LA Review: 'Aphrodite 2: An Erotic Comedy Mystery'

“Being educated has never been a guarantee of wisdom,” says one of the Mensa-candidate characters in “Aphrodite 2,” and is that an understatement. This world premiere of Cornelius Schnauber’s erotic comedy-mystery is a virtual testament to the ineffectuality of erudition in the face of human psychosexuality.

Essentially a gloss on “Frankenstein” by way of “My Living Doll,” Schnauber’s scenario, translated by Anne Adams, transpires, per the program, “somewhere in the Land of Science.” It’s the near future, when nuclear physicist Dr. Emanuel Gipfel (David Bickford, affably underplaying) yearns for romance.

Actually, he craves an ideal mate, his past three marriages having ended in divorce, with the exes dying under murky circumstances. When robotics expert Dr. Valdemar Hummer (Joseph Beck, adroitly overplaying) informs Emanuel that he has created a perfect female humanoid, capable of every sensual variable and programmable for maximum compatibility—read “compliance”—and intellectual prowess, the die is cast.

Enter the title android (the fearless Fiona Bates), her allure only equaled by her powers of deduction, critical thought, encyclopedic memory, and increasing free will. Soon Emanuel is exhausted by Aphrodite’s nonstop libido, not to mention her ability to see through his scientific detachment and challenge his alibis for those pesky spousal demises. And then there’s the tiny problem of Valdemar’s burgeoning infatuation with his own creation. From there on, you’re on your own.

Director L. Flint Esquerra, understanding that this initially misogynistic, oh-so-Germanic philosophical-treatise-in-farcical-guise requires a straightforward approach, goes for black-box austerity. Paul Koslo’s set design frames the playing area with chalkboards bearing theorems and equations. It gives the maximum exposure to lighting designer Lloyd Reese’s resourceful color washes and sound designer Gustave Met’s gonzo parade of pop classics sung in German.

At the reviewed matinee performance, the three-member cast played gamely to an audience of exactly that number, so it’s hard to assess what they’d bring to a full, laughing-out-loud house. Still, you can’t ignore Bickford’s smiling-doofus proficiency as Emanuel, his late-inning imitation of Wife No. 3 especially funny. Or Beck’s rapid-fire attack and near-“Animaniacs” slapstick as nebbish Valdemar, particularly his unexpected switch to raving dancer. Or anything about the fetching Bates, from her statuesque appeal and physical control to her versatility of means, most impressively in the centerpiece “trial” of Emanuel, at which Aphrodite fulfills both prosecutorial and defense functions.

They hurtle around the stage, tossing off Schnauber’s syllogisms and references, which are legion, with full-throttle commitment. It almost makes the piece seem less slight of form and self-circumscribed of content than it is, with the final shift to pathos logical in a post–“Twilight Zone” way yet devoid of emotional impact. There’s some hilarity and thought to “Aphrodite 2,” but ultimately this is more a literary achievement than a theatrical one.

Presented by the MET Theatre and the USC Max Kade Institute for Austrian-German-Swiss Studies, in association with the German-American Cultural Society, at the MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Hollywood. May 18–June 17. Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (Additional performance Fri., June 15, 8 p.m.) (800) 838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com/event/245019.