‘2 x 4’ Covers Much Engaging Ground

“2 x 4,” four L.A. stories at Glaxa Studios, confirms Glaxa’s reputation as a premier performance space for some of L.A.’s most theatrically inventive artists.

This somewhat abbreviated evening is subtitled “Four Plays About Death, Curses, Hands, Hair, History, Snakes, Sex, Sorrow & Dishwashing.” The wording is ironic--but no exaggeration. Playwright Lou Mathews and director Leon Martell (who also wrote one of the plays) cover a lot of ground in this sweeping but cohesive coalescence of sound writing, crisp staging and engaging performances.

Mark Torreso’s imaginative sets--particularly his sculpturesque wrecked car--defy the limited space and budget, as does Mathews’ ingenious dishwashing unit, as elaborate as it is portable.

The playlets examine the plight of the worker, from an over-educated dishwasher (Michael Monks) in Martell’s “More Dishes” to a sad soap opera star (Chris Kelley) trying to seduce his longtime hairdresser (Denise Poirier) in “You Did Some Good Work Once.” Harried urban warriors face being swept aside or crushed altogether (quite literally, as in the harrowing closer “Jaws of Life,” featuring Monks and James Encinas) by L.A.’s soulless urban juggernaut.

In Mathews’ folkloric “A Curse on Chavez Ravine,” we see L.A.’s bureaucratic machinery grinding with a vengeance as an old Latino (Encinas) recounts a shameful episode in L.A.’s history. With the Dodgers (and Peter O’Malley) so much in the news lately, “Ravine” proves timely, telling--and bitterly funny.

* “2 x 4,” Glaxa Studios, 3707 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. Fridays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends Feb. 16. $10. (213) 663-5295. Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes.