Also Playing

Counsellor-at-Law

 ((Interact Theatre, North Hollywood; 55 seats; $ 15 top))

By JULIO MARTINEZ

Interact Theatre Company presents a play in three acts by Elmer Rice. Directors, John Rubenstein, Anita Khanzadian; executive producer, Christal Lockwood.
 
George Simon ... John Rubenstein Regina Gordon ... Marilyn McIntyre Cora Simon ... Leslie Hicks Charles McFadden ... James Gleason John P. Tedesco ... Tony Rizzoli Bessy Green ... Jane Lanier Roy Darwin ... Francois Giroday Lena Simon ... Mary Carver Peter J. Malone ... James Greene
 

Ensemble: Henry Susskind, Annie Abbott, Barry Heins, James Greene, Gregory White, Susan Hull, Betty Vaughan, Steven Hack, Alan Brooks, Arthur Sandler, Denise Bessette, Freddy Otero, Victor Duran, Josh Adell, Mitchell Allen, Erika Pedersen. If Elmer Rice were writing today, he could make a nice living scripting series television: The action that flows through the fictional law firm of "Counsellor-At-Law" doesn't develop very far but rivals any of the plot machinations fashioned for recent TV fare. It is a credit to the Interact Theatre Company that this seldom produced 1931 Broadway play by the author of "Street Scene" and "The Adding Machine" seems alive and contemporary while authentically re-creating the mood and style of its period setting.

Rice passed many of the social ills of his day through the New York City law offices of George Simon (John Rubenstein) and John P. Tedesco (Tony Rizzoli): murder, anarchy, abortion, police brutality, political corruption, bribery, infidelity, etc.

Directors Rubenstein and Anita Khanzadian have charged their large and talented ensemble with a controlled but palpable energy that underlines Rice's social conscience as the actors help create a vivid and believable menagerie of Depression-era saints and sinners.

The play, set entirely in the waiting room and inner chambers of the law offices of Simon and Tedesco, centers on razor-tongued George Simon. In a complex performance, Rubenstein creates a striking portrait of a gutter-to-penthouse legal eagle who, despite his enormous success, has never lost touch with his "mean streets" upbringing.

Simon is savagely direct in his ability to get to the truth of any situation. However, he is completely befuddled and bedazzled by his beautiful but shallow high society wife, Cora (Leslie Hicks). And Hicks plays Cora to bloodless perfection, rejecting with icy disdain the habitues of Simon's world.

Marilyn McIntyre's portrayal of Simon's long-suffering but adoring secretary offers an endearing mixture of efficiency and vulnerability. Mary Carver steals every scene she is in as Simon's all-seeing and all-knowing immigrant mother. Another performance of particular note is James Gleason.

Bradley Kaye's set and Barbara Ayers' costumes do much to create an authentic atmosphere for this first-rate production.

Sets, Bradley Kaye; lighting, Cheryl Waters; costumes, Barbara Ayers. Opened Nov. 4, 1994; reviewed Nov. 5; runs through Jan. 29. Running time: 3 hours.