Bold parody in 'Bitter Tears'

DURHAM -- In less than two years, Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern has established itself as a key company in the Triangle's brimming theater scene.

The company's hallmark is imaginative conceptions, such as an all black cast for Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" and blending Dostoevsky's biography and fiction for "In the Doghouse." Wherever a production lands on the success scale, it's always intriguing. That is true of the current production, "The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant," a reworking of Rainer Fassbinder's play and film by writer, director and cast member Katja Hill.

Fassbinder's story is a deadly serious take on the dynamics of power and desire. Famous fashion designer Petra von Kant meets and falls in love with Karin, a young married woman whom Petra promises a modeling career. Their relationship turns stormy, with Karin soon calling the shots, further burdening Petra's long-suffering secretary Marlene, amorously devoted to Petra despite her harsh treatment. Petra's disdain for daughter Gabi, mother Valerie and friend Sidonie, leaves Petra with no one when Karin goes back to her husband.

Fans of Fassbinder's film revel in its intense acting and atmosphere of doomed love. But Hill, recognizing the close line between drama and comedy, tips the scale to provide an evening of hilariously extreme characters and funny physical comedy. Those who don't know the film still can find much amusement, but familiarity with the movie enhances appreciation of Hill's wicked parody.

As Petra, Rachel Klem gamely takes on pratfalls and the proverbial pie (well, cake) in the face, while creating a Norma Desmond-like creature of outsized passions and emotions. Gigi DeLizza gives Karin the required cold edge but also shows great depth in an evocative monologue that ends with a twist. Meredith Sause's perky Gabi is a riot as she tries to enunciate through orthodontic headgear. Lenore Fields' Valerie is a funny but sympathetic mother, especially in the suddenly serious final scene. Leigh Lester Holmes gives Sidonie stage-filling flair but gets by on stereotypical airheadedness. Hill's weary Marlene is all the more eloquent (and hilarious) for not speaking a word.

Much of the production's allure comes from its arresting set design by David Fellerath, assisted by Dorrie Casey and Derrick Ivey. From the tunnellike entrance into Petra's apartment, to the lighted fashion runway that divides the room, to the dozens of costumes on the walls and mannequins, to Petra's huge bed, every inch of Common Ground Theatre's modest space is awash with detail. Equally eye-catching are the outrageous costumes, each character designed by a different costumer.

Hill does not get all her cast to act in the same style, and some of her staging emphasizes the space's cramped quarters. She also asks for audience empathy despite the Mel Brooks-style production. The script would benefit from being a one-act instead of two (at only 85 minutes) and from sticking to parody without sudden shifts to reality.

But for the theatrically adventurous, this "Bitter Tears" is the next best thing to finding a basement in Greenwich Village with a hardy band of players creating big visions from modest means.