STAGE BEAT : A Stylish, Poetic ‘Inn of the Mortal Man’

Sometimes theater is pond-size, a rippling brook, bubbling epiphanies of language and music. Take “The Inn of the Mortal Man” at the Met Theatre.

A stylish, mood-enhancing evening of poetry, music and a solo dramatic performance, the show is animated by the eye and ear of poet-storyteller Rob Sullivan. In the first half, Sullivan reads from his own works (“The Night Song of Montgomery Clift,” “The Long White Dress of Love,” “Autumn Elegy, L.A.”) as former Doors drummer John Densmore’s percussive punctuation beats an accommodating groove to the poetry.

This puts you in the mood for the second half, the title piece, in which an ordinary young man (John Diehl) recounts his adventures as a waiter at a mountain inn--adventures that turn from the playful to an eerie encounter with a mythical woman at the edge of the dell.

As directed by Dani Minnick, the experience seems inspired by John Keats’ poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci,” in which the power of the Muse lures the artist beyond the void of his soul. Hauntingly contributing to the journey is the double bass of Ken Filiano.

A classy evening.

* “The Inn of the Mortal Man,” Met Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Hollywood . Wednesday s , 8 p.m. Ends Dec. 16. $10. (213) 957-1831. Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes.