LOS ANGELES REVIEW by Willard Manus

LOS ANGELES-- Guy Zimmerman, the writer/director of THE INSIDE JOB, now in its world premiere at 2100 Square Feet (the home of Padua Playwrights Productions), cites FAR AWAY as the main influence on his new drama. "There is a similar atmosphere of that threatening, dark, oppressive regime happening in the play."

Zimmerman, who serves as artistic director of PPP, lays bare--and indicts-- America's love of money and status in THE INSIDE JOB.

The superb Barry Del Sherman plays Max, a shark-like young businessman who screwed people left and right while working for an Enron-like corporation, only to lose both job and money when the 90s bubble burst. Far from being guilty or repentant, Max only wants to return to the glory days of banditry and plunder. Equally amoral and feral is his sleek wife Victoria (Jessica Margaret Dean), who is so disgusted with being poor that she sometimes can't speak.

The third character in this triangle-play is Heidi (Holly Ramos), a mini-skirted, a mysterious young girl who may or may not be the mistress of Max's ex-boss and nemesis Renner, a Milken-like tycoon who is holding a party in his hilltop mansion which Max is desperate to crash. Using her sexuality and connection to Renner (and, as it unfolds, to Victoria), Heidi begins to manipulate Max and his wife, exploiting their craven need for acceptance by the rich and famous.

Employing a series of short blackout scenes marked by tight, understated dialogue and coolly precise acting, Zimmerman builds his play skilfully (helped by Tina Preston's costumes, Robert Orial's light, sound & music, and Jeffrey Atherton's set), achieving not just the menace he admires in Far Away, but a fully realized portrait of savage capitalism.

Through Dec. 7 at 2100 Square Feet, 5615 San Vicente Blvd., L.A. Call (322) 692-2652.