THEATER REVIEW : Adding Relevance to ‘Machine’

Anyone familiar with recent headlines who catches “The Adding Machine” at Cal State Fullerton might conclude that it was written only the other day, and with Orange County in mind.

Midway through the first act, Mr. and Mrs. Zero throw a cocktail party for their circle of suburban friends--the Ones, Twos, Threes and so on. The social chit-chat seems a properly alarmed reaction to last week’s staggering revelation of Citron’s Folly.

“I look for a big smash-up in about three months,” says Mr. Three.

“Wouldn’t surprise me a bit,” Mr. Two replies.

“We’re sure headin’ for trouble,” says Mr. One.

In fact, these interchangeable suburbanites are not discussing the county’s wrong-way investment fund and its $1.5 billion in paper losses due to Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron’s bad guess on interest rates.

Although these folks are worried about their pocketbooks, they blame their anxiety on something closer to the bone--just like the majority of California voters who passed Proposition 187.

“Foreign agitators, that’s what it is,” says Mr. Four.

“They ought to be run outa the country,” Mr. Three replies.

“America for the Americans is what I say,” says Mr. Six.

“That’s it!” they agree in unison. “Damn foreigners! Jail ‘em! Shoot ‘em! Hang ‘em! Lynch ‘em! Burn ‘em!”

Patriots all, they and their wives break into song: “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty.”

Elmer Rice, who wrote “The Adding Machine,” never heard of Prop. 187. He died 27 years ago, having written this Expressionist satire long before then. The original production ran on Broadway in 1923, during an era fondly remembered as the Jazz Age.

Indeed, we tend to forget the period’s darker aspects. The Jazz Age ushered in restrictive immigration quotas as the law of the land, saw a resurgence in the Ku Klux Klan and marked the advent of modern regimentation as a hallmark of new technological society.

But what makes “The Adding Machine” seem more pertinent than ever--and far more fresh in tone than much of the writing itself--is the crisp, imaginative staging dreamed up by director Meredith Wright. She and her designers have delivered a smart revival of this rarely seen play.

*

Outsize props and skewed scenic elements establish the exaggerated ambience of a cartoon. Brisk set changes are choreographed with witty theatrical style, incorporating them into the cast’s performance while enhancing the mood of futuristic automation. The costumes are full of bright ideas. And a compelling sound design has all the bells and whistles, both literal and symbolic (factory horns, ticking clocks, heart beats).

None of that would go anywhere, though, without the clever, funny lead performance of Mark John Packer as Mr. Zero, a timid, lecherous, white-collar drone who does nothing but count numbers.

Packer breathes life into the role with some priceless touches. Rail-thin and meek-looking, he gives the perfect impression of a born clerk. His Mr. Zero has a bald pate with a monk’s fringe of hair, small mustache and receding chin. And he exhibits the manner of someone who is simultaneously obsequious and resentful.

He also puts unexpected humor into his portrait. In a graveyard scene, Packer climbs out of Mr. Zero’s coffin with an expression of giddy bewilderment. He doesn’t know whether he’s dead or alive, and his stiff-legged gait is a droll piece of acting: It communicates exactly how a corpse must feel the first time he stands up.

Paris Bradstreet weighs in with a solid supporting performance as the shrewish Mrs. Zero and doubles nicely as the Judge. Leslie Mitts lends a bit of pathos to Mr. Zero’s would-be girlfriend, Daisy. Many in the large cast play multiple roles.

Not everything works. “The Adding Machine” has dialogue that becomes repetitive and scenes that sometimes go on too long. Those problems are less apparent in the first act, where the satire has bite. But in the second, where the script softens and turns sentimental, the tempo begins to lag.

A scene in paradise bogs down, for instance, despite an attempt to sharpen it with musical burlesque. Unfortunately, adding Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” to the end of the scene merely extends it--one of Wright’s few missteps in this high-concept production.

Still, though “The Adding Machine” has never entered the standard repertory and could use some editing, it clearly leaps across the years with the help of a revival as ambitious as this one.

* “The Adding Machine,” the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall at Cal State Fullerton, State College Boulevard at Nutwood Avenue, Fullerton. Evenings through Friday at 8; Saturday at 2:30 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 5 p.m. Ends Sunday. $6-$8. (714) 773-3371. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes. Mark John Packer: Mr. Zero

Paris Bradstreet: Mrs. Zero/the Judge

Misty Reams: Judy O’Grady/Mrs. Two/Mother

Leslie Mitts: Daisy/Mrs. Five

Nadine Miller: the Boss/Mrs. Four

Duncan Mandel: Shrdlu/Eustace/Mr. Five

Angela Capra: the Court Stenographer

Cecily Davis: the Tour Guide/Mrs. Three

Dannine Consoli: the Head/Mrs. One

Jim Hays: Mr. Two/Father/Young Man

Phinny Kiyomura: Joe/youth/Mr. Three

Joseph V. Manussier III: the Secretary/Mr. Four/Charley

Rafael E. Loza: Mr. One/Boy of 14

Seana Warren: Mrs. Six/Lt. Charles

Deborah Chicurel Conow: Mr.Six/the Fixer

A Cal State Fullerton Department of Theatre and Dance production of a play by Elmer Rice, directed by Meredith Wright. Scenic design: Rachel Gliko. Lighting: Stacey Westbrook. Sound: Michael Tresaugue. Costumes: Abel Zeballos. Makeup and hair: Gretchen Klyver.