Anti-Semitism and Holocaust-Era Money Are ‘Dormant’

At least three different plays have been shoehorned uncomfortably together into Jorge Albertella’s “Dormant,” presented by L.A. Jewish Theatre. First, there is a drama about a rich, young Italian Jew attempting to escape Mussolini’s roundups; second is a drama about Holocaust survivors and their families attempting to retrieve money locked in Swiss bank accounts; and third, a dark comedy about fortune hunters trying to get their hands on that money.

The connecting thread is Albertella’s play on the word “dormant,” which refers most obviously to those Swiss bank accounts, but also describes the anti-Semitism that lingers in our culture, blazing grotesquely to life just when we think the embers have died out.

That’s a compelling message, but it’s nearly lost amid shifts in tone that even some of the most dependable talents in L.A.’s small-theater scene--director Jon Lawrence Rivera, set designer Victoria Profitt and lighting designer Kathi O’Donohue--can’t smooth out.

The action unfolds in the present and the past, in a small apartment in New York’s Jackson Heights neighborhood and in the mind of its inhabitant, Rosina Castelli (Dana Peterson).

Profitt’s set is a haunted dreamscape in which the Nazi death camps have begun to overrun the apartment. Barbed wire is strung above the kitchen door, and shoes--left behind by the murdered prisoners--are piling up under the furniture and are buried beneath the floorboards.

As the story begins, Rosina is reliving her terrifying flight from Rome, made in the protective company of Fabrizio (Jason Peirce), a Gentile family employee and the object of her affection. She is yanked back to the present by the unannounced arrival of a young man and woman who claim to be her grandchildren: another Fabrizio (Montre D. Burton) and his half-sister Caterina (Melody Butiu).

Eventually, a lawyer (Jeff LeBeau) who fights for frozen-account payouts, also shows up. In his presence, the grandchildren suddenly turn into characters in some teen comedy (think: “Scary Movie”), and the tone grows ever more jumbled.

What doesn’t change is the indelible horror in Peterson’s face, which grippingly conveys what the script doesn’t.

Daryl H. Miller

“Dormant,” L.A. Jewish Theatre at A! Theatre, 1528 Gordon St., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends April 14. $18. (310) 967-1352. Running time: 2 hours.

*

‘Girl’s’ Quest for Passion Diverted by Symbolism

Yearning is palpable in the Aimee Bender short story collection “The Girl in the Flammable Skirt.” The characters seek connection and, most of all, passion, yet rarely find it.

The writing is evocative, the words chosen with care as Bender casually transforms the everyday into the surreal. A woman in an evening gown rides the subway, auditioning men to be her next lover. A girl’s worries take physical form in a backpack made of stone, which she must carry around.

Such fairy-tale symbolism proves more powerful in the imagination, however, than when given physical form. At City Garage in Santa Monica, adapter-director Frederique Michel has done little more than turn four of the pieces into monologues, which are delivered at monotonously unvaried pitches and tempos, while every gesture indicated in the text is slavishly playacted.

Things begin vividly, as a middle-aged woman (Maureen Byrnes), observing her husband mindlessly eat the meal she has prepared, says she wants to “rescue” the food from his mouth--a deft bit of wordplay that conveys her feeling of imprisonment in the marriage.

The next two pieces involve restless younger women: the aforementioned subway hunter (Victoria Coulson) and a woman (Maia Brewton) who goes home with a guy because she likes his callused hands. (In both instances, Paul M. Rubenstein plays the man.) Problem: Both scenarios involve characters slipping out of their clothes, and pretty soon, nakedness is all the story is about.

The fourth piece, about the girl (Ilana Gustafson) with the stone backpack, takes a far too literal approach to its fantastical events.

On the plus side, Charles A. Duncombe Jr. provides appropriately magical backdrops for each story by projecting artful video clips and slides onto a series of white panels.

Still, if one hasn’t already read Bender’s collection, it’s hard to understand what all the hoopla was about when the book hit stores in 1998. What was written with such passion becomes cold and clinical here.

D.H.M.

“The Girl in the Flammable Skirt,” City Garage, 13401/2 4th St. (alley between 3rd and 4th streets), Santa Monica. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 5:30 p.m. (No performance this Sunday.) Ends April 21. $20. (310) 319-9939. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

*

‘Serious Inquires Only’ and Going Home Again

Families tend to be fractious institutions, towers of Babel in miniature, echoing with the overlapping chatter of people who don’t necessarily understand one another’s language.

Playwright D. Paul Thomas captures the vibrant cacophony of family life in “Serious Inquiries Only,” an endearing if ephemeral comedy at the Sidewalk Studio Theatre.

Matthew (Jeff Allin), a Dartmouth-educated journalist, has recently returned to his hometown in rural Indiana to run the local newspaper--a publication owned by his family for generations. To save money, Matthew and his family have moved in with Matthew’s widowed mother Margaret (Kathryn Joosten), a feisty conservative with strong opinions and a guilty secret.

Matthew’s wife Melissa (Ann Gillespie) and teenage daughters Miranda (Andrea Procter) and Mandy (Nicholle Tom) have made the transition fluidly. However, the move from big pond to tributary has taken its toll on Matthew, who has just suffered a humiliating defeat in a state assembly race.

It seems the locals--including his own mother--don’t cotton to Matthew’s fiery urban liberalism.

Fed up with the heartland, Matthews swaps the family farmhouse for summer digs in Italy. But a predictable crisis causes the family to jettison their vacation plans, not to mention their fondest preconceptions about “family values.”

Thomas, who also directs, demonstrates a real flair for dialogue and an evenhanded approach to his subject. Although his story is a bit on the light side--nouvelle cuisine that may leave you hungry after an hour or so--Thomas’ staging, on an impeccably appointed set by Jeff Crye, is deft. The actors, including Corey Nelson in a lesser role, are impressively naturalistic. Allin’s comical angst, Gillespie’s common-sense warmth and Procter’s hormonal ardor are all part of this vividly realized clan.

Tom is poignant as Mandy, Matthew and Melissa’s mentally challenged daughter. The most memorable performance, however, is Joosten’s. Feisty, flawed and very funny, her Margaret is a lugubrious sprite, a woman of a certain age with a hangdog expression and a laser wit that can cut glass.

F. Kathleen Foley

“Serious Inquiries Only,” Sidewalk Studio Theatre, 4150 Riverside Drive, Toluca Lake, (818) 846-3403). Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends April 14. $20. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.