Stage Reviews : Drury’s ‘Man Himself’ Brightens Trilingual Theatre

Monday nights, when most theaters are dark, Stages Trilingual Theatre is keeping the light burning brightly with a little gem of a one-man play by Alan Drury, “The Man Himself.”

On the surface the play is simplicity itself. Underneath, it has social implications for an observant audience. A British working-class type, the “man” himself, whose wife has left him for one of his co-workers--because he was so inconspicuous--is ironing his work jacket and pondering the narrow nature of his existence.

He irons slowly, with infinite care. That’s the way he lives his life. Everything in its space and in its time. He pauses, sips tea, changes his tie and changes it back again.

All the while he prattles on about himself, his work as a stock control man at an electronics firm--”green chitty in, red chitty out”--his lost dream of being a research chemist and his new friend Richard, who distributes political leaflets.

What the play is really about shines through strongly in Ian Ruskin’s deliciously comic, heartbreakingly sympathetic performance, and Ken Danziger’s flawless direction. As in all good social or political plays, Drury’s point is in what is not said. It’s a bitter comment on the modern working man’s social and personal traps when, as our hero says, “All I want is to know where I stand.”

At 1540 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood; Mondays, 8 p.m.; ends July 30. $10; (213) 466-1767.