Highs and Lows in ‘Hudson Shorts’

In one of the playlets that make up “Hudson Shorts,” now at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood, a budding dramatist admits that his latest production “doesn’t mean anything . . . we just did it to attract the studios.”

One suspects similar motives behind this gimmicky and tremendously uneven collection, which has been coordinated by Valerie Landsburg into a series of three rotating bills, each with eight or nine one-acts. Judging from Monday’s schedule, which included a pointless and decidedly unfunny sketch about a guy who takes orders from a human head in his refrigerator, we can assume that Joe Eszterhas and his fellow movie scribes have nothing to worry about.

The entire evening wasn’t lost, however. William S. Leavengood’s touching and hilarious “Dinosaur Limbo” features a knockout performance from Jack Carter as a craggy producer of Broadway flops who refuses to go gently into retirement. And John Bunzel’s seriocomic “Men at Work,” about a homeless panhandler (Lee Ryan) who sees himself as an entrepreneur, should inspire lively post-theater debate.

Robert W. Zentis’ generic sets--a sofa and chairs, a park bench--make for speedy blackouts, which are a necessity in a crowded bill like this one.

* “Hudson Shorts,” Hudson Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Mondays-Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Ends March 29. $15. (213) 660-8587. Running time of Monday program: 2 hours, 10 minutes.