A ‘Room’ furnished in arcane history

Writer-director Michael Franco takes on a massively ambitious task in “The Room,” his new drama at the Open Fist Theatre. Franco, noted for his productions of such local hits as “The Master and Margarita” and “Gorey Stories,” is an ingenious director whose keen sense of composition and atmosphere is apparent throughout this world-premiere staging. When it comes to his original story, however, Franco may have bitten off slightly more than he can comfortably chew.

Set against the tumult of the 1920s and 1930s, “Room” is based on a little-known sidebar to our national history: the coalescence of that era’s most influential power brokers into an information-gathering group that gave rise to the CIA.

It all begins innocuously enough when Vincent Astor (Shawn MacAulay), wealthy scion of John Jacob, makes his New York getaway a de facto clubhouse where the elite meets to exchange the juiciest dish of the day. It soon becomes apparent that what passes as informal gossip in these opulent chambers could prove crucial to the national interest.

The list of luminaries visiting this sub rosa Algonquin Round Table goes on and on, sometimes to a fault, and a subplot emphasizing Vincent’s family feelings for his quartet of loving servants proves particularly soppy. But the physical production, complete with intervals of live music, is splendid, as is John Gegenhuber’s standout performance as Vincent’s boozy, noble pal, Kermit Roosevelt, son of Teddy. Grandly sweeping in intent if a bit spotty in execution, “Room” sheds new light on an arcane and fascinating episode in U.S. history.

-- F. Kathleen Foley

“The Room,” Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends Nov. 18. $20. (323) 882-6912. www.openfist.org. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

‘Milk Train’ a flawed revival

Reviving Tennessee Williams’ seldom-performed and much-maligned 1963 play, “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore,” would seem like an act of foolishness -- or at least a foolhardy dare. The drama flopped twice on Broadway and hasn’t been seen in Los Angeles for more than 25 years. The Fountain Theatre’s new production lunges into this problematic play with energy and enthusiasm, but the messy results show how hard it can be for a talented cast to overcome flawed material.

The drama unfolds in the Italian villa of Mrs. Goforth (Karen Kondazian), a Southern gorgon who is dictating her memoirs to her secretary (Lisa Pelikan). When a handsome young man (Michael Rodgers) trespasses on the property, the old lady is smitten and finds a renewed sense of life. In several respects, Mrs. Goforth feels like a composite of Williams’ more notable monstrous matriarchs, such as Mrs. Venable from “Suddenly, Last Summer” or Amanda Wingfield from “The Glass Menagerie.” Mostly, though, she suggests an old man in drag, smearing on makeup and modeling an outlandish line of wigs and gowns.

There is, in fact, a real drag queen in this production. The character of Connie, a catty socialite nicknamed the Witch of Capri, is played by Scott Presley, who seems like he just wandered in from a West Hollywood cabaret show. The gay camp histrionics are mildly amusing, and the cast is deliciously game, but none of this can compensate for the play’s misconceived third act. When Mrs. Goforth discovers her guest’s intentions may be sinister, an existential war of words ensues. The garrulous pontificating leads nowhere and takes a long time doing it. “Can you please get on to whatever you’re getting to?” implores Mrs. Goforth.

Audiences can expect to feel a similar exasperation as the play gets lost in its own talky haze.

-- David Ng

“The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore,” The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Nov. 4. $25. (323) 663-1525 or www .fountaintheatre.com. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.

Unity wraps up with a trilogy

A diverse city thrives on diverse viewpoints. For 10 years, Unity Players Ensemble has contributed African American perspectives to Los Angeles’ social dialogue, its presentations pointing up instances of social contracts kept and broken.

Financial constraints are putting the organization -- which introduced a lot of new plays to L.A. -- on indefinite hiatus. Its final presentation, “A Black Trilogy 2007,” revisits three one-acts the group has presented.

Together, these plays map the road from slavery toward civil rights. “Call Out My Name” remembers William Wells Brown, who recorded his life as a slave in an 1847 autobiography meant to alert the public to violations against black people. “He Who Endures” puts abolitionist orator Frederick Douglass, a builder of consensus, into dialogues with advocates of more forceful means of disbanding slavery: the Rev. Henry Highland Garnet and white revolutionary John Brown. And “El Hajj Malik” charts Malcolm Little’s transformation -- through tragedy, deprivation and prison -- into Malcolm X.

As is often the case when social transformation is called for, the ideas spelled out in these plays -- written by Spencer Scott (“Call Out My Name”), Bill Harris (“He Who Endures”) and N.R. Davidson Jr. (“El Hajj Malik”) -- are sometimes inspiring, sometimes terrifying. Yet each play makes abundantly clear that change is necessary.

The effect is diminished by uneven writing, variable acting, spare staging and periodic pacing lulls. Further, the plays’ combined length of three-plus hours taxes one’s ability to absorb the information.

How heartbreaking, though, to stare into the void into which so much of L.A.’s small theater goes. A week into the run, the 14 actors on stage outnumbered, by roughly double, the number in the Friday night audience.

-- Daryl H. Miller

“A Black Trilogy 2007,” Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends Oct. 14. (323) 860-3208. $20. Running time: 3 hours, 5 minutes.