Attention shoppers French farce hits the mall

It is scary to think that a few hundred years from now, our
greatest literary works could translate to little more than a drawn
out "Saturday Night Live" segment. But this is exactly what the
Cornerstone Theater Company has done with three short farces by
16th century French playwright Moliere.

"Malliere" is not only set in a mall, but actually runs in a
mall ­ in the community room of Santa Monica Place ­
through Oct. 27. "The Look" is a fictional Gap-like store that
houses the play’s action in addition to stacks of neatly folded
denim and button-down shirts in muted pastels. Every time a
customer enters, the door dings and a sales clerk calls out,
"Welcome to the Look, have we got the look for you."

At up to $14.99 a ticket, "Malliere" has the look of an
overpriced sitcom. When a wife saw her husband catch a fainting
girl and mistook it for adultery, or when a lowly worker put on the
airs of a doctor in the time of Shakespeare or Wycherly, it was
probably humorous and original. And it could still be funny today
if the audience had the novelty of seeing actors in hoop skirts and
powdered wigs practice the same whacky antics. Period piece
comedies often show that folks in the olden days weren’t so stiff
and boring after all.

But these plot lines have had generations to trickle down to
that most generic of all dead ends ­ the TV sitcom. The cast
of six suffers from "Saturday Night Live"’s more troublesome
ailments, including a failure to quit when it’s still vaguely
amusing and a habit of making dorky jabs at current news
issues.

One woman runs around the mall complaining that English-speaking
America is being undermined by bi-lingual postcards bearing the
message "Greetings from Los Angeles" ("Los Angeles" is a Spanish
word ­ get it?).

But, to their credit, the "Malliere" ensemble also embodies some
of what made the sketch artists goofy and watchable. Their energy
and well-timed physical comedy keep things moving. When custodian
Sganarella (Page Leong) must convince a friend that she is in fact
a twin (long story), she moves deftly from one dressing room to
another, scampering along the rafters above to keep up the charade
and prove that there is a twin behind each door.

Armando Molina, who plays the ignored customer in every scene,
is especially funny when, unable to get the clerk’s attention, he
begins climbing the wall to reach a shirt on an out-of-reach shelf.
The manager doesn’t help him out, but calls him "Spiderman" and
"Sir Edmund Hillary" in an exasperated voice.

And though the six thespians play a total of 26 parts, they are
versatile enough (with the help of wigs and distinctive costumes)
to present the story in a surprisingly unconfusing manner. But just
because they have the talent to play many types of parts doesn’t
seem to spark any interest in choosing characterizations that
haven’t been done a million times before.

In the first scene, Look employee Yvonne (Page Leong), clad in a
mini skirt and Doc Martens, argues with her rich cellphone-toting
daddy (Shishir Kurup). The conversation could have been plucked
right out of "Clueless." Yvonne’s boyfriend and his buddy are Bill
and Ted with a little too much Pauly Shore thrown in. Isn’t it time
for a new kind of air head?

Other stereotypical characters include Sganaroole (Christopher
Liam Moore), the store’s gay manager, who milks the audience for
laughs by flicking his wrists a lot and skipping daintily across
the stage, and Lakesha (Regina Byrd Smith), the slang-talking
hip-hopster who is dressed like an unfortunate victim of Cross
Colours.

Two characters, buddies Gerry and Mary (Benajah Cobb and Regina
Byrd Smith) have not been seen elsewhere, probably because they are
far too annoying to watch. Maybe the actors and director (Bill
Rausch) were running out of ideas, but their idea of
characterization is talking like trolls ­ the theatrical
equivalent of fingernails on a chalk board.

"Malliere" relies on easy gimmicks to bring sure-fire hilarity
which is occasional hilarity nonetheless; the drinking of fake
urine, a hefty guy in a mu-mu, and someone with a hard-to-pronounce
name. These moments of good-natured if junior high humor, coupled
with the neat and tidy ending and inexpensive set would make
"Malliere" the perfect high school theater production.

Thursday nights are pay-what-you-can, a perfect college student
price. So while "Malliere" may not fit the great literary tradition
it is derived from, spending an evening at the Look might be a nice
break after spending the day next door at the Gap.

THEATER: "Malliere" runs at Santa Monica Place
through Oct. 27. TIX: $14.99 general admission; $7.99 students;
pay-what-you-can on Thursdays. For more info, call 449-1700.

Cornerstone Theater Company
Shishir Kurup and Page Leong
appear in "Malliere" at Santa Monica Place.

Every time a customer enters … a sales clerk calls
out "Welcome to the Look, have we got the look for
you."