This title of these three one-acts seems a misnomer, as the entire shebang, including intermission, clocks in at only one hour and 50 minutes. Semantics aside, it's a satisfying anthology of new short works. The best offering is Deborah Grimberg's The Honey Makers, crisply directed by Michael C. Mahon. It's a thoughtful glimpse at simmering cultural tensions in a mom-and-pop grocery store in North London. The shop is owned by two Indian immigrants (Valerie Farr and Shelley Malil). When a huge swarm of bees sets up residence behind their shop, they enlist the services of an elderly gentleman (Bob Larkin) who sells honey in an effort to support himself; they ask him to take the pests off their hands. The subtle cultural tension between the unemployed Brit and the enterprising foreigners is exacerbated when a bigoted street punk (Michael Raymond-James) enters the store and starts taunting everyone. The ominous threat of a sudden attack from the bees mirrors the festering agitation of racial tensions. The performances are impeccable, except for Raymond-James, who uses an almost totally unintelligible street-slang accent, an insurmountable flaw in an otherwise creditable portrayal.
Steve Monroe's Buffalo Wings offers no epiphanies, but it benefits from up-to-the-minute resonance. Monroe explores the crisis of conscience for American men drafted into military service as they face the prospect of risking their own lives and taking the lives of others, all for the sake of a widely unpopular war. The narrative, set during the Vietnam War, involves two young pals trying to decide between becoming draft-dodgers and fleeing for Canada or reporting to boot camp for duty. The play charts their journey from gleeful, marijuana-induced revelry to a sobering realization of the significance of the step they're taking, as they sit in their car at a rest stop close to the Canadian border. Brian Hibbert and Dylan Purcell offer insightful and moving depictions. David Gautreaux directs with sensitivity.
The least potent offering, Billy Aronson's The News attempts a seriocomic musing on the defense mechanisms we use in coping with catastrophic twists of fate. Karen (Liz Ross), who went under anesthesia for an unspecified surgery, awakens to discover that the doctors didn't perform the operation because they found a more serious health problem. She's visited by two friends (Jacqueline Wright and Ray Xifo) and her husband George (Hiram Kasten), who bears a handful of balloons. Karen rationalizes the severe ramifications of her newly revealed affliction, the characters' cellphones go off incessantly, and Karen and George bicker over trivia. Lisa James directs capably, and the actors bring out the script's ironic humor and poignancy, but the final effect seems less compelling than intended.
"Marathon 2004," presented by Ensemble Studio Theatre—The LA Project at Stage 52 Playhouse, 5299 W. Washington Blvd., L.A. Thu.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Apr. 23-May 23. $18-20. (213) 368-9552.