In her solo-performance show Along the Path of Larks and Swallows, Mia Paschal bursts onto the stage clasping a long, red velvet streamer to her bosom. The implication is clear: We're in for some heartbreak. For those of us who saw Paschal's terrific solo show last year at the Rogue, the question is: Just how dark will this outing be? Last year, Paschal offered up a searing depiction of her repeated attempts to kill herself. A blend of aching realism and abstract digressions, it was a stormy glimpse at a very complicated mind.

"Along the Path of Larks and Swallows" is not as dark, although Paschal still brings more than a hint of melancholy to the proceedings. Focusing this time on matters of the heart, she delivers another beautifully written and performed show that might not be as philosophically dizzying as last year's but that still connects on several levels.

Whether she's cheerfully delivering crisp aphorisms -- "I've never wanted to be a mother for the same reason I never wanted to be a dictator -- it's just too much work," she says wryly -- or delving into the nitty-gritty of relationships gone bad, Paschal's forceful stage presence can be hypnotic. What I like so very much is the way that she can hone in on little bits of life that all of us experience but never bother to articulate.

For example, in one segment of the show, she approximates a crowded nightclub by walking up into the audience, squeezing between two people and talking about how assertive you have to be when ordering at a busy bar. In such a situation, you have to assert yourself by directionally launching your voice -- almost like a guided missile -- so you can pierce through the other noise in the room and catch the attention of the bartender. This is something we all do, but Paschal notices it, and in the little sliver of a physical space that she creates, we see something illuminating about human nature.

I don't think anything could top the sheer, wrenching emotional power of her suicide show last year, but in many ways, this more mellow new show is as deeply affecting in another way. Relying not on the shock of the subject matter but more her extremely astute observations about the way that people behave, you walk out feeling as if you know her better than ever.

Playing: 2:30 p.m. Sunday 3/2, 5:30 p.m. Friday 3/7, 2:30 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday 3/8 at Dianna's North, 826 N. Fulton St., and an added performance 5:30 p.m. Sunday 3/2 at the Starline, 831 E. Fern Ave. Cost: $7. Rating: R.