A Worthy Revival of ‘Misalliance’ at the Igloo

“Misalliance” is not one of George Bernard Shaw’s stronger plays and that, coupled with the cramped matchbox stage at Theatre Igloo, make the production by The Company a scintillating surprise.

This is Shaw’s boisterous takeoff on parents and children, in which neither is seen as worthy of the other. Director Milton Justice does wonders with the narrow stage, orchestrating the nine cackling characters on a postage stamp of a playing arena that serves as a multitiered solarium (deftly designed by T. Baker Rowell).

Initially the talk is such an explosion of staccato chatter that the characters make you reel, especially the twit of a pampered fiance ripely played by Christopher Thornton, who is costumed in a candy peppermint-striped jacket. But because the ensemble is so sharp and so comfortable with the Edwardian style, the show soon settles into a sparkling diversion.

The head of the family, the Tarleton- pere who made his fortune in underwear, is rousingly played by the florid Tim McNeil. His complacent son and agitated daughter (the marvelously stuffy Rick Peters and the festering, man-crazy Susan Vinciotti) are deliciously arch.

Into this cacophony plops Shaw’s deus ex machina in the improbable form of an off-stage airplane that crash-lands on the estate’s front lawn. Out of the cockpit pops a leather-jacketed and goggled aviator (the dashing Sean Francis Howse) and Shaw’s self-described Life Force, the independent, sexual, strong woman--in this case, a Polish aviatrix who turns the males on their heads (a fierce, bristling performance by Kristina Loggia).

GBS fans won’t be disappointed.

“Misalliance,” Theatre Igloo, 6543 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends April 11. $12. (213) 8883-1565. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.

Estimable Ensemble Work in ‘Uncle Vanya’

Another estimable ensemble production is Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya,” by the Actors Conservatory Ensemble at the Lex.

Director Mark Haining and a skillful cast by and large catch the shadowy nuances, the elusive and frozen lives, the heavy air of stagnation on one of those forested Chekhov estates so impossibly far away from anyplace else.

This is a hard play to do because all the floundering, unhappy characters are in such stasis as to be emotionally immobile. At the same time, it’s an imploding Chekhovian comedy. And it’s as comedy that the production takes its major risk with the character of the languid, wan Yeliena, the miserable young wife of an aging, boorish pedant (an irascible Dennis Redfield).

Devon O’Brien plays the wife with such anguished arm-wringing and forearm-to-brow affectation that the role draws laughs for the wrong, overwrought reasons and upsets the play’s delicate balance. At the same time, O’Brien is credibly tremulous in scenes with her earnest, awkward young stepdaughter (Catherine Blore) and especially her exchanges with the burned out, tippling family doctor who’s in love with her (a sterling, flawless portrayal by John Hertzler).

The title character (a morose Allen Williams) is a finely textured study of a man at his wit’s end who’s also smitten with the willowy wife. Nann Mogg’s housekeeper, Martin Beck’s hanger-on, and Patricia Blore’s widowed mother contribute strongly.

Production values are stylish, capturing the coppery hues of the oncoming winter (lighting by Cheryl Waters) and the parlor, drawing room and downed trees of a family’s dying twilight (sets by Garman Noah).

“Uncle Vanya,” The Lex, 6760 Lexington Ave., Hollywood, Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends March 29. $10. (213) 463-6244. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.

Women as Subjects, Not as Objects

The show is a bit ragged and shrieky, but a positive and rather inspirational thing--women helping women--is happening on a makeshift stage at the National Council of Jewish Women in West Hollywood. An ensemble called “Ladies,” a raucous, raw, painful medley of nine homeless voices, is packing the 120-seat hall in the organization’s first experience at theater.

The sightlines aren’t too good but the talent on stage is burnished as we witness the anguish and yearning of homeless women as they trundle into a city shelter. Based on the observations and conversations of playwright Eve Ensler while she was a volunteer at a shelter in New York, the stories are profane and riveting.

While the show tends to be an unrelenting litany of personal abuse and squalor, it’s also, under Paula Mazur’s brisk direction, a work that empowers these women as subjects, not objects. Here’s a breathing social document that deserves an extended life, with social and educational venues an apt springboard.

Each evening a different guest star delivers the play’s torrid preamble. Tonight it’s Lesley Ann Warren, Saturday Amanda Donohoe and Sunday Alley Mills.

“Ladies,” National Council of Jewish Women/L.A., 543 N. Fairfax Ave., tonight-Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Ends Sunday. $24.50 (proceeds pledged to homeless projects). (213) 651-2930. Running time: 1 hour.

‘Company’ Stuffed With Straw at Ebell

If ever a musical was a cultural barometer, it was Stephen Sondheim’s “Company”--a perfect show for the ‘70s. Visions of Donna McKechnie and Elaine Stritch, if not Dean Jones or Larry Kert, still dance in my head. So it was with dizzy anticipation that I attended the revival of this pacesetting musical at the Wilshire Ebell.

Lamentably, this show from Silver Lining Productions is stuffed with straw. Forget about bringing back memories. It’s flat, strained and creaky. Updated to the ‘90s with an African-American Bobby as the central bachelor figure (a vocally strong Kenny James), it simply doesn’t sail as a contemporary piece.

Director-choreographer David Hock’s crucial mistake was to mistrust it as the ‘70s treasure it is and proceed to lurch it into the post-AIDS ‘90s. The live orchestra goes through the paces. The cast has pockets of talent, particularly Tamara Baron who uncorks that memorable “Tick Tock” dance number, but it’s a long evening.

“Company,” Wilshire Ebell, 4401 W. 8th St., Los Angeles, Wednesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Ends March 27. $22-$28.50. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

‘Foxtrot’ Stumbles at Theatre 40

Theatre 40, generally a reputable company, has hit its nadir with a boring two-character drama about an aging widow and a cuckolded husband, “Foxtrot on Gardiner’s Bay.”

H. Appleman’s play is a flabby series of conversations, mostly about village neighbors who are dead or ailing. Seeing it is like walking into a rest home.

You know from the very start that the two characters (Warren Frost and Lynne Stuart) will get together and live happily in their old age by the lake. Frost is flavorful enough, and Thomas A. Brown’s scenic and lighting design are fine, but director Charles S. Dubin can’t overcome the play’s bland rhythm.

“Foxtrot on Gardiner’s Bay,” Theatre Forty, 241 Moreno Dr., Beverly Hills High campus, Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m., Sunday matinees, 2 p.m. Ends April 5. $14-$17. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours.