Andrew Durand and Patrycja Kujawska fill the title roles in “Tristan & Yseult.” Photo by Steve Tanner.

Expectations can be killer, especially high ones.

I often find I like performances better when anticipating less. So I was slightly worried about attending “Tristan & Yseult” at the Berkeley Rep.My hopes had been dialed up to max.

It was, you see, a revival from Kneehigh Theatre, Cornwall creators of “The Wild Bride,” an earlier Rep spectacle I’d found thoroughly enchanting. Charming.

And unadulterated fun.

Regretfully, my trepidation about “Tristan” was justified.

It definitely incorporates elements that are wonderful, in both the delightful and filled-with-wonder senses of the word.

And like “Bride,” it’s an amalgamation of music, comedy, dance, ingenious staging and passion.As stunningly surreal as a Dali painting magically come to life.

It also dabbles in acrobatics and simulated sex.

But its major problem is being way overladen with gimmickry (such as a carnival-like “love-ometer”). The cornucopia of theatrical tidbits can become extremely tiresome.

Some of the humor, moreover, is veddy British and may be difficult for Americans to absorb — though the accents can easily be discerned.That said, “Tristan,” is a mesmerizing, one-of-a-kind two-hour funny melodrama with a sad worldview that unleashes the story of an adulterous affair. It bursts with all the inherent, predictable dangers of a love triangle.

And, just for spice, it stirs into the concoction a love potion both toxic and intoxicating.

Emma Rice imaginatively adapted the play from a Cornish myth dating to the 12th century. She also directed it. The book, by Carl Grose and Anna Maria Murphy, is fantastic, in both the fanciful and incredible senses of that word.

And music by Stu Barker (played by a quartet under the direction of Ian Ross) runs the proverbial gamut — from country & western to jazz and Latin rhythms, from rock to classical.

The ensemble cast of eight can fairly be labeled (you can pick the appropriate word, or all of them) splendid, excellent, inspired.

Cornish King Mark (Mike Shepherd, Kneehigh’s founder) rules with his brain until he falls from a distance for his enemy’s sister, Yseult (Patrycja Kujawska, who also starred in “Bride”).

She not only becomes the king’s wife but the lover of Tristan (Andrew Durand), a buff warrior and Mark’s neo right-hand man.

Add to that mix the exaggerated Frocin (Giles King), Mark’s psychotic henchman, and Mistress Whitehands (Carly Bawden), part-time narrator, part-time singer, part-time part the story.

Finally there’s Craig Johnson, who splits his time cross-dressing in a chiefly comic role as Brangian and an understated one — Yseult’s brother, Morholt.

Most fascinating, though, is the morphing of male performers into balaclava- and anorak- and horned-rim-glasses-wearing Everyman “lovespotters” who often peer at the world through binoculars. Their buffoonery (and use of bird and other stick puppets) contrasts with their slick knife-fighting choreography and mock brutality.

In effect, they form a modern-dress Greek chorus that occasionally dons floppy headdresses with crushed tin cans and various other amusements.

“Tristan” is a show filled with tension, drama, rhyming verse and Monty Pythonesque hijinks — including an audience release of squealing balloons and a shower of small proclamations containing threats of exile or death.

Plus exciting lighting by Malcolm Rippeth, sonorous sound effects by Gregory Clarke, and a nifty set by Bill Mitchell.

“Tristan & Yseult” was the show that made the fledgling Kneehigh troupe’s reputation a decade ago. The myth on which it’s based, not incidentally, is a forerunner to the legendary triangle of King Arthur; his Queen consort, Guinevere; and Arthur’s main knight, Sir Lancelot.

If you want the ultimate tragic version of the Tristan story, you might want to skip this production and to seek out, instead, a production of Richard Wagner’s epic opera, “Tristan und Isolde.”

I’d suggest, though, that you ignore any expectations you believe I’ve set up.When all things are considered, it’s actually a no-brainer:

If you enjoy “different,” go.

“Tristan & Yseult” plays at Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley, through Jan. 18. Night performances, 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays; matinees, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets: $14.50 to $99, subject to change, (510) 647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org.

Three critters jumpstart the laughter in “Frogz,” a Cal Performances show in Berkeley.

Singing cowboy has a little trouble staying erect in “Frogz.”

Leapin’ lizards? No. They just slither, in “Frogz.”

Woody’s [rating:5]

Three humans in full frog costumes sit silently at centerstage. They don’t move.

For what seems a long time.

That alone makes much of the audience laugh — most likely in expectation.

When one head finally bobbles, I smile. My wife laughs. Our six-year-old granddaughter giggles aloud.

Moments later, when all three are leap-frogging, stretching via calisthenics and frog-kicking wildly, I smile a bunch, my wife laughs again, and the kid giggles and giggles and giggles.

She also squeals in delight.

And that’s the way it continues, intermittently, for an hour and a half at the multi-costumed, masked Cal Performances show in Berkeley — charming both children and adults in the cavernous, 2,000-seat Zellerbach Hall.

Who says today’s entertainment must be filled with sexploitation, f-bombs or blood and guts?

Not I certainly.

Wholesome family entertainment obviously still exists.

My wife and I had seen the Portland-based Imago Theatre’s signature piece before, years ago. Watching it with the kid made it even more pleasurable.

There were times when it became extremely difficult to decide where our attention should be — on the antics of the five performers or on the delighted face of our granddaughter.

The wordless but musical two-act performance was fantastic, in every sense of that word.

Mostly whimsical. Almost magical.

Momentarily, a viewer might find hints of the mask-mime performers of Mummenschanz, the dancers of Philobolus, the acrobats of Cirque du Soleil or the illusionists of Momix.

Somewhere over the rainbow — perhaps in Kansas, maybe in Brigadoon — there may be another show that features penguins playing musical chairs, sloths that have trouble spelling, papa and mama and baby accordions that move like a Slinky, flittering lights and flying schools of fish, huge balls that momentarily squoosh an equally huge toddler, an alligator and lizard that squirm into the audience, and a singing cowboy with a non-stop changing head.

But I doubt it: “Frogz” is special, one-of-a-kind.

Flawlessly, it blends lively cartoonish characters with imaginative illusions that utilize mime, dance, acrobatics and puppetry.

Carol Triffle and Jerry Mouawad, artistic co-creators, dreamed up the show in the late 1970s. And it’s clear they dreamed in comic relief and primary colors.

The original sound design of Katie Griesar complements their efforts.

Griesar, the program guide acknowledges, “makes music with guitar, antique and toy musical instruments, found objects, collected sounds, wrong notes, and awkward gestures.”

Imago began as a mask theater company, inspired by French mime-actor Jacques Lecoq’s idea that performers could show emotions and characters through moment despite their faces being hidden.

Since its inception, it has performed all over the world — including three Broadway runs.

The troupe also has ventured into purely adult fare such as Harold Pinter’s “The Carpenter,” Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” and Jean-Paul Sartre’s “No Exit.”

In case you missed “Frogz,” Cal Performances offers other excellent choices for families. Try, for example, these upcoming show: the Peking Acrobats, Jan. 25 and 26; Michael Cooper’s “Masked Marvels & Wondertales,” Feb. 9; and “Aesop Bops!” with David Gonzalez and the Yak Yak Band, April 6.

  Woody’s [rating:5]

Analisa Leaming as Sara Jane is supported by Jeff Pew as Jerry in “Arlington.” Photo: Jennifer Reiley.

“Arlington” is a harsh study in contradictions.

Its world premiere at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco is all about naïveté and forced awakening.

It’s about distortions and truth.And it’s about a war across the globe and a girl-woman’s introspective fight to ease her mind and soul.

I find the play’s themes neither profound nor original yet am pleased it intentionally focuses on a couple that’s “not special…just normal…boring, in fact…like people in love.”

It’s a creative masterwork, a theatrical tour de force.

Possibly because it concentrates on those patriotic kids next door who can’t possibly fathom in advance what lies ahead.

“People are a mystery,” she confesses.

Sara Jane, a Pollyanna type, futilely tries to keep things upbeat while waiting for her husband, Jerry, who’s trapped in the middle of the muddle called Iraq.

She’d been coping well until he emailed videos of atrocities — women and children being killed and burned in a ditch.

Did he only photograph them, or did he participate? She excuses either action: “Sometimes the cost is innocent people…innocent people always die in a war.”

And I doubt that she could dwell on the notion she might have become a distant chunk of collateral damage.

She does, however, ponder the possibility of her husband’s death, mentally and emotionally tying it to her brother being blown apart in another war and her visit as a child to Arlington National Cemetery with her colonel father.

She considers, too, her husband’s current horniness and past crudeness and voracious sexual appetite. But she justifies those as well: “All men are sort of pigs.”

Analisa Leaming is amazing as Sarah Jane in this odd, unique one-hour, sing-through.

Her voice any given moment can totally express joy; a fragile, paralyzed Barbie Doll the next. Her face, similarly, can portray happiness or the anguish of questioning everything she’s believed in forever.

I find it marvelous that she gets to sing lyrics that aren’t fancy but in completely accessible, everyday language.

Obie-winner Polly Pen’s music distinctly adds to the atmosphere. It’s as choppy and fragmented as Sarah Jane’s thought processes (with the resultant dramatic pianistics overlaying the jerky James Joycean stream-of-consciousness).

Meanwhile, multiple sprinklings of humor — dark and sometimes unsettling — add texture to the play, which is skillfully directed by Jackson Gay.

Some mysteries, on the other hand, become minuses because they’re never resolved, merely hinted at.

For example, will Sara Jane, despite being pregnant, become a frequent drinker like her plastic surgery-addicted mother?

In toto, though, “Arlington” is unlike any musical I’ve ever seen — basically a one-woman show with the added fillip of a second strictly-in-her-head character onstage playing the piano.

And the piano artistry of the casually dressed, bearded Jeff Pew (a triple threat since he’s also the musical director and portrays Jerry) is astounding, especially when he’s in sync with thunderstorm sounds created by Sara Huddleston.

His percussive piano chords eventually become a deafening metaphor for Jerry’s losing control.

On reflection, I think the play itself may be a metaphor for what are alluded to as “bad dreams” and “devils of the past.”

Are those devils fabricated, or are they the real “foreigners” Sara Jane thinks may be terrorists? Are they akin to “little black bugs” that should be exterminated?

It makes me wonder if, in fact, the new American military mantra has been boiled down to, “Kill them before they kill you.”

There may be no uncomplicated or definitive answer, but either way, Pen, an Obie-winner, correctly labels this production a “musical that delights with breaking rules.”

It’s her first collaboration with Victor Lodato, who wrote the book and lyrics.

Lodato, whose award-winning play, “The Eviction,” was staged at the Magic in 2002, refers to “Arlington” as an “audacious new work” and says he and Pen are “doggedly trying to explore some uncharted territory in music theatre.”

I’ve become a true believer: In “Arlington,” the Pen and Lodato team may have reached the apex of their joint aspirations.

“Arlington” plays at the Magic Theatre, Building D, Fort Mason Center, Marina Boulevard and Buchanan Street, San Francisco, through Sunday, Dec. 8. Performances Wednesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Tuesdays, 7 p.m.; matinees, Wednesdays and Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Tickets: $15 to $60. Information: (415) 441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org.