The Lies Pile Up in ‘Second Story Man’

The “truth” and “the story we tell other people” prove difficult to keep separate for a larceny-minded Chicago couple in Richard Strand’s “The Second Story Man” at Interact Theatre Company. Dave Florek’s masterful performance as tough-talking Alex, a frustrated burglar, paired with Strand’s clever dialogue, elevates a lightweight caper premise to sustained hilarity rarely encountered in contemporary comedies.

A small-time hood aspiring to a bigger life, the blustering, sarcastic Alex comes across like a slimmer, shadier version of Ralph Kramden in “The Honeymooners.” Fed up with the ingratitude of his vacationing crime boss, Alex rents a neighboring apartment so he can break in and steal valuable financial data.

To carry out this plan, however, he needs the help of his computer-literate girlfriend, the hopelessly ditzy Kate (Susan Hull), who continually sidetracks him with her Gracie Allen-style conundrums. Kate turns even their straightforward renting of the empty apartment into hair-pulling torture for Alex, as she complains about innumerable problems--all irrelevant to their one-day tenancy.

This introductory scene establishes both their relationship and playwright Strand’s facility with comic deflection--he lets all the twists and turns of their bickering play out before cluing us in on their real intent. Once he’s got the pair properly installed with a ladder, construction tools and a cockroach named Spot, he introduces a succession of increasingly loopy detours, courtesy of a dour, suicidal building manager (Rachel Griffin) and a crusading waitress from a nearby restaurant bent on rescuing a baby bird trapped on their window ledge.

Though these intruders reflect some scripting limitations (rarely becoming more than plot devices), director Alan Brooks’ skillful control of the escalating comic tensions between Florek and Hull supplies all the sparks we need for a thoroughly engaging romp.

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* “The Second Story Man,” Interact Theatre, 5215 Bakman Ave., North Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends March 25. $20. (818) 773-7862. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.