STAGE REVIEW : Working Girl’s Tale of Woe : Theater: ‘Faith, Hope and Charity,’ a social satire from Germany during the Depression translates well to here and now.

Odon von Horvath was a prescient playwright.

A concerned anti-Fascist and a popular master of stinging social satire in Germany, he had an ability to touch nerves that led to his exile by the Nazis, just before his play “Faith, Hope and Charity” was to open in 1933.

Now, after a long sleep in obscurity, “Faith, Hope and Charity” (subtitled “A Little Dance of Death in Five Acts”) has been given new life in a professional American premiere by a new local company, B-Attitudes, at the Sixth Avenue Playhouse. Ironically, nearly 60 years after its intended debut, in a country that fought the Nazis, its message of working-class despair in the face of unfeeling bureaucracy translates disturbingly well to the here and now.

The B-Attitudes company is a group of young, largely UC San Diego-trained professionals who banded together just to do this play. Under Maria Mileaf’s direction, they provide a handsome, but at times self-consciously clever, over-stylized production. It often works well, but would work far better if Mileaf relaxed more and let the play and the players speak for themselves.

“Faith, Hope and Charity” is the tale of a salesclerk, Elisabeth (Kate Malin), who gets lost and eventually crushed in a social system that cares nothing about the small, struggling working person. Elisabeth is cited for selling lingerie without a permit. She has to borrow money to pay a fine and borrow still more for the sales permit, but times are hard, and no one is buying her goods.

She speaks at times with the tough optimism of a Scarlett O’Hara, repeating over and over that, despite her troubles, “I won’t let it get me down.” But optimism and determination are not enough in a depressed economy in which people are angry and looking for someone to blame.

A corpse dissector (Louis Seitchik) lends Elisabeth money, thinking her father is an important man. When he discovers he was wrong, he cites her for fraud, on the charge that she used the loan to pay her fine rather than for her sales permit, as she had said she would.

All this gives Elisabeth a police record that, when revealed, sours what she thinks may be her last way out--a romance with a devoted young policeman (Dennis Fox).

Christopher Hampton, best known for his adaptation of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” has done a vibrant translation.

But what shines through this production is not just the play but the talent, dedication and ingenuity that has been invested in it.

Like the heroine, B-Attitudes is clearly on a tight budget in the limited facility of the Sixth Avenue Playhouse. But the satisfyingly surrealistic sets by Neil Patel, the highly emotive lighting by Brenda Berry and the authentic period costumes by Mary Larson are not lacking in the slightest.

The acting, too, is excellent--with one caveat: the self-conscious artifice of the admittedly elegant direction. The players often face the audience even when they are supposedly talking to each other. They eschew naturalness for broad, stylish gestures. Granted, the gestures are well thought out, well executed and consistently graceful. But the play is like a beautiful puppet that only fully comes to life when Elisabeth begins to act naturally in her love affair with the policeman.

Malin is a fiery Elisabeth; to her credit, one can often feel the passion even beneath the early, studied gestures. As the policeman, Fox shows devotion to Elisabeth that is compelling enough to make one believe there just might be an escape for her from what seems to be her tragic destiny.

Elissa Adams shows herself to be a witty comedienne as a shallow but world-wise magistrate’s wife who knows all the answers. And Dave Fenner is bitterly funny as the daring young lifesaver whose excitement about saving a young girl’s life has everything to do with what this act will do for him and nothing about what it means for the girl.

Michael Roth’s musical theme weaves hauntingly through the production, coming back at key moments, with sometimes jolting variations. Jack Taggart’s sound design works smoothly around the musical interludes. Candice Becker’s choreography also weaves its themes throughout, beginning with a white-gloved dance 20 minutes before the lights signal the start of the action.

“Faith, Hope and Charity” is an intriguing if difficult play for difficult times. Despite its stylistic excesses, its successes augur well for B-Attitudes and the talented team that put this production together.

“FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY”

By Odon von Horvath. Translated from the German by Christopher Hampton. Director is Maria Mileaf. Sets by Neil Patel. Lighting by Brenda Berry. Costumes by Mary Larson. Composer is Michael Roth. Sound by Jack Taggart. Choreography by Candice Becker. With Elissa Adams, Robert Faires, Dave Fenner, Dennis Fox, Kate Malin, Michelle Mountain, Terri Piazza, Louis Seitchik and Ivan Talijancic. At 8 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday through April 26. Running time: 80 minutes. Tickets are $10. At the Sixth Avenue Playhouse, 1620 6th Ave., San Diego. Call 235-8025.