Theater Review by Jackie Houchin

The Fremont Centre Theatre's production of "Ravensridge" will likely raise hackles in some circles, but this edgy political drama about "labor disputes and the little man finding his voice" seems very appropriate coming just weeks after the difficult 13-week writer's strike in Los Angeles.

"Ravensridge" is based on true events that took place during the 19-month Steelworker's strike in West Virginia in 1992. The mill owner - living abroad at the time as a fugitive from American Law - refused to settle, while 17,000 union workers watched locally-hired "scabs" cross the lines and take their jobs.

A few union locals decided to visit him and pressure him to negotiate.

T. S. Cook's play follows this story, with Vaughn Armstrong as the hot-tempered union worker Will Torrey, incarcerated in a Russian prison after a scuffle with the mill owner's bodyguard ends in homicide.

Armstrong plays the role adeptly, allowing the audience to see his character's outrage at injustice, his sense of futility at a changing world and even his fleeting compassion for his interrogator.

Robert Trebor is superb in the role of Maj. Viktor Davidykov, the Russian Chief of Police in whose hands the fate of Will Torrey rests. A disenfranchised Soviet officer, he's trying to find his place in the "new" Russia.

He's brusque, but has a straight-faced sense of humor that delights the audience. Trebor, who looks and sounds so incredibly like his character, is hands-down the favorite in this play.

Jon Sklaroff plays the arrogant fugitive businessman. Evidence that he performs this villainous role well, are the agitated movements of the audience during his pontificating and the "booing" he gets at curtain call.

Woven into the background of politics is the brief, shy romance between a Russian Officer ( Jed Reynolds) and an American Steelworker ( Emily Adams). Troubadour, Kim Story's guitar and folksongs help segue between scenes.

Directed by James Reynolds, "Ravensridge" is an intense but very satisfying new play that takes a thoughtful look at both sides of the labor question, in the United States as well as the Soviet Union/Russia...with some surprising similarities.

It plays Fridays andSaturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. now through March 30.

Admission is $25 for adults, $20 for students and seniors. Call 866-441-5977 for reservations.

The Fremont Centre Theater is located at 1000 Fremont Ave. (at El Centro), S. Pasadena. Abundant free parking is available.