FESTIVAL ‘ 90 : STAGE REVIEWS : OPEN FESTIVAL : Insight, Well-Honed Humor in ‘Dancing on a Needle’

As the audience files into the Tamarind Theatre they are singing a song in German, two women crouching on the floor, one man wandering about wearing a Groucho nose and glasses. This is not the world one has left outside.

These are “Three Angels Dancing on a Needle.” Their leader is Assurbanipal Babilla, who wrote, directed and designed the triptych that makes up the evening, and the women are Leyla Ebtehadj and Donna Linderman. Their work comes from a solid reality that is distilled through imagination until a subconscious truth is achieved.

They use intratheatrical devices and dramatic sleight of hand with insight and affection. Each actor steps out of his/her monologue to apologize for the character they’re playing and to acknowledge their fine director, Babilla. He writes incisively and humorously of his subjects, but the three stories in the triptych’s panels are only the bases for the broader art of their work.

It’s a fascinating evening that sticks in the deeper recesses of the mind long after.

At 5919 Franklin Ave., Hollywood; Sundays through Wednesdays, 8 p.m.; ends Sept. 12. $15; (213) 466-1767.