Do mortals ever wonder what greater power plots the larger themes and resonances; for instance, the details and dovetailing of theater schedules in greater San Diego? Earlier this week, a friend earnestly asked how the critic manages to see so many plays and musicals, write about each and still maintain critical and personal sanity. The response: each, in its own way, feeds the soul. That was before; this is after. The week of Sept. 29 through Oct. 5 the chickens came home to roost big time, and by Sunday night the critic was dining on her own words. The week’s productions and the performances were up to the usual standards; it’s just that the material was dark, pessimistic, and thus so difficult to digest. It all began Monday with Ion Theatre’s excellent reading of Henrik Ibsen’s “The Master Builder,” in which all the characters are master manipulators. Ion continued its week Thursday and Friday with back-to-back Neil LaBute openings (“In a Dark Dark House” and “bash: the latterday plays”). Saturday, I caught the final performance of InnerMission/OnStage Playhouse’s highly praised production of La Bute’s “Fat Pig.” Playwright LaBute is not known for his sunny outlook. The theater critic played catch-up Sunday afternoon, seeing New Village Arts’ extraordinary production of Sam Shepard’s “Fool for Love,” staged by Dana Case at New Village Arts. That left the opening of La Jolla Playhouse’s production of Jack Kirkland’s adaptation of the Erskine Caldwell novel “Tobacco Road” for a nightcap. How could one enjoy dreamless sleep after such a week? Joshua Everett Johnson, who plays opposite Kristiane Kurner in “Fool for Love” (others in the tight ensemble are Jack Missett and Greg Wittman) opined that “Tobacco Road” was the fountainhead of Shepard and LaBute’s dark, slice-of-life sensibilities. Though Shepard’s take on humanity is darkly funny, we care about his people, no matter how frightening they are. In “Fool for Love” the playwright tears off into fantasy, something that parallels Jeeter’s direct address editorializing in Kirkland’s adaptation of “Tobacco Road.” LaBute’s characters are so twisted and black-hearted that they are sometimes beyond compassion, even though he carefully reveals why they are as they are. As for “Tobacco Road,” the characters and situations in John Ford’s 1941 film are stereotypes that informed “Beverly Hillbillies.” According to several sources, the Broadway production played more and more for laughs during its 3,182-performance run. In the La Jolla Playhouse production, directed by David Schweizer, we care about these starving, ignorant sharecroppers, who do outrageously dark things and then shrug them off, along with the consequences. They’re so used to losing. Acclaimed actor/performance artist John Fleck, memorable at the Old Globe as La Nona (the grandmother), portrays Jeeter Lester, last of a long line of sharecroppers on a farm in the Georgia hills. It’s the height of the Depression, and Jeeter finds that even the landlord’s promise of a place to live for the rest of his life is forfeit. There is no food, no bank loan for seed, and thus no crop and no prospects. Jan Leslie Harding, who is remembered for her astonishing portrayal of Mrs. Zero in “The Adding Machine” last season, plays Jeeter’s wife, Ada. Add Catherine Curtin as the itinerant preacher known as Sister Bessie, and you have a winning trio. Kate Dalton, Mary Deaton and Sam Rosen play the remaining Lester offspring. There is some auditory difficulty throughout the evening, first occasioned by the Georgia cracker dialect, which, like Shakespeare, takes some getting-used-to. The second challenge is the sheer immensity of the physical production, a large off-kilter shack placed akimbo in a corner of in the huge Mark Taper Forum space (scenic designer David Sinn). Actors have the vast emptiness of the farmyard plus a huge playing radius to fill without appearing to shout. All the above productions are recommended. “Tobacco Road” continues at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; and 7 p.m. Sundays at La Jolla Playhouse through Oct. 26. For tickets ($29-$62), visit www.lajollaplayhouse.org or call (858) 550-1010. “In a Dark Dark House” and “bash” alternate at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 7 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 1 at the Lab at APA, 4580B Alvarado Canyon Road, San Diego. For tickets ($23.50) and information, visit  www.iontheatre.com or call (619) 374-6894. “Fool for Love” continues at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays at New Village Arts, 2787 B State Street, Carlsbad. For tickets ($30) and information, visit www.newvillagearts.org or call (760) 433-3245.