STAGE REVIEW : TWO MALE MISFITS IN ‘TEAMSTERS BASEMENT’

The macho psyche isn’t faring well these days, but macho characters remain interesting as an endangered species. Two of the most watchable are the misfits in “Teamsters Basement” at the Cast Theatre.

This world premiere, a compelling 60-minute purgatory, features two distinctive performances by George A. Simonelli and Talbot Simons, whose horny bravado is as full of fantasy as the Playboy and Hustler cover pages they grind up against.

Playwright Thomas George Carter has loaded the deck of his two-character drama with the ultimate revelation of private miseries that are too pat. But he has also effectively dramatized man’s suppressed female nature fighting to burst through the facade of machismo .

This challenge chiefly falls to Simonelli, whose unvarnished redneck and salacious ranting materialize into a character whose plight achieves a kind of crippled stature. His scabrous but lightly affable Teamster buddy is etched with scraggly detail by performer Simons, who conveys a dim aura of reckless danger. Simonelli, on the other hand, is all coiled-up volatility.

We’re in a Teamster warehouse basement in Gotham. Erica Bradbury lights it with shafts of blue, gray and black; set designer Steve Chase conveys the texture of a barrel-like industrial bunker. The characters--friends separated for some years and now confronted with being driving partners--expose the lies they live and grow to a measure of human acceptance.

Andrew DeAngelo’s direction is gritty, spare, profligate yet controlled. The production is a mini tour de force for the two actors, who lift this otherwise fairly predictable play out of the humdrum. Performances at 804 El Centro Ave., Hollywood, Monday through Wednesday, 8 p.m., through May 6; (213) 462-0265.