REVIEW by Willard Manus

LOS ANGELES -- A welcome throwback to the social dramas of the 30s and 40s, when the class struggle was still foremost in dramatists' minds, ONE WORLD deals with the battle between today's haves and have-nots. Ideas, not style, are what count in ONE WORLD, the new play by Robert J. Litz having its world premiere at The Elephant Theatre, directed by David Fofi.
      

        
Since ninety per cent of the plays being produced today are all about style--sometimes known as camp or absurdism--ONE WORLD should be applauded for the way it goes against the grain. Lording it over three American families--and, by extension, the world itself--is a Mr. Big known as IMF. In the skilled hands of Brendan Connor, this bigger-than-life character who sneers at the poor and at all notions of compassion and fairness, comes off as believable and hilarious. The same holds true for IMF's victims--a welfare mother, a blue-collar couple, and two yuppies (a financial analyst and a real estate agent)--all of whom eventually fall victim to the forces of globalization and corprorate capitalism. That might sound schematic and didactic, but in the hands of Litz and Fofi--and their skilled actors--ONE WORLD becomes strong, believable theatre.

Elephant Theatre Co., 6322 Santa Monica Blvd.
Call (323) 962-0046.