STAGE REVIEW : Traditional Lessons of ‘A Life in the Theatre’

It takes a play like “A Life in the Theatre” to remind us what a traditionalist David Mamet is.

He defends the tradition of the theater, by way of the chemical, spiritual and verbal interaction of his play’s two actors, without being defensive. This is not a man mounting the citadel against the mass-media heathens, but a man acknowledging what he knows best. Mamet has taught, directed, written and lectured on theater. For him, it is society.

“A Life in the Theatre” is about how that society continues, and how it will probably, in Mamet’s favorite word, decay. Were this simply about how Robert, the old vet (Bruce Kirby), passes on the trade secrets during a summer-stock season to John, the rising young star (Gary Frank), there would be no play.

The deceptive quality of this spare, even charming play--the quality absorbed by Jeff Seymour’s production at the Gnu Theatre--is that a life in the theater is getting shorter and shorter all the time. Robert has just about lived his out. The worry, never explicit in Mamet’s text or Frank’s performance but nevertheless there, is that John may be close to the end of his, too.

That could be a loss, and not just because John is getting great reviews (too great, thinks a clearly jealous Robert). He may become good enough by the end of the story to get nabbed up forever by the movies. Besides, if he wasn’t good, Robert wouldn’t be spending his time on him.

On the other hand, Robert may have little else to do with his time in the dressing room but dole out crackpot backstage wisdom. Kirby, in a very interesting performance, suggests both possibilities. This contradictory state of things naturally keeps John on his feet.

It’s one thing for him to agree that their co-star is a shameless amateur or to graciously acknowledge the old man’s compliment on how well he takes care of his “tools”--the makeup, brushes and so on. But what to do with Robert’s pre-performance admonition, “Tonight, could you do less?” Less what? Mamet then has us see the performance, and we see what.

If there’s a problem at the Gnu, it’s that the performance bits, interspersed between the backstage scenes, do more than they should. It’s one thing to good-naturedly rib the repertory circuit--if last night was the lifeboat play, tonight must be the costume epic. It’s another to imply that these actors are hacks. This is more contradiction than the play needs.

The real comedy is in the warm and strained relationship between these men. Here, Frank and Kirby always do less. Frank, best known for his TV work, grows into a role that’s about growing into a role, which itself nicely counteracts the play’s less pleasant portents.

Kirby’s Robert, slyly reinforced by the set (also done by director Seymour) and lights (Connie Jordan), recalls an aging baseball man still in the starting lineup but aware that the rookies are catching up with him. It may not be the best society, but it’s the one we’ve got.

At 10426 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, Thursdays through Sundays, 8 p.m., until Nov. 19. Tickets: $15-$17.50; (818) 508-5344.