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The Tent Show

 ((Cast Theatre, Hollywood; 99 seats; $ 15 top))

By TOM JACOBS

Diana Gibson and Andy Daley for Ted Schmitt's Cast Theatre present a play in two acts written and directed by Justin Tanner.
 
Doug ... Tony Maggio
Billy ... Jon Amirkhan
Walter ... Jon Palmer
Jeff ... Mark Ruffalo
Julie ... Laurel Green
Bernadette ... Thea Constantine
 

Playwright Justin Tanner, who has an astounding eight plays running in repertory at the Cast Theatre, goes off in a new direction in his latest work, "The Tent Show." This accomplished writer, who has specialized in loosely structured plays with female protagonists, has this time created a much more conventional work, one that centers on four men.

The results of his first foray into David Mamet terrain are mixed. While there is much good writing, the play's themes are less than fresh, and its metaphors are a bit too obvious.

The setting is a tent in the mountains near Big Bear, where four employees of a Los Angeles-based title insurance company have escaped for a long weekend of beer and bonding. Just prior to their Friday noon departure, a major shake-up was announced at the company. Heads rolled and the implication was that others would follow.

This has put the four men in a defensive mood, which for them means clinging closely to their surface personas. Thus Jeff, the office lech, engages in high-school locker room talk. Doug, who is hard-working and ambitious, attempts to establish authority.

Walter, who is somewhat aloof from the others, confines his conversations to New Age cliches. Billy, the mail boy who got dragged along at the last minute, plays gofer with a minimum of complaint.

As rain falls and time passes, each begins to drop his cover personality and reveal his vulnerabilities. The first is Billy, an artistic soul who meets an attractive female camper but ultimately loses her to one of his better-paid colleagues.

He is followed by Jeff, who reveals an incriminating secret, and Doug, who pounces upon it for his own advancement. We see clearly that, underneath their macho posturing, both are driven almost exclusively by fear.

Except for an occasional glimpse, the audience never sees the true Walter, which is a major problem. Without such a revelatory scene, the character comes across as tiresome and extraneous.

With a running time of under two hours, Tanner has plenty of time to beef up this character and to add still more dimension to the

others. Jeff is the most vivid character, and not coincidentally, reveals the most about his life away from the office. More information of this sort about the others would provide some needed context.

The acting in the reviewed performance was good but not great -- perhaps understandable, given the tiny Saturday-afternoon audience. The most vivid performance by far was Thea Constantine's hilarious portrayal of Doug's tart-tongued secretary.

Set designer Andy Daley has the tent fill the entire stage, thus blocking out any views of nature. This barren quality feels appropriate for an amusing but ultimately bleak play.

Sets, Daley; lighting, Peter Strauss; sound, Todd Hughes; costumes, Denise Wingate. Opened Sept. 30, 1994; reviewed Dec. 10; runs indefinitely. Running time: 1 hour,50 min.