From Canada, ‘In on It’ Plays Electrifying Games With Narrative

Some of the most stimulating theater in L.A. in 2002 has been imported from Canada as part of the UCLA Live series.

This week offers a brief opportunity to see “In on It,” from Toronto-based da da kamera. It’s almost as much a must-see event for theater lovers as Robert Lepage’s “the far side of the moon,” also presented at the Freud Playhouse, was earlier this year.

“In on It” is much shorter and less adorned than its Canadian predecessor. There is no set to speak of, but the lighting and sound designs are elaborate.

Two men--writer-director Daniel MacIvor and Darren O’Donnell--make up the cast, but they play many characters.

In one narrative strand, a man is given an unsettling diagnosis by his doctor, an equally harsh sentence by his wife, a self-absorbed reaction from his son and assorted other reactions from his wife’s lover’s family members. Both actors take turns playing the central character, depending on which other characters appear in the same scene, but the passing of the sick man’s jacket helps delineate who’s who.

That story is interrupted to show us a director and an actor rehearsing a play based on it. We also go back to an enactment of the original meeting between the director and the actor and their subsequent, now-ended romance, in which the above-mentioned jacket again plays an important symbolic role.

The three levels of narrative intersect and intertwine. But the script has been constructed so ingeniously and the performances are so precise that seldom do more than a few seconds pass before you comprehend which level you’re on.

“In on It” may sound stagy and artificial, and MacIvor never wants us to forget we’re in a theater. But “stagy” should not be construed as “over-emotive.” The production is replete with sly understatement--and with a few strokes of laugh-out-loud comedy.

Let’s just say that you will never again hear Lesley Gore’s “Sunshine, Lollipops” without thinking of the goofy dance routine that accompanies it in this play.

Beyond the artifice, the show’s thematic concerns are very real. Among them, established from the beginning of the script, is the idea that some events are planned and others unplanned.

The unplanned side of the ledger includes, in this case, the idea that a suicidal someone might take a stranger down with him. “In on It” played in New York last fall, just a few weeks after Sept. 11, which must have made it seem downright eerie.

The play is also about attempts to control the uncontrollable, particularly as manifested in theater. “In on It” was developed for years and reflects rigorous polishing, but by nature of the way the script is constructed, it also retains the appearance of spontaneity. This mix of qualities creates an enviable sense of electricity flowing between the actors and between the cast and the audience.

Four performances of “In on It” in L.A. are not enough. Let’s hope that the audiences include someone who is in a position to bring it back for a longer run.

“In on It,” Freud Playhouse, northeast corner of the UCLA campus, near Sunset Boulevard and Hilgard Avenue. Today and Saturday, 8 p.m. $30. (310) 825-2101. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.