From England’s Playbox Theatre, a Classic Comedy of Clownery

Youth theater, British style: Celebrating the art of clowning, England’s innovative Playbox Theatre is making a tour stop tonight at the Santa Monica Playhouse with its romp for young audiences, “A Servant of Two Masters,” Carlo Goldoni’s 18th century Italian commedia dell’arte classic about lovers lost and found.

The play, a combination of theater, music, acrobatics and slapstick, performed by company members ages 14 to 20, is part of a long-standing cultural exchange program between the two theaters.

“We created [the show] in England earlier this year,” said Stewart McGill, Playbox artistic director. “It comes from our interest in the clown in commedia dell’arte, the roots of comedy and how those comedic characters still influence the comedy. We re-explored [Goldoni’s] approach, the formalizing of commedia dell’arte, and tried to see how far we could take those characters for audiences today.”

The stage extravaganza, “a joyous show, a celebration of life and laughter for everybody from age 5 up to adults,” McGill said, has been “scaled down for the Santa Monica Playhouse, because it’s an intimate space, but we’re hoping that the close contact with the audience will reveal lots of new aspects of the play.”

The 12-year-old company, based in Warwick, England, presents a wide-ranging variety of classical and contemporary plays for young audiences. Early in the week at the playhouse, it played a performance of Diane Samuel’s “Kindertransport,” about displaced children of the Holocaust.

His company’s mission, McGill said, is the creation “of a national theater for young people that doesn’t patronize them, that is stimulating and thought provoking. Our repertory is broad, from Shakespeare to circus, but it’s always challenging.”

* “The Servant of Two Masters,” Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 4th St., Santa Monica, tonight at 7. (310) 394-9779, Ext. 1. $10.

Halloween Theatrics: There are scads of trick-or-treat alternatives and scary-fun events, of course. Here are a few, theater style.

Adults and families can take in “Hallowe’en Hysteria,” a “haunted musical” about a fateful trip through a graveyard. Created by Alan Sanborn and based on his song that begins, “It was dark and it was lonely, I went walking just me only,” the outdoor production features actors, musicians and set designers from the Los Angeles area and includes such musical numbers as “When the Ghosts Come Out on Hallowe’en.”

* “Hallowe’en Hysteria,” corner of Midvale and Missouri avenues, Westwood, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Repeats several times each night. (818) 341-8703. Free.

Children can get into the act outdoors at Barnsdall Art Park in Travelin’ Trunk Theatre’s participatory fantasy tale, “Askelad: The Changeling,” about a hero who receives magic powers and tries to save a king’s fortune and rescue a princess from trolls. The company shares its trunk full of costumes with audience members who volunteer to give Askelad a hand.

* “Askelad: The Changeling,” Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Saturday, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (213) 485-4581. Free.

And what would the occasion be without Washington Irving’s classic, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”? Here are two to choose from: Imagination Station’s adaptation (preceded by its spoof of the movie “Titanic”) at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre and the Falcon Theatre’s production of the tale.

* “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Morgan-Wixson Theatre, 2627 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. Saturday, 10 a.m. and noon; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. (310) 828-7519. $5-$7. And Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m., 4 and 7 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. (818) 955-8101. $6-$10.