Colony Revels in ‘Bedroom Farce’The Colony Studio...

Colony Revels in ‘Bedroom Farce’

The Colony Studio Theatre in Silver Lake is presenting a fine tribute to the playwright in its revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s “Bedroom Farce.” The company knows the style and, under Allison Liddi’s buoyant direction, they revel in the play’s conceits.

Taking place--sometimes simultaneously--in three bedrooms on a hectic Saturday night in London, even the settings have their own personalities and are as much a part of the action as the frenzied characters. (David Votopyan did the design, Jamie McAllister the expert lighting.)

Bonita Friedericy is irresistible as the distracted Susannah, as is Jonathan Palmer as her little-boy-lost husband Trevor. In the frenetic roles of their friends Malcolm and Kate, the physical comedy of David Rose and Denise Dillard could not be more on the button.

Josh Gordon suffers beautifully and hilariously as Nick, with a glitch in his spine that keeps him from attending Malcolm and Kate’s housewarming, and Kristina Coggins as his wife, who goes without him, uses Jan’s coolness as fine counterpoint to the madness about her. As Trevor’s beleaguered parents, calmly celebrating their wedding anniversary in spite of interruptions, Dinah Anne Rogers and William A. Porter also provide charming grace notes of sanity within the insanity.

Liddi conducts the play like the piece of comic music it is, and one can almost imagine Ayckbourn humming along gratefully.

* “Bedroom Farce,” Colony Studio Theatre, 1944 Riverside Drive, Silver Lake; Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7 p.m. Ends April 7. $15-$18; (213) 665-3011. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

‘Made in Lanus’ Tender but Tough

Whether to leave Argentina behind and find a better life in America is the question at the core of Nelly Fernandez Tiscornia’s “Made in Lanus,” a tender comedy with a hard spine at Bilingual Foundation of the Arts’ Little Theatre in Lincoln Heights.

Yoly (a well-detailed, solid Margarita Stocker) doesn’t think so, but her husband El Negro is anxious to try, and anxious to take the job his sister has arranged for him in the States. Part of the success of the production is the performance of Augustin Coppola as El Negro, combining an impellingly boyish vulnerability with sparkling humor. When Stocker and Coppola finally meet head-on as two souls with differing views of allegiance, patriotism and the possibility of opening up their future in a new land, the play leaves behind its comic rhythms and adopts the rolling drumbeat of nationalism versus personal advantage.

El Negro’s sister Mabel and her successful husband Osvaldo have succumbed to North America’s enticements. On a brief visit home, their superior attitude toward the life they left behind is as much a part of Tiscornia’s argument as El Negro’s disappointment and Yoly’s fervent desire to build on what they already have.

Director Margarita Galban wisely allows the play to make its own statements and concentrates on the dynamics of the relationships between the two couples, which are involved and involving.

* “Made in Lanus,” Little Theatre, 421 N. Ave. 19, Lincoln Heights . In Spanish: today, Saturday, March 13-16, 22-23 at 8 p.m.; matinees March 13, 17 , 24 at 3 . In English: Wednesday-March 9, 20-21 at 8 p.m.; matinee Sunday at 3. Ends March 24. $6-$15; (213) 225-4044. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

Ex-Slave Relives His Life in ‘Deacon Wiley’

Arrive at the Ebony Showcase Annex in time to catch the pre-show entertainment for “The Life and Times of Deacon A.L. Wiley,” in which Nathalie L. Forrest’s vibrant, honeyed voice caresses a variety of songs to set the mood.

It’s Saturday afternoon at the AME Church of Los Angeles, and the year is 1904. Deacon and ex-slave Alexander Wiley has been asked to relive his life and share his wisdom with the congregation.

What might have been a piece that would be better read than performed is given stunning immediacy and a good chunk of drama by the actor-writer and the director who created it.

Greg Alan-Williams (who writes under the name G. Travis Williams) as Wiley takes the viewer on a fascinating journey from his childhood on a plantation before the Civil War to his struggle for a good life as an early resident of Los Angeles.

Alan-Williams is an imposing performer, moving comfortably from the intimate hush of wonder to the rolling swell of oratory as he outlines black history in America as it affected this one dedicated man. He talks with unexpected humor and understanding of the slave days, and tries to fire his brethren’s imaginations with images of integrity and self-respect.

“A.L. Wiley,” directed with intelligence and affection by Alex Thomas, has meaning for us all.

* “The Life & Times of Deacon A.L. Wiley,” Ebony Showcase Annex, 4720 W. Washington Blvd.; Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends March 10. $15; (213) 936-1107. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Episodic ‘Modigliani’ at the Alliance

Dennis McIntyre’s “Modigliani” messes about with many facts concerning the artist and his buddies in debauchery, and the result is episodic and simplistic, even in this good production at the Alliance Repertory Company.

Director Dean Coleman does manage to stage it effectively on Matthew C. Jacobs’ aptly scrungy set--well lit by Jason Berliner--deftly balancing the humor and violent anger of these lives.

Most of the cast, without accents, pass as Europeans of the period (even though they all mispronounce the artist’s name), but, in spite of a strong performance, Scott Allen Campbell’s Modigliani seems incongruously American in tone. The best and truest performance is Ben Meyerson’s as Maurice Utrillo--gentle, funny and volatile.

Lisa Kaminir is touching as Modi’s dissolute British poet mistress (although historically she was long gone at this period), and Peter Zusman beautifully captures the desperately ludicrous boy painter Chaim Soutine. Director Coleman does well as Polish poet Zborowsky and E.J. Burns, as gallery owner Guillaume Cheron, presents a firm sense of sanity in the nightmare of Modigliani’s decline.

“Modigliani,” Alliance Repertory Company, 3204 Magnolia Blvd., Burbank; Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends March 30. $15; (818) 566-7935. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Lightweight Setting for ‘Second Hand Kid’

Lisa Carter is a “Second Hand Kid.” At 16 she’s been in juvenile detention twice, for drug and alcohol abuse, her father’s in the pen and mom’s an alcoholic. Brother Ed deals drugs and has had his wicked ways with Lisa. Her last chance: a foster home.

This is pretty strong stuff, but in Craig Sodaro’s play at Burbank Little Theatre, Lisa and her bad attitude are dropped into the moonstruck D’Amato family, a group as close to sitcom as you can get. The play’s solutions are simplistic and unconvincing in the service of lightness.

Director Laura Patterson can’t add any depth, but she knows what to do with the play’s surface appeal and keeps the action crisp. Excellent performances also help. Pamela Morris’ pushy Italian mother, Leah Leddy’s angry daughter, Joseph Sordetto’s bemused octogenarian grandpa and Scott Cervine’s wimpy boyfriend are amusing and well-rounded sitcom types.

Michelle Yahn’s Lisa manages to rise above the cliches of bad girl turning good in a flash, but M’Lisa MacLaren’s social worker remains a stereotype, and Tom Marvich’s Ed is a one-note Method performance out of sync in this lightweight setting for a heavyweight subject.

* “Second Hand Kid,” Burbank Little Theatre, 1100 W. Clark Ave., Burbank; Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends March 31. $10-$12; (818) 954-9858. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes .