LOS ANGELES -- In a small theater off a back alley in Santa Monica, the eccentric foibles of the nouveau riche were getting riotously ripped. The play was old -- Moliere's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman) -- but the ripostes, courtesy of a new translation by Frederique Michel and Charles Duncombe, hit their marks squarely here in the Hollywood shadows during the modern gilded age.

Michel and Duncombe are artistic and managing directors, respectively, of City Garage, one of about 280 theaters in a city known for its screen, not its stage, productions. A 10-day tour of theaters in April revealed that contrary to its reputation, Los Angeles offers a broad range of original productions, from first offerings of Pulitzer Prize winners at the regional theater South Coast Repertory to Broadway-esque musicals at the Ahmanson and Pantages to fun fringe fare like City Garage.

Shakespeare, improv, musicals, Our Town: The offerings varied widely in form. Only one show (No Way to Treat a Lady, at the Colony) was irredeemable. At least one other (Octavio Solis's Lydia at the Mark Taper Forum) verged on great.

''It's been underestimated forever,'' says Steven Leigh Morris, theater critic for the LA Weekly. ``For obvious reasons we have an accumulation of some of the best actors in the world. You get to see real good actors on stage, on par with New York.

``The difference is the financial stakes are lowered. It's an activity not an industry. What you have is a huge, dedicated, sophisticated theater community goofing off, using the stage as a playground. Some of that play is very interesting.''

Major shows have been launched in the City of Angels. Margaret Edson's Pulitzer-winning Wit premiered at South Coast Repertory in 1995. The current production of David Mamet's Oleanna at the Taper, featuring movie stars Julia Stiles and Bill Pullman, closes Sunday and is moving to Broadway in the fall.

But what may be most interesting about L.A. theater is the mix of marquee talent with small stages. Aside from a few organizations like Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles does not have major producing companies pouring millions of dollars into theatrical development. What it does have are a lot of actors with time on their hands.

WHY SO SMALL?

Decades ago, the city's theaters reached an agreement with the Actors' Equity Association allowing venues with less than 100 seats to waive the union's higher pay and production codes. The 99-seat theater is now a staple of Los Angeles, giving performers something meatier to bite into than another toothpaste commercial (but not providing them Colgate's living wage).

''What's exciting is what goes on in smaller theaters,'' says Morris. ``You have to feel like you're on the Chisholm Trail and seek out interesting venues. The array of work being done is so varied, from high concept artsy to much more gritty to revivals of You Can't Take It with You, which are actually excellent. Be brave and explore, [as] though you're coming to the Wild West.''

''Seek'' and ''explore'' are the operative words here. Los Angeles is one of the most decentralized urban areas in the world, and the theater community is no exception. There's no Broadway or off-Broadway area; important stages are scattered from Costa Mesa to Santa Monica, and everywhere in between. Theater Row on Hollywood's Santa Monica Boulevard houses a number of smaller venues.

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