Circle X takes on a dream

“A wedding is for daughters and fathers.... They stop being married to each other on that day.” This bittersweet insight inspires the dream world of “Eurydice,” now receiving its Los Angeles premiere in a Circle X Theatre Co. production.

Playwright Sarah Ruhl strikingly re-conceives the Greek myth of the girl who falls underground and the musician who tries to bring her back to light as a story of wedding jitters. White-gowned Eurydice (Kelly Brady) wanders away from her own nuptials after the King of the Underworld (Jeff Ricketts) stops by, promising to pass on a letter from her dead father (the appealing John Getz).

But when the king puts on the moves, the fleeing Eurydice tumbles down to hell -- by means of a scarlet-lined elevator that storms with amnesia-inducing rains (part of Brian Sidney Bembridge’s surreal spa of a set). In the gloom of Hades, Eurydice happily reunites with her long-lost dad. Above ground, Orpheus (Tim Wright) mourns, searching the Earth for his missing bride. But does Eurydice want a husband, or does she want to stay Daddy’s Little Girl forever?

Ruhl’s getting a lot of attention right now -- she was recently awarded a MacArthur Foundation genius grant, and her “The Clean House” is running off-Broadway. She’s a true original, an intuitive fabulist of female passage.

But her conceits are often stronger than her ability to mobilize them dramatically. As her craft develops, let’s hope she lets her imagination run as deep as it now does wide. Her poetry deserves nothing less.

Charlotte Stoudt

*

“Eurydice,” [Inside] the Ford, The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood. 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays. Dark Dec. 24 and 31. Ends Jan. 6. $20. Contact: (323) 461-3673. Running time: 90 minutes.

Stuffing his ire

into a pink hat

High concept and low density collide in “The Angry Guy in the Pink Hat” at Two Roads Theatre. Although playwright Ken Brisbois’ ambitious symbolist study of postmodern anger bites off slightly more than it can digest, this nervy, smartly designed Next Arena production should speak loudly to the YouTube generation.

As we enter, a middle-aged man (Jacques Freydont) sits on stage wearing a bathrobe and one of Bella Abzug’s old chapeaux. Meet widower Joe, the title curmudgeon, who spews outre profanities with startling force.

Certainly, the two dysfunctional couples who watch Joe’s fireworks find him fascinating. George (Andrew Wollman), a blue-collar chauvinist, treats this spectacle as spectator sport. Duke (Jason Frost), the hometown boy who made good on Wall Street, projects unresolved father issues onto Joe. However, their respective wives -- pent-up Sally (a fearless Kristina Hayes) and overmedicated Lady (Rebecca Lincoln, aptly ethereal) -- are really the catalytic elements.

When neglected Sally turns a one-sided conversation with now-catatonic Joe into an audacious seduction, things become increasingly twisted. This is partly due to the anthropomorphic Pink Hat (Jean-Michel Richaud), who embodies Joe’s ire and/or headgear. Meanwhile, affably clueless Sheriff Brumby (Michael Cornacchia, a hoot) has misplaced his gun.

Brisbois, a veteran writer for unscripted television, delivers many acid social observations. His script needs cuts and a rethinking of some elements -- notably, the murky Pink Hat device -- yet, it’s often hysterical and sometimes brilliant.

So is the execution, especially Freydont’s volcanic title portrayal. His wild-eyed control spurs his worthy colleagues, whom director Scott Rognlien maneuvers with considerable invention.

Even before the trailer hits www.myspace.com/AngryGuyPinkHat on Dec. 1, this “Angry Guy” seems destined for a furious cult following.

David C. Nichols

*

“The Angry Guy in the Pink Hat,” Two Roads Theatre, 4348 Tujunga Ave., Studio City. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Ends Dec. 16. Adult audiences. $17. (323) 860-8778. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Always more life to find in ‘Death’

The plotting is ham-fisted, the female characters unsatisfying and it’s too long, but I defy you to look away from the psychological train wreck that is the world of Willy Loman, whose ride “on a smile and a shoeshine” is heading for an ugly end.

Miller’s 1949 “Death of a Salesman” about America’s wide-eyed addiction to success remains compulsive viewing -- especially in L.A.

Veteran director Bob Collins doesn’t mine the more expressionistic aspects of “Salesman” -- this intimate staging by Miss O Productions feels like an episode of the sterling ‘50s live TV drama series “Playhouse 90” -- but he tracks the characters’ journeys with cogent power. There are grounded, moving performances here, including Ivan Baccarat’s self-aware Biff and Alan Charof’s Charley.

Eddie Jones’ Willy is convincingly compulsive: A nervous bully and a womanizer, ferociously hopeful, he’ll do anything but slow down and see the truth. His ego implosions feel scary, and you see why Linda Loman (Jill Jacobson in for Anne Gee Byrd at the reviewed performance) fears for his life. This is a production, with something very much at stake. If it lacks a certain poetry, it bares real heart.

-- C.S.

“Death of a Salesman,” Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Dec. 15. $22-$26. Contact: (310) 477-2055. Running time: 3 hours.