THEATER REVIEW : ‘Puppetmaster’ a Mostly Bloodless Parable

“The Puppetmaster of Lodz” marks Actors Alley’s return to the quake-damaged El Portal Center, which the group hopes will eventually include 350-seat and 99-seat theaters. This production is in the 44-seat Storefront Theatre, adjacent to the old El Portal movie palace, which will be converted into the modern theaters.

Gilles Segal’s metaphoric drama, translated from French by Sara O’Connor, could use some refurbishment as well. The play, set in 1950 Berlin, concerns puppetmaster Samuel Finkelbaum (Joe Garcia), who hasn’t left his boardinghouse room for five years. Food and other necessities are delivered to him by the building’s Concierge (Carol Sigurdson), but despite her protestations, he refuses to accept that the war is over. Reduced to understandable paranoia by his experiences in a death camp, Finkelbaum remains shut in, his only company the puppets that he has crafted and controls.

Segal valiantly attempts to examine the aftermath of Hitler’s genocide and the function of God in a universe gone mad. The production raises some provocative intellectual issues. Unfortunately, issues of dramatic credibility also arise in Segal’s curiously bloodless and unwieldy parable, awkwardly rendered by director Jeremiah Morris and his earnest cast.

Important plot points are glanced over or completely ignored. Where, for instance, does Finkelbaum, who fled a concentration camp with the clothes on his back, get enough money to exist without working? Why, after five years, does the Concierge suddenly decide to persuade her tenant to emerge? Perhaps she’s in league with a tenacious Nazi hunter (Gary Lamb), but if so, why does this investigator find it necessary to assume elaborate disguises in order to approach his suspect?

In the prop-heavy, plodding first act, Finkelbaum chats endlessly with his puppets, to whom he relates as real people. A second-act red herring--is Finkelbaum in actuality a fugitive Nazi?--gives an overdue illusion of dramatic tension. However, it’s only when Finkelbaum is tearfully reunited with a friend and fellow survivor (Tony Burton) that we feel a direct emotional involvement.

The technical elements--including David Carlton’s lighting, Jon Gottlieb’s sound and Diane Ross’ costumes--are outstanding. Terry Evans’ threadbare set is ingeniously detailed. Jerry Grant’s beautiful original music sets a rich, elegiacal tone. Lisa Aimee Sturz’s puppets create an eerie microcosm of the millions of Jewish dead, but are not, in the long run, user-friendly.

The talented Garcia strives to create a cohesive character while handling some crushingly difficult stage business. However, much like the tangled metaphors in this confused drama, Garcia’s best efforts snarl along with the strings of the marionettes he manipulates.

* “The Puppetmaster of Lodz,” Storefront Theatre, El Portal Center, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends July 2. $15. (818) 508-4200. Running time: 2 hours.