Considering this insane Siberian slog of a winter we’re living through, the most enticing word in the title of Isabella Rossellini’s “Green Porno, Live on Stage’’ just might be the first one. At this dismal moment, the prospect of seeing something — anything — green is enough to excite the imagination.
But you want to hear about that second word, don’t you? Rossellini knows that, so she addresses the matter early in her beguilingly eccentric solo show, which opened at the Cutler Majestic Theatre Friday night. (Sunday’s show, the final scheduled performance, was canceled due to the forecast of yet another snowstorm. ArtsEmerson decided to give Sunday ticketholders the option of attending Saturday night’s performance or attending a newly scheduled performance next Saturday, Feb. 21).
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“It’s not pornographic,’’ Rossellini tells the audience by way of preparing them for what they are about to see. “It is obscene, yes.’’
Having made that distinction, Rossellini proceeds to deliver what amounts to the weirdest biology class ever. Her subjects are the sexual and reproductive habits to be found in the natural world, topics the actress both explains and enacts in a disarming, dare-to-be-goofy fashion that blends earnestness and puckishness.
Dragonflies? “Incredibly promiscuous,’’ Rossellini deadpans. Toads? “You’ve never seen such ardor.’’ Salmon? “The last act of his life is to make love.’’
Co-written by Rossellini and French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere, “Green Porno’’ is rather slight, but it doesn’t come across as mere celebrity ego-tripping. Rossellini clearly wants us to share her fascination with the mating habits of vertebrates and invertebrates alike.
Toward that end, the actress — a longtime model, star of “Blue Velvet’’ and other films, daughter of screen divinity Ingrid Bergman and pioneering director Roberto Rossellini — proves willing to venture beyond whimsy, all the way to silliness. The most diverting parts of “Green Porno’’ are the short films in which Rossellini helps illustrate the sexual practices of snails, flies, ducks, dolphins, and others. Among her costumes: a spider, a fly, a preying mantis, a hamster (she also appears live as the latter).
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Even this C student in high school science learned a thing or two. The takeaway from “Green Porno’’ is the idea that the natural world is a place of infinite diversity, variety, and unpredictability. It’s a message that is underscored, in a way, by our endless, punishing winter: Mother Nature cannot be confined or controlled.
Don Aucoin can be reached at aucoin@globe.com.