Burly, with text messaging

David Rabe’s Hurlyburly is a drug-filled, frenetic-paced voyage of tangential thoughts colliding with subterranean self-awareness and a dash of angry societal breakdown. It’s also incredibly brilliant in the way it depicts the bittersweet side of high-income media-drenched lives gone awry.

Katie Chapman directs Big Idea Theatre’s production featuring Kirk Blackinton (Eddie) and Rick Eldredge (Phil). The play is set in the ’80s, but Chapman places it in modern Hollywood, and the message is even clearer with the addition of smartphones and social networking. The players lock into characters as the story unfolds on a gorgeous set that shows off tongue-in-cheek artwork. Beware, this production hits hard.

Hurlyburly, 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sundays; $10-$15. Big Idea Theatre, 1616 Del Paso Boulevard; (916) 960-3036; www.bigideatheatre.com. Through June 11.