'BEAR': BUSINESS DISGUISED AS HIGH CAMP.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

Justin Tanner's ``Big Bear'' may pose as corporate America-skewering comedy, but that's not really what the playwright is after. Yes, there's a prize at stake: a promotion within a title insurance company - complete with corner office - and a pair of devious workers who proclaim to be lifelong buds but would happily cut each other's throats to get ahead.

That this adventure takes place outside the confines of the rat race - during a testosterone-flowing camping trip in Big Bear - is a twist, but nothing outrageous. Put the swamp-land salesmen of David Mamet's ``Glengarry Glen Ross'' in the same compound, and Tanner's materialistic misfits would be roasting over charcoal faster than you can say, ``Only you can prevent forest fires.''

The stakes aren't quite so high once Tanner's zonked-out take on matters of business, love and comradeship become clear. Corporate clones Doug and Jeff may grind each other into powder, but it's Billy, the $6.50- an-hour-earning geek from the mailroom, whose fate is supposed to matter. That Tanner himself is playing Billy in Third Stage's production gives ``Big Bear'' its engine and makes it a wonderful guilty pleasure of an experience. Simply put, Tanner - both the actor and his material - are fun to watch.

With ``Big Bear,'' a revision of his earlier play, ``Tent Show,'' Tanner has written a satire of a satire. The power play between amoral company man Doug (played by Jonathan Palmer) and perennial screw-up Jeff (D.J. Berg) is the plot, but Tanner also fills up more than a little stage time with philosophical ramblings (heavy on the pop-culture references); regular appearances by Julie (Tanya Little), a hot little number from a nearby campground bearing high-quality pot; new age burlesquing; and random raunch thrown in whenever the play seems to need a guy fix. You sense you're in the company of the offbeat when a character gets seriously jazzed over discovering a Three Musketeers bar tucked away in a knapsack - ``Cool!''

Jeff, Doug and fellow office mate Walter (James Henriksen, also the production's set designer) have come to Big Bear ostensibly for retreat purposes, but their mantra of ``no shop talk'' lasts about five minutes. Less ambitious than his cohorts, Walter is pretty much outside the skirmishes. All he wants to do is commune with nature and listen to his Truth Quest tapes, which advocate ... communing with nature. Also present to serve as whipping boy and beer dispenser is Billy, invited simply because more powerful people within the company weren't available. Doug ultimately calls in his secretary, Bernadette (Jodi Carlisle), to speed up the demolition of Jeff's career.

Director David Rose keeps the actors and the action very much in sync with the play's rambling rhythms. ``Big Bear'' never lags, and the entire cast handles the overlapping, ping pong-ing dialogue with ease. I take my hat off to the man who writes the line, ``Suck wind, you fathead!''

That's Justin Tanner for you - a guy who would sell out a country for a Three Musketeers bar.

``BIG BEAR''

Where: Third Stage, 2811 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; through Aug. 18.

Tickets: $15. Call [phone].

Our rating: Three stars

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Photo: Jodi Carlisle and Justin Tanner, who is also the playwright, find they can't escape corporate intrigue even at ``Big Bear.''