‘Bent’s’ Themes Don’t Get Their Due

It’s hard to believe 20 years have passed since Martin Sherman’s “Bent” first premiered in New York in a celebrated production starring Richard Gere.

But Sherman’s Holocaust-era drama endures. Now, in a 20th anniversary revival at the Stella Adler, Sherman’s play--which details the ill fortunes, furtive love and ultimate redemption of two gay men in the Nazi-run Dachau death camp--proves a clarion reminder of the dangers of generalized, generational hatreds.

Unfortunately, director Larry McCallister’s plodding, oddly soporific staging doesn’t do justice to the play. As Max, the hedonistic protagonist, Brant Cotton shows little variation between the opening scenes, when we see Max as a debauched habitue of the Berlin nightclub scene, all the way to his agonizing tenure in Dachau. Whether merely hung over or struggling to survive, Cotton’s Max virtually sleepwalks through the action.

The directorial decision to downplay Max, whatever his milieu, may have been intended to illustrate Max’s emotional numbness and self-hatred, which he expiates through his heroic and self-affirming final gesture. However, because Max’s innate dynamism is so blunted, we remain essentially uninvolved by the cycle of tragedy and catharsis Sherman intends. Although a handsomely mounted effort, with a versatile set by TheatrPunk and additional staging by David Galligan, this strangely empty production echoes with unrealized promise.

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* “Bent,” Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Sept. 19. $20. (323) 655-8587. Running time:2 hours, 20 minutes.