Karen Finley has made a career of presenting work with political connotations, so it's not surprising that she takes on the subject of 9/11. But Finley is also known for taking a distinctly original approach to her topics of interest, and she does just that in The Distribution of Empathy, in which she considers the emotional and psychological effects of 9/11 in the format of a lounge act.

That's right, a lounge act. There's a piano player, drinks are served and the program's host (Finley) goes out into the audience to solicit comments about how folks dealt with that fateful day. There's also humor -- paint it black -- in hefty doses.

If that sounds like a contorted way to deal with subject matter of such grave proportions, well, this is Karen Finley we're dealing with: performance artist provocateur, taboo toppler, one of the NEA Four (old news for sure, but the moniker still lingers) and a woman who admits that "if you're going to look for a different take on something, I'm the artist to do it.... I twist things around."

Finley's show is produced by InterAct Theatre; this is the first time the company will present a show that they did not create. The engagement came about after Finley called InterAct and asked if they'd be interested in bringing her in. She found out about the company on the Theatre Alliance website and felt that its mission of producing plays concerning contemporary social, cultural and political issues made for a good match. Seth Rozin, InterAct's producing artistic director, saw the same synergy. He was also attracted to Finley's "unique presence and personality on stage," combined with her particular mode of performance. "She is a serious artist and I think she has something to say. Her take on things is to push the boundaries as opposed to finding a conventional way of saying things," he says.

Finley throws a curve ball at The Distribution of Empathy's audience right from the get-go: the show kicks off with the national anthem. "When you have the ŒStar Spangled Banner,' people don't know whether to stand or not, and that's exactly what I want," she says. "In that indecision of how to be dealing with it, whether this is art, whether we are all Americans, I am presenting confusion."

This state of confusion is more than a mere theatrical ploy. It is intended to reflect on the state of affairs when something as horrendous as 9/11 occurs. That major event represents an unprecedented tragedy on U.S. soil, and that’s sure to make things go more than a little haywire. Finley’s aim, as an experimental artist, is to share her perspective on how “any person tries to make sense of tragedy, by seeing the mind-frame of psychotic schizophrenic thinking.”

Moreover, while responses to the World Trade Center attacks figure prominently in The Distribution of Empathy, the show ultimately plays to the broader theme of how we project powerful emotions when in the throes of human suffering. All sorts of negotiations, personal and interpersonal, are necessary in a tragic situation. Some of the outcomes are rational, others not. "You're in my mind perceiving the situation of how you go in and out of reality," Finley explains. "And [you see] how that out-of-reality is somehow making sense of what happens."

As in prior shows, Finley goes in an array of stylistic directions. She tells stories, gets conversational and does poetic recitations. She creates striking imagery by using props to ironic effect. Still, this piece is unlike anything she's done before. There's a sexual element but no nudity -- something the artist has gained a fair amount of notoriety for in the past -- and there are no rhetorical rants. "I think all of my work is different," she asserts. "There's only so much I can do at a given time.... This is what I'm up to now."

The Distribution of Empathy, InterAct Theater Co., Fri., Aug. 30, Sat., Aug. 31 and Sun., Sept. 8, 8 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 1 and Sat., Sept. 7, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., $25, 2030 Sansom St., 215-568-8077.

FringePicks

Chesapeake, Tapestry Theatre, Fri., Aug. 30, Mon., Sept. 2-Thu., Sept. 5, 8:30 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 31, 1 p.m., Sun., Sept. 1, 5 p.m., $15, The Playground at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St. The all-female Tapestry Theatre reprise their 2001 performance of Lee Blessing’s Chesapeake. The whole thing might seem overwhelmingly meta this time around: while Tapestry puts on a show about a conservative senator out to cut funding and ruin a performance artist and the NEA, Karen Finley, one of the real NEA Four, will be performing in the same building. Weiiird.

HeadCase, Madhouse Theater Co., Fri., Sept. 6, Tue., Sept. 10 -Fri., Sept. 13, 7 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 7-Sun., Sept. 8, 2 p.m., $10, The Playground at the Adrienne. Madhouse had a hit last summer with No Show, and they’re back with a show they performed at the 2000 Fringe, John Stanton’s HeadCase. The play takes a twisted look at show biz.

How To Be a Red Hot Shakespearian Lover, Fifthstreet Theatre, Wed., Sept. 4-Thu., Sept. 5, 8 p.m.; Fri., Sept. 6, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 7, 2 p.m., $10, The Adrienne. Every Fringe has a few shows that have that perfect, grabby title. This is one of those shows. Will it live up to its catchy name? With the promise of a “neo-Elizabethan empowerment seminar,” how could it not?

FoodPicks

Monks Café, 264 S. 16th St., 215-545-7005

Nodding Head, 1516 Sansom St., second floor, 215-569-9525

Love the cheese plate, great for a beer (try one of their homebrews) and a snack after a show.

Cibucan, 2025 Sansom St., 215-231-9895

Sansom Street Oyster House, 1516 Sansom St., 215-567-7683

Great raw bar, chowdas and seafood dishes. Park yourself at the bar or enjoy a fancy pre-Fringe sit-down dinner.

Happy Rooster, 118 S. 16th St., 215-963-9311