STAGE REVIEW : LATC’s ‘Platform’: Political Satire Too Dated

Most Los Angeles comedy groups steer clear of political material. Los Angeles Theatre Center is trying to fill the gap with its latest project--a late-night political cabaret, “The Platform.”

The first edition of this “living newspaper” revue made its debut Friday and Saturday as part of LATC’s annual “Big Weekend” festival, in the smallest of LATC’s spaces, Theatre 4.

Performances of “The Platform” are planned for the first Saturday of each month, and the cast and content will change with each new show. So it may be difficult to assess the next edition on the basis of the first.

But the format will remain the same. An “editor” (Armando Molina on opening weekend) introduces features--that is, sketches and songs--from various sections of his “newspaper,” the L.A. Platform.

If the idea behind the format is to suggest a ripped-from-the-headlines immediacy, it remained a theory more than a reality at Saturday’s performance. The first sign that “The Platform” was a bit behind the times was an opening sketch about Saddam Hussein and Tarik Aziz that was set in the pre-war period. Though it was written and performed with a modicum of wit (the Iraqi leaders were watching “Home Alone” to pick up some of “the little fascist’s tricks”), it would have had more of a point six months ago.

The only references to the news of the last couple of weeks were a very brief bit in which a gossip columnist reported that a miniseries will be made about the Rodney King beating--from the point of view of one of his assailants--as well as a one-phrase mention of last weekend’s riot in Westwood.

Topicality should be one of the most important ingredients of a political cabaret. This kind of satire has a short shelf life.

A caffeine-stoked conversation between Lisa Loomer and Cathryn Michon about the Middle East (“Middle of what? East of where?”) was more successful than the Hussein sketch. Its depiction of the public’s general confusion over the intricacies of Middle East politics was topical without being tied to a specific time frame.

In another ostensibly war-related sketch, an officer of the “Armored Poets division” gave a report on the contributions poets made to the war. This one probably looked better on paper than it did in the theater. The same could be said of the show’s mediocre George Bush impersonation.

A couple of the sharper sketches took cliched targets--pretentious restaurants and Ken and Barbie--and managed to make statements of somewhat larger scope than usual. Ken and Barbie were joined by their Hispanic counterparts (“from Hispania”), who wanted to swap clothes--and professions--with the originals.

However, an effort to end with a very big statement, called “The Grim Recycler,” was heavy-handed.

Nothing seemed especially daring. Theatre 4 is only a few steps away from the Tom Bradley Theatre, yet there was no mention of the mayor, who happens to be leading a fund-raising campaign for LATC right now. “The Platform” could really raise a few eyebrows--an admirable goal for a political cabaret--if it started taking a few swipes at the mayor.

The performers, under the direction of Binnur Karaevli, were often sharper than their material. Loomer, Michon and Glenn Plummer made the strongest impressions. There were frequent costume changes, but hardly any set changes. Cabaret-style seating may be added later.