Diary of a ‘Madman’ Devotee

Ismail Kanater has an actor’s feast--and a bureaucrat’s breakdown--in his one-man adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s “Diary of a Madman,” playing at the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles.

“Way back, my friends kept saying I should do ‘Madman’--but I never did,” noted the Moroccan native. “Time passed. I came to America and went through some sad things, which made me think of the character and his loss of identity. I’d always had friends; for the first time I experienced a sense of isolation. I understood that feeling of being alone, when no one knows who you are. And I started thinking Gogol. I started thinking Madman. You know, Gogol himself died a madman--with almost the same experiences as the character.”

Kanater (whose training includes the Conservatory of Casablanca and a filmmaking degree from the Rhode Island School of Design) borrowed on that knowledge here, creating a composite Madman character based on Gogol and his literary creation.

“He’s a man who doesn’t know himself,” the actor explained of his civil servant subject, “a person who has an image of himself that’s completely different from how people perceive him. He’s not satisfied with his position in life; he’s madly in love with a type of life and a type of person--but doesn’t have the courage to confront it, to communicate his feeling. Instead he takes it in, then goes home. With such a sensitive person, the edge is so close; his (sanity) is always held by a hair. And it can break anytime.”

In spite of his character’s torment, Kanater relishes the artistic workout of the performance. “I love to play it, I love acting,” he asserted. “No matter how complicated the part is, how complex. Acting to me is like child’s play. I’m like a little kid onstage.”

IN THE WINGS--Call this one Rees’ Pieces: Roger Rees (who played the title role in “Nicholas Nickleby” on Broadway, currently seen as the dastardly billionaire Robin Colcord on “Cheers”) takes on the role of playwright as his two-person romantic thriller “Double Double”--co-written by Rees and Eric Elice--opens Friday at the Tiffany Theatre. Claudia A. Weitsman directs Nicole Orth-Pallavicini and Rudolph Willrich . . .

And Then There Were None: “The Ten Little Milknoses” find themselves meeting mysterious demises, one by one, in this sketch-and-song spoof of Agatha Christie’s classic whodunit, opening Sept. 21 at the Victory Theatre in Burbank.

Foot-Fest: Downtown’s Itchy Foot Cabaret gets into the Open Festival spirit with a roster of nightly performances: “Picture of a Goddess” about Sarah Bernhardt (Monday), Brian Rasmussen in “Sincerely Yours, Vincent--The Last Years of Vincent Van Gogh,” (Tuesday), an evening of songs with Pilar (Wednesday), jazz with Mike Fahn (Thursday), Dan Bredemann’s “I Am Not Lewis Carroll” (Friday) and Ed Munter’s rock musical “Politix of the Heart” (Saturday). Tickets are $10. (213) 288-6591.

In case you need a theater refresher course, the Hollywood Arts Council and Chamber of Commerce have scheduled a tour of Hollywood-area theaters, today from 1 to 5 p.m. Tours will leave Crossroads of the World (6671 Sunset Blvd.), with stops that include rehearsal-watching, play readings and discussions with the artists at the Stella Adler Theatre, Stages, Theatre/Theater, Celtic Arts Center, West Coast Ensemble and more. Tickets are $5; $3 for students and seniors. For further information: (213) 663-5070.