STAGE REVIEWS : Four One-Acts at Lex Range From Strident to Delicate

Actors Conservatory Ensemble, the legacy of the late acting coaches Peggy Feury and Bill Traylor, has mounted four one-acts at the Lex under the umbrella title of “The Wife, the Sister, the Parrot and the Pitch.” They are two- and three-character pieces that proceed from the strident to the delicate.

The best of the quartet is the funny, concluding play, “Imaging America,” by Howard Korder, in which an out-of-work film director (Bob Mendelsohn) pitches an idea to a producer of religious films (Mark Haining). Director Burr DeBenning captures the pinging, unctuous by-play of the interview process with a light, telling touch.

Director John N. Hertzler also sharply stages the little-known Tennessee Williams’ sketch, “A Perfect Analysis Given by a Parrot,” featuring a fluttery female character drenched in the scent of magnolia (the tall, lean and divine Janne Peters). She and an equally voracious female companion (Jan Kirby), cavorting in a cocktail lounge under wide-brimmed, floppy hats, find ecstasy when two Martians sweep them off their feet.

The opening playlet, “Dolores,” by Edward Allan Baker, with screeching, incomprehensible, dialogue from actress Iva Lane, isn’t so much directed by Robert Castle as let loose from its cage.

The evening picks up after that with the carefully crafted “Girls Talk” (playwright Korder again). Here a quiet mother in the Bronx and her nosy, talkative neighbor (real-life sisters Pat and Catherine Blore) gingerly dramatize a tremulous afternoon over coffee as the mother’s impatient little boy (a good performance by Ben Ganger) endures the prattling.

At 6760 Lexington Ave., Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m., through Aug. 30 ; Fridays through Sundays, 8 p.m., Sept. 7 - 16. $15. (213) 461-6244.

The Show Goes On at Theatre of N.O.T.E.

Live theater is fraught with peril but seldom the courage displayed by Eve Sigall in “Apartments” at Theatre of N.O.T.E.

Near the end of her chameleon-like, solo performance, she is supposed to grab a vertical pipe from an upper playing deck and shimmy to the stage below. But Sunday the pipe snapped from its moorings and Sigall, holding on to the swaying rod, flew through the air, arms flailing, and crashed in a sickening thud on her back in at least a 10-foot fall.

The director of the second one-act on the bill (James Higdon) came hurtling out of the seats to help her, tripped, and crumbled in a sprawl beside her. Surely this would be the end of the evening. But no. Sigall, costumed in a silk black nightgown, jumped up without a beat, said “I’m all right. Let’s just finish the show.” And did. Last report is that she’s got a sore back but is (miraculously) OK.

You won’t see that flying act again, but she’s terrific, brash and jaunty, traversing the dream-like, psychological terrain of assorted female characters in pointed sketches written by Marc Mantell.

The production, along with the late Daniel Gregory Browne’s one-act, “Lindy Skating,” was remounted from Theatre of N.O.T.E.’s 1985-86 season. “Lindy” is another tour de force. A quirky, hyper woman (the versatile Hilary Hartman), who’s been roller skating after a falling out with her lesbian lover, matches wits on a dank subway platform with an ingratiating actor (the affable and resourceful Russell Fear).

At 1705 N. Kenmore Ave., Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 7 p.m., through Sept. 17. $10. (213) 666-5550.

‘Two Acts in Park’ at Theatre West

Theatre West is the granddaddy of local membership theaters, and “Benchwarmers,” subtitled “Two Acts in the Park,” is characteristic of the group’s theatrical signature.

In this case, the acting and to a lesser degree the directing, not the material, is prominent. Jim Beaver wrote and also is humorously featured as a non-English speaking German tourist in Central Park trying to comprehend the flustered Cecily Adams in “Pressing Engagements.” The temperamental and cultural schism, staged by Dick Yarmy, is a sly reworking of “Two for the Seesaw.” But there’s a third character, too, a coarse, macho dude (Vasili Bogazianos) who doesn’t do much for the play. A little flavor goes a long way in this stereotypical stew.

The other benchwarmer is Barbara Nell Beery’s more strongly written “Do You Smell Autumn in the Air?” It enjoys the evening’s best acting: Timothy Wayne as a stuffed shirt of a brother who holds his song-writing, ne’er-do-well sister (Valri Jackson), in contempt. A sibling role reversal by the end of the play is amusingly calibrated by director Gino Conforti. The production is in rotating repertory with Sybille Pearson’s “Sally and Marsha” (unreviewed).

Both productions at 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, alternating Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays 2 and 8 p.m., through Oct. 7. $12.50. (213) 851-7977.