STAGE REVIEW : Generational Conflict Keys ‘Lion Hunting’ at Burbage

Andy Warhol said “everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” It was a cute, catchy phrase, just like “Let them eat cake.” Both were uttered from a position that didn’t acknowledge anything less than famous or rich.

That’s exactly what’s wrong with the Stronzi family in Jonah Maidoff and Patrick Burke’s “Lion Hunting in North America,” at the Burbage Theatre. The Stronzis are a sign of the times.

Caesar (Ron Gilbert) was an Italian immigrant who arrived without shoes, and rose to great heights in the film industry. His wife, Marge (Cynthia Hoppenfeld), rose with him, with her inflated values and a backlog of therapists.

But what’s to be done with the Stronzi boys? Biff and Stevie have grown up with everything their spoiled little hearts desired, inspired by Caesar’s constant admonition that Stronzis are lions, not lambs or sheep. Now they’re out of college, with dreams but no incentive. Biff wants to sell a screenplay but never writes it, and Stevie is still practicing his tennis game.

They never grew up, but they’ve grown to realize that all that stands between them and the money to keep them happy is--good ol’ mom and dad. Biff and Stevie go hunting. From the “Champagne Murders” of the ‘50s to the 1989 Beverly Hills murders of Jose and Mary Louise (Kitty) Menendez, allegedly by their sons, the lesson couldn’t be clearer. The power training and rarefied atmosphere of some families is too much for sons who were far less than their father.

Even under Andy Griggs’ delineated direction, the script has problems, just like the Stronzi family it describes. The parents’ roles are not as full-blooded as they could be, though Gilbert and Hoppenfeld do try to make them so. Even Madge’s current therapist, in a spicy performance by Monique Edwards, seems too glib and offhand to ring true.

Maybe this should be a two-character play. The wealth in the script is uncovered in the long scenes when Biff and Stevie are alone, being brothers, at first swinging tennis rackets playfully, later tossing the hot potato of their tragic plan back and forth. Biff slowly scattering the seeds of the tragedy, Stevie batting them aside until they overpower him--it’s an intricate game, well-written and beautifully played by Ralph Purdum as the weakling Stevie, and Sasha Jenson as his irresistible brother. Jenson is fascinating. In spite of a tendency to swallow some of his lines, this gifted actor takes chances that work.

* “Lion Hunting in North America,” Burbage Theatre, 2330 Sawtelle Blvd., West Los Angeles. Thursdays, 8 p.m.; Fridays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Ends Feb. 29. $15; (310) 478-0897. Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes.