Pride squandered, redemption found

Third World oppression in the face of globalization is a promising theme for dramatic exploration, but Jean Verdun’s “Tibi’s Law” at Stages Theatre Center quickly reaches the point where too much examination undermines the play’s emotional impact.

Newly translated from the French and staged with obvious care by Robert Cohen, Verdun’s two-character drama revolves primarily around the narrative ruminations of Tibi, a destitute Congolese actor hired by government-run travel agencies to perform faux funeral rituals -- part philosophical reflection, part improvised hocus-pocus -- for the entertainment of tourists.

An engaging raconteur, Tibi’s past worldwide travels lend him the perspective of a citizen of the world, and Saul Williams’ charismatic performance illuminates both the engaging con man and the sensitive poet residing within Tibi, as he dons a shoddy shaman’s cape to preside over a series of burials (six in one day) -- in this destitute society, corpses are never in short supply. The play’s original title (“Better Than Our Fathers”) better conveys its central irony -- Tibi’s world has reached rock bottom in a startling clash of theatricality and sobering mortality.

As the name change suggests, however, director Cohen’s focus is on Tibi’s personal dictum -- when the global pyramid crushes you, build your own. He tries to do just that with Mara (Erinn Anova), a young mother whose murdered infant provides the fodder for one of Tibi’s “performances.”

To save her from prostitution, Tibi takes Mara under his care, bathing her in a sensual ritual of life very different from his usual routine, and sheltering her like a secret treasure. Though Mara says little, her erotic presence brings the promise of healing balance.

Unfortunately, what is at bottom a love story keeps getting sidetracked by abstract speculation on familiar social issues.

The concept that wealth at the top of the social pyramid is bought through abject misery of those at the bottom isn’t complex or subtle enough to warrant rehashing in multiple burial rites and endless exposition.

Here, the audience ends up paying over and over for the same philosophical real estate.

-- Philip Brandes

“Tibi’s Law,” Stages Theatre Center, 1540 McCadden Place, Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 4 p.m. Ends May 25. $20. (323) 465-1010. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes.