performance, Wes McGee went on for Matthew Anderson as Konstantin, and his angst-ridden appeal was pure episodic television.

It’s not a thoughtless “Seagull,” and obviously a labor of love. Yet the erratic mash-up of style, form and dysfunction doesn’t exactly soar.

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David C. Nichols --

“The Seagull,” Art/Works Theatre, 6569 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Ends Saturday. $24 to $30. (800) 838-3006. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes