Light Touch for ‘Man in the Box’

Imagine yourself in another time. Vaudeville is still considered an art worth learning. Men appear onstage in slightly whitened faces, rouged cheeks and lips reddened. In a small, obscure room filled with theatrical costume clutter, two comedians--a Mr. Sunnyslope (Joseph Grimm) and a Mr. Greenbush (Michael Neimand)--are running through their paces, waiting for a chance to perform before a special audience of one--a Mr. Rosenblum, the “Little Man in the Box.”

In this Actors’ Gang’s production at the group’s El Centro Space, the feeling is vintage Twilight Zone. We enter a different plane of reality where a man, the unseen Mr. Rosenblum, lives in a box, shrunken down from the weight of the world’s misery. Waiting to entertain him are two lonely men, strangers who became partners due to circumstances. Toiling daily to polish their craft, the two comedians grasp at the possibility of saving the world by cheering up Mr. Rosenblum. Grimm, Neimand and director Michael Schlitt wrote this charming piece, and every aspect of the production shines with loving detail. Grimm’s Mr. Sunnyslope is the old hand--calm and a bit smug while guiding Neimand’s anxious, fidgety Mr. Greenbush through the particulars of this peculiar arrangement. Schlitt’s direction is crisp yet thoughtful. In the words of the script, this threesome hasn’t just “carved from a big chunk of comedy granite” to create “comedy gold.” Like the best of Rod Serling, they have made poignant commentary about the human condition.

BE THERE

“Little Man in the Box,” Actors’ Gang’s El Centro Space, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 and 10 p.m. Ends Aug. 23. $12. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes.