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 PENNYBEAR: A COLLECTION OF MINIATURE PLAYS AND CURIOUS DIVERSIONSTwo elementary school students have been caught with weapons in class and await the police while their principal attempts to empathize. 'I have lots of knives,' she coos. 'I've been married twice.' And she too would like to kill some people--the board of education for starters--but doesn't follow through on it. This seven-minute scene, one of a dozen brief gems in PennyBear's second full-length evening of sketch comedy, typifies everything this quartet of subtle, simpatico actors do well. They and their savvy director James Whittington warp reality just enough to let absurdity out, then play that absurdity for truth rather than laughs. The result is consistently engaging, honest, and hilarious--though almost none of the pieces has a satisfying ending. --Justin Hayford Through 8/1: Fri 10:30 PM, no show 7/4, Apollo Theater, studio, 2540 N. Lincoln, 773-935-6100, $8-$10.