Living in Las Vegas and working as a freelance director on the West Coast hasn’t changed Andrew Paul much. The founder of Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre and now Kinetic Theatre here still likes his plays dark and with a biting sense of humor.

Mr. Paul’s attraction to August Strindberg’s “Dance of Death,” and the new adaptation by Irish playwright Conor McPherson is a natural. It’s a certainly a more perfect union than the one depicted in the play, about 60-something Edgar and 40-something Alice, a military man and a former actress whose 25-year marriage is awash in practiced cruelty and one-upsmanship.

Unfortunately for Alice’s cousin Kurt, he gets caught in the crossfire of their sado-masochistic verbal games and egocentric rules, sending his life on a crash course for misery.

The couple trading barbs -- think “Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and you get the idea -- are Sam Tsoutsouvas and Helena Routi, with Mark Staley as Kurt, who set up Edgar and Alice on their first date and has reason to regret it ever since.

“Dance of Death” is juicy stuff for an actor. It last played Broadway in 2001-02 with Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Helen Mirren and David Strathairn.

He has kept busy working with companies such as The Antaeus Theatre in North Hollywood and anticipates an upcoming gig with A Noise Within in Pasadena. Since being let go from PICT and moving to Las Vegas with his family for his wife’s work, he has continued to return to his old stomping grounds and produce and direct a show a season -- two this year, including a planned Sherlock Holmes play.

“For me, Pittsburgh is like my hometown and I still have a lot of support here,” Mr. Paul said. “I’m not in a position to be here full-time. My kids are my No. 1 priority and I have to find a way to make this new freelance [directing thing] work.”

What’s new in Pittsburgh for Mr. Paul is using the space at the New Hazlett Theatre -- in which most of the seats will be covered. In this drawing drama set in a converted prison, Narelle Sissons has designed a concept for intimacy and sense of forboding.

Mr. Paul has long gone his own way when choosing material, and notes that a Swedish playwright, even one whose work has been adapted by a noted modern playwright, can be a tough sell.

“I’ve kind of had this Strindberg fixation going for a number of years,” he said, noting he had wanted to follow up the Chekhov Festival at PICT with a similar deep dive into Strindberg. “That’s always been my thing. I love to expose people to works that surprise people.”

Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. SEberson_pg.

First Published: April 16, 2015, 4:00 a.m.