THEATER REVIEW : Ollstein’s ‘Pot Roast’ Is Rich in Flavor

“Eat, you’ll feel better,” advises the program for “Pot Roast,” Laurel Ollstein’s light but surprisingly funny new comedy at Actors’ Gang Theatre.

Oh, how the five Tannenbaum women wish they felt better. You haven’t seen so much suffering since Elizabeth Taylor’s last hospital stay.

The female members of this neurotic Jewish clan have gathered in an Upper Eastside apartment, ostensibly to comfort grandma Frieda (Shannon Welles), a chain-smoking octogenarian who just lost her husband and law partner.

But commiseration soon gives way to kvetching. Middle-aged sisters Sara (Carol Ann Susi) and Ruth (Ellen Gerstein) overeat to soothe disappointment. Brassy Sara has been ditched by her philandering husband, while needy, clutching Ruth can’t help alienating her grown daughter Mia (Pamela Segall).

The family has pinned its vicarious hopes on Sara’s daughter Carol (Julie Glucksman), a medical student and lifelong overachiever. When Carol finally shatters the family’s myth of her perfection in the second act, the news is enough to send Frieda into a mute trance and Sara and Ruth back to the refrigerator.

*

As theater, “Pot Roast” is rich in flavor but not always filling. Ollstein has an intuitive feel for her characters’ habits and speech patterns (one senses many hours of field research). Although Wendy Wasserstein and other playwrights have explored similar territory, the ethnic humor in this play remains fresh and often very funny.

Even so, it’s possible to exit the theater wanting a little more. The family geometry (a domineering grandma, two complementary aunts, one “good” and one “bad” daughter) seems a bit prefabricated. A more deeply satisfying play might also have explored Frieda’s relationship with the others, rather than relegating this strong-willed matriarch to sulking offstage in the bathroom for most of the first act.

Unlike many playwrights, Ollstein reveals herself to be a shrewd director of her own work. She’s certainly working with the right cast. The show gets a powerful jolt of comic energy from Susi and Gerstein, who are so appropriately paired they almost seem like real-life sisters. Welles makes a believable martinet, despite her limited stage time, and Segall and Glucksman have a great deal of fun with Carol’s revealed secret.

The company makes the most of the cramped production space, but then this isn’t the kind of show that depends on technical wizardry.

* “Pot Roast,” Actors’ Gang Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Tonight-Wednesday, 8 p.m. $10. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.