STAGE REVIEW : ‘Poor Murderer’ an Engrossing Labyrinth

At the beginning of this century, psychiatry was a new medical toy, trying to measure the level of self-deception that drew the line between sanity and madness.

Observe professor Drzhembitsky (Sherri Stone Butler), a character in Pavel Kohout’s multilayered “Poor Murderer,” at the Open Fist Theatre. The volatile, sharp-tongued doctor at the St. Elizabeth Institute for Nervous Disorders in St. Petersburg, Russia, has organized what might have been one of the first uses of psychodrama. She has invited the entire company of the Royal Theatre to perform an autobiographical play written by one of her most difficult patients, Anton Kerzhentsev (Matthew Sheehan).

The first layer peels back to reveal that before his hospitalization, Anton was a leading member of that company. He said good-by to reality while playing Hamlet. But, often appearing more lucid than he is, Anton believes in beginning when he first discovered deception--after his father discovered him masturbating, and punished him, whereupon Anton discovered his father having sex with a maid. The pattern of deception began to form.

Kohout’s fascinating script, which includes the performance of Anton’s illuminating script, swirls like a maelstrom. It draws the viewer into a hall of mirrors, where truth bends back on itself and redoubles its own image, from the main hall of the Institute, into Anton’s memory of his past, even into the actual performance of “Hamlet” when he committed the murder--or did he?--that caused him to snap.

For all intents and purposes, this dramatic labyrinth--as engrossing and enticing as an all-white jigsaw puzzle--is a one-man show. Anton tells his story his way. Sheehan never misses a beat or a shading as the madman struggling to sort out the images that torture him--at moments coiling like a spring, at others dashing in all directions like a trapped animal.

Butler, despite a tendency to lose diction when overly emotional, is excellent as the Professor. Also effective are kinetic Dean Yacalis and reticent Kelly Mayes as the acting couple who are the straws that break Anton’s reason.

The supporting players echo reality as the actors of the Royal Theatre, varied in their abilities and styles, but always part of director Ziad H. Hamzeh’s dramatic tapestry. Hamzeh also designed the evocative setting, and along with Sheehan, the resonant sound design.

Eve Adams-Contreras and Ann Pemberton’s costumes pinpoint the period perfectly, and the lighting design by Bill Lackemacher and Rich Comito neatly separates Anton’s confusion and his clarity, as he ricochets between them.

* “Poor Murderer,” Open Fist Theatre, 1625 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays,8 p.m. Ends Nov. 7. $15; (213) 882-6912. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.