THEATER REVIEW : Brotherly Struggles in ‘Maneuver’

A spiritual son of David Mamet, Howard Korder is at his funniest when creating men who are distinguished only by a brilliant lack of ethics, and a largely unembarrassed impulse to fake competence in situations in which they have absolutely no control.

Korder’s first full-length play is making its West Coast debut at the tiny Theater 6470. “Night Maneuver” (1982) should satisfy anyone curious about the genesis of this playwright’s fascinating macho milieu, a world that will soon be making its big-screen debut (“Search and Destroy,” based on Korder’s 1990 play, opens in April, starring Griffin Dunne and Christopher Walken).

“Night Maneuvers” shows Korder to be a spiritual son of Sam Shepard as well. The play takes place in a pitiful one-room urban apartment, with a bed and a mattress and a sink and a fridge. No one even tries to hit the trash can. Here, two brothers, Lou (Brad Brock) and Tim (Michael Etzrodt) wrestle for dominance. The slightly mysterious nature of their brotherly struggle is reminiscent of the one in Shepard’s “True West,” which is playing next door in another theater in the Complex--four black-box theaters where often the loudest play is the one you hear reverberating through the wall.

Luckily, “Night Maneuver” is loudest much of the time. Living way sub-par, in what Lou describes as “the blowhole of the universe,” both brothers are obviously up to no good in their desire to do better. The sadistic Lou, over-alert and looking like Bruce Springsteen, circa 1978, is waiting for an important phone call to set up a drug deal, a little supplement to what he makes in an auto supply shop.

“For someone of my economic stature, I’m doing all right!” boasts Lou in a classic Korder line, equal parts male braggadocio and denial. The brothers reminisce about a father figure from their boyhood named Monte who seems to have taught Lou his particular blend of false kindness and menace. The gangly Tim seems simple and sweet and in need of approval from Lou. But Tim is not what he seems.

The roles offer the actors little more than extended exercises, and they often seem to be playing to the audience more than to each other, but they each create something of interest. Brock brings an innocence to Lou, as if he just couldn’t help playing dirty. Etzrodt seems to be pushing the slow-kid act, until a turn in the plot when we realize that his character is in fact pushing the slow-kid act for his own unspecified gain.

“Night Maneuver” is bleak and fairly unformed, with shots of humor and with the seeds of the full-bodied desperate dreamers and ruthless liars who populate the later plays “Boys’ Life” and “Search and Destroy.” Their universe is just a bit more abstract and poorer here, but it’s every bit as mean.

* “Night Maneuver,” Theatre 6470 at the Complex, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 7 p.m. Ends Feb. 19. $10-$12. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours.

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Brad Brock: Lou Michael Etzrodt: Tim A Project Theater production in association with Matt Chait and the Complex. By Howard Korder. Directed by Thomas F. Maguire. Stage manager Liz Bickley.