SPIDERS, LIZARDS AND BODY PARTS CONVERGE IN 'JUNEBUG'.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

THE DREAM WORLD of James Thierree is a realm of surrealistic whimsy, a world where the bed tilts vertically to a 90-degree angle and the sleeper's pillow-headed double emerges from the bedclothes. Body parts can and do fall off (no gore!) and are swept under the bed. Life-size portraits mask singing surprises, human hands and feet grow out of plants, and beautifully weird spiderlike creatures cavort and contort.

Sounds - musical and cacophonic - play as vital a role in the sleeper's dream world as images. Thierree starts his odyssey accompanied by the persistent buzz of june bugs. This is, after all, ``The Junebug Symphony'' (``Compagnie du Hanneton''), a circuslike performance piece appropriate for families, but more geared toward adults.

Those of us looking for physical signs of Thierree's lineage may spot a few traces. The grandson of Charlie Chaplin, Thierree - who is ``Junebug's'' central performer as well as its creator - is a limber and well-toned 28-year-old with a shock of dark, curly hair, a trunk full of physical skills and an edgy attitude in performance his grandfather would certainly have admired.

Dressed through much of his performance in white pajamas, Thierree is a sleek roller-skating violinist, a tumbler, a rag doll of manic energy. Filling out the ``Symphony'' ensemble is Magnus Jakobsson (frequently as Thierree's impossible-to-ditch double), singer Uma Ysamat and contortionist Raphaelle Boitel (aka the human arachnid).

The ``Symphony'' makes use of balancing and bicycles, smoke, fire and trapeze. Anyone who has ever seen ``The Invisible Circus,'' an equally vivid performance piece created by Thierree's parents, Jean Baptiste Thierree and Victoria Chaplin, will recognize echoes in the younger Thierree's work. James joined his parents' act at age 4 and is continuing the family's half-theater/half-circus hybrid, particularly in the lizards and piglike monsters created through body movement and the innovative costumes of Liliane Boitel. A being covered head to foot in musical instruments was a particular favorite.

However, ``Invisible Circus'' is more playful and, let's face it, less structured around the concept of a waking nightmare. ``The Junebug Symphony,'' although billed as part of UCLA Performing Arts' family series, isn't exactly disturbing, but it's probably best-suited to children old enough to look at a human being and think ``spider.'' Thanks to the company's skills and imagination, grown-ups in ``Junebug's'' audience should have no difficulty making any such leaps.

THE JUNEBUG SYMPHONY - Three stars

Where: Freud Playhouse, UCLA, Westwood.

When: 2 and 8 p.m. today, 4 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $15 to $40. Call [phone].

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The Junebug Symphony spreads its wings today and Sunday at UCLA.