Helen (Beth Morgan) sits on her bed in the center of the stage, clutching her blanket and singing “Another Break-Up Song: the most pathetic kind/for the girl that’s left behind.” Then she adds, “Feel free to sing along.”

This is The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical, but despite the self-limiting title, the topic and sentiments are universal. The Break Up Notebook, with book by Patricia Cotter and music and lyrics by Lori Scarlett, plays through Aug. 12 at Diversionary Theatre. Peter Schneider directs.

The back walls are plastered with blue pieces of paper, pages from Helen’s notebook. There’s a piano at the back; furniture is moved in and out as needed.

The agony of the walk-out, the terror of starting over, the horror of putting oneself on the dating block yet again – it’s all pretty dispiriting to most of us. It certainly is to Helen, who wails to her friends Monica (Tori Roze) and Joanie (Molly Lahr) and leans on gay co-worker Bob (Andy Collins) for support. They all tell her she has to let go because, as Bob so colorfully puts it, “You’re a barnacle of love.”

Helen’s funk is made worse by the fact that Monica and Joanie have set a date for a commitment ceremony and they want Helen to be their maid of honor. The problem? Her ex will be a bridesmaid.

Helen is so far down in the dumps that she hasn’t even told her parents about the break-up. When she finally does, her mom (Melissa Fernandes), in a terrific comic cameo, concludes that this means she’s no longer lesbian. She puts dad on the phone, who can’t deal with any of this. “How’s your car running?” he asks.

Helen makes a few faltering steps. A phone call set up by Monica yields an awkward call from attorney Sheila (Melissa Fernandes), whom the nonplused Helen puts on hold to call Monica. The pragmatic Sheila, not the least bit disturbed, notes, “Whenever I’m put on hold, I just do my Kegels.”

A series of unfortunate blind dates introduces the usual assortment of wrong (but sometimes comical) people, including a recovering addict in a cowgirl bar – or, as Helen puts it, “a 12-steppin’, two-steppin’ cowgirl.”

In the Puss in Boots leather bar, Helen meets the anything-but-shy Casey (Chrissy Burns), who nearly stops the show with the evening’s best scene as she puts a most unsubtle make on Helen in “I’m on Fire.”

Casey’s roommate turns out to be the very attractive Frances (Mei-Ling Downey), and soon it seems Helen’s search for love may finally yield positive results.

This is a particularly strong cast. Morgan’s Helen is a tiny little person with great acting chops and a big voice. Put her in a bigger house with a mic and the walls might shake.

Roze’s Monica and Lahr’s Joanie are just right as the already-bickering, soon-to-be-official couple (and Lahr looks ooh-la-la fabulous in that wedding dress).

The always-reliable Fernandes turns in a couple of cameo gems and all-around fine work, and Collins, the lone male in the cast, is funny and charming as Bob.

There isn’t a weak link in this cast.

Diversionary has scored quite a coup with this delightful show, which premiered last year in Los Angeles. This is its second full production, and from the looks of it, Break Up Notebook will become a staple in the musical-comedy field.

The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical plays through Aug. 12 at Diversionary Theatre. Shows Thursday and Monday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m. For tickets call 619-220-0097 or visit www.diversionary.org.

The unreliability of memory and witness testimony is examined in Rashomon, about the death of a medieval samurai and the rape of his wife by a mountain bandit.

Most people probably remember Rashomon from Akira Kurosawa’s brilliant 1950 film, winner of the 1952 honorary foreign language Oscar (the official foreign language category was added in 1957). The film was based on two short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, which in turn were drawn from medieval folklore. Several other versions followed, including a 1964 film called The Outrage.

Fay and Michael Kanin’s play debuted on Broadway in 1959. Rashomon plays through Aug. 12 at North Coast Repertory Theatre, directed by David Ellenstein.

Rashomon takes place near the Rashomon Gate and in a bamboo forest near Kyoto about 1,000 years ago. On a rainy afternoon, a priest who has become disillusioned and left the temple (Robert May), a woodcutter (Diep Huyhn) and a cynical wigmaker (Doren Elias) discuss the terrible crimes and three differing versions of the case recently heard in court.

On trial is notorious bandit Tajomaru (Richard Baird), who weaves a tale of the wife’s eagerness, both to be seduced and to ride off with him. He admits to rape (though he claims she was willing) but denies murdering the samurai.

The wife (Seema Sueko) says she managed to untie her husband (Mitchell Wyatt) after the rape, but that his cold and contemptuous stare was too much for her, and she raised her knife to kill him. But then she fainted and remembers no more. “I must have killed him,” she says.

The samurai (via the medium) says he was forced to watch the rape and that, afterward, his wife agreed to go off with the bandit but asked him to kill her husband first. The dishonor revolts even Tajomaru, who first considers killing her but then lets her go. The samurai says that he then killed himself.

The woodcutter, who did not speak at the trial “because I didn’t want to get involved,” tells yet another story, an almost comical tale which, to put it charitably, makes them all look less than heroic. “I couldn’t understand – I still can’t understand – why they all lied,” he says.

It should be left to theatergoers to decide which story stands. But the Kanins’ tidy American script ties up the ends of this very Japanese story, violating the spirit of the original stories and delivering a clumsily written message in the process.

This probably won’t bother audiences, who will be treated to an absorbing show and fine performances, especially from Baird, Sueko and Elias. Marty Burnett’s simple set and Jeanne Reith’s appropriate costumes are also a plus.

Rashomon plays through Aug. 12 at North Coast Repertory Theatre. Shows Wednesday and Sunday at 7 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets call 858-481-1055 or toll free at 888-776-6278, or visit www.northcoastrep.org.