Last Chance

Bitter Bierce: Or the Friction We Call Grief: A solo show at the Zephyr about the life and career of overlooked literary genius Ambrose Bierce, this is a happy marriage of performance and text that leaves us weeping at the church. Call this a love match. The show is reminiscent of “Mark Twain Tonight” -- with acid splashed in its face. Playwright Mac Wellman, who received an Obie award for lifetime achievement in 2003, has sampled freely from Bierce’s writings, while John Billingsley, under the astute direction of James Martin, couches that famously irascible character in a context of humor and mounting poignancy.

*

Ends Friday at the Zephyr Theater, 7456 Melrose Ave., Hollywood. (323) 860-9860.