Theater Reviews : Masterful Performances in ‘Old Business’ : Joe Cacaci’s play at the Court Theatre finds a new angle in the conflicts between father and son.

Father-son conflict is such old business in the American theater that the prospect of yet another play about it may inspire yawns. But Joe Cacaci has come up with a fresh angle in “Old Business” at the Court Theatre.

Furthermore, Cacaci’s got Harold Gould and Alan Rosenberg in his play. These masterful actors make you feel as if you, too, are a member of their Fleischer family.

Be careful, though, if you’re thinking of this show as a Father’s Day present. It’s funny but bitter. This father and son are not ready to be immortalized by Hallmark. Inviting Dad to the Court could end up as an embarrassing joke.

As the play opens, 76-year-old Manhattan real estate magnate Abe (Gould) is edging toward retirement, totally unhappy about his doctor-ordered exit. With much trepidation, he’s supposedly handing over the business to his 37-year-old son, David (Rosenberg), who at least isn’t a drunk like his younger brother. Abe plans to monitor it from afar in Florida.

Cacaci’s twist is that Gould and Rosenberg are never on stage together until the curtain call. In the first act, Gould’s Abe prowls around his stately hand-tailored office (designed by Richard Meyer), working the phones, smoking cigars, pausing to dictate his memoirs. In the second act, set four months later, Rosenberg’s David has finally taken over the office. He has banished smoking from the premises and he’s trying to cope with his father’s baggage, aided by emergency calls to his therapist.

Finally, after a second intermission, Abe decides to return to New York for closer supervision. It’s not a pretty picture. But Cacaci still refrains from uniting his two actors; the play ends in a series of four one-person scenes.

Sometimes playwrights write one-person scenes simply because it’s easier than bringing the actors together. That’s not the case here. The fact that these men are kept apart, even though their lives are so closely bound, is emblematic of their relationship. Furthermore, Cacaci makes their solo turns seem perfectly natural, even as the tension rises in the play’s last act.

Gould is a grinning barracuda. His Abe knows how to succeed in business while being really trying, especially to his son.

David isn’t as much of a high-stakes player (watch him relax with a toy sports car), but he doesn’t fold when faced with his father’s obstinacy. He learned the old man’s lessons too well. We see Rosenberg--who has an irrepressible mensch quality--gradually turning the corner, becoming more like Abe.

Under Cacaci’s direction, both actors make and take their many phone calls with a fine balance--the action doesn’t bog down while they listen, nor does it seem fake when they don’t allow the people on the other end of the line to take more time.

“Old Business” deserves to do great business.

* “Old Business,” Court Theatre, 722 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends July 3. $18.50-$22.50. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.