THEATER REVIEW : An ‘Arrangement’ of Greed, Betrayal, Publicity

The material, selfish ‘80s continues to inspire playwrights.

Corporate public relations may not seem a vibrant setting for a new play, but “The Arrangement” at the Lex grills corporate publicists--crisp and well done--with some of the same heat “Glengarry Glenn Ross” uses to fry real estate agents.

New York playwright Eric Eisenberg’s four-character drama about greed and betrayal dramatizes the ongoing “arrangement” between two members of a Manhattan public relations agency and their newspaper/Wall Street connections.

The money tree spins, but its branches start to groan and snap when one of the corporate flacks (gruff, venal Edwin C. Owens) pressures his partner (smooth, callow Mark Haining) into betraying a humble client (affable Lewis Arquette). Hurtled into the fray, in the stumbling manner of Columbo at a crime scene, is a naive-appearing IRS agent (Catherine Blore) investigating questionable stock purchases.

That’s all you need to know about the plot. Though it’s firmly grounded, it’s merely a variation on the rather hackneyed theme of the human toll of business corruption. What propels the production by the Actors Conservatory Ensemble and accounts for its steady, satisfying momentum are the taut direction by John Pleshette and textured performances by a flavorful quartet of actors.

On the side of innocence and virtue is Arquette’s endearing, Old World client who always arrives in the office bearing sandwiches from a Jewish deli, and Blore’s dissembling, shark-like investigator. Poised to outwit them are their amoral counterparts--Owens with his blustery guile and Haining’s bedeviled, conscience-stricken insider.

As feckless public relations agents, facing each other across desks claustrophobically smashed up against one another, they are choice metaphors for what ails American business. More importantly, they are ripe characters theatrically speaking, making even someone who got a D in Economics 101 readily comprehend the language of leverages and buydowns.

“The Arrangement,” Lex Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave., Hollywood. Fridays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends March 7. $10. (213) 463-6244. Running time: 2 hours.