Erin Mei-Ling Stuart in My HOT Lobotomy. Photo by David Szlasa.

There’s an old aphorism in theatre that warns, “If you’ve got to send a message, use Western Union.” Fortunately, My HOT Lobotomy, now showing at CounterPULSE, is a multi-media theatre/dance work,  created and directed by David Szlasa, with enough imagination to escape that piece of advice. While played against a filmed backdrop of scenes of global warming, those scenes are integrated into the piece as a series of dreamscapes that follow the central character Joey’s self-performed lobotomy. Fortunately we don’t have to witness the “operation.” Just hearing about it in the jaunty lyrics sung to Joey (Erin Mei-Ling Stuart) by Spencer Evans as delivery guy is enough.

The piece begins with Joey sitting in silence on a chair on a bare stage with a painted screen backdrop of sky. At first it seems Joey is just staring, but at what? Is it a TV? The audience? Or just space? The silence goes on so long, one wonders if we are going to be subjected to a whole Zen-like test. How long can you stand to just “be here now”? Programs begin rattling. The word in the title “Lobotomy” jumps off the page. Is this what it’s like to have a lobotomy? Or did somebody forget a cue? Finally a knock on the door is heard and Joey’s head turns slowly to the left to acknowledge it. Enter delivery man with pizza. Pizza gets eaten. Time passes. Another knock on the door. Joey’s head turns again. Enter delivery man with boom box, tape cassette and more pizza. This time with an explanation.

As the piece continues, we get more explanations and songs and dance and dreams, all telling the story of a man named Joey who had had it with life and rather than subject himself to medications or shock therapy chose to perform his own lobotomy with an ice pick. Before doing so, Joey organized his life to include a delivery man to bring him all he needed: a steady supply of Pizza, exercise/ instruction tapes, and enough supplies (tape, scissors, a viola, a steering wheel) to eventually build a rocket out of there. The process of rebuilding his life from what it was to the joy of eventual escape becomes fascinating to watch. Interspersed with Spencer Evans’ fine singing and guitar playing and Ms. Stuart’s well executed aerobic choreography (Sara Shelton Mann) as well as Stuart’s expertise on the viola, My HOT Lobotomy becomes a satisfying piece of entertainment that gives you much to ponder well after you have left the venue. The collage of video dreamscapes is fascinating to watch as it uses both historical footage up to the present day and pending ecological disasters. Seeing a huge polar bear seeking a safe haven for herself and her cubs in the melting waters of the tundra is an image that both haunts the psyche and tears the heartstrings. Fortunately these visual messages are integral to and well balanced with the story structure onstage and add to the success of the whole experience. Highly recommended.

My HOT Lobotomy continues through November 2 at CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission Street, San Francisco. Tickets ($25) at (800) 838.3006 or online at www.zspace.org.