MUCH WAITING, LITTLE TO SEE.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

THE PROBLEM with trying to craft compelling drama out of a week-long, historically arresting nonviolent protest is that, when the chips are down and the red and black wheel is a-twirl, you're still asking an audience to watch as people wait for an outcome we already know.

And wait. And sing. And talk. And wait some more.

Now, unless the people doing the waiting are named Vladimir and Estragon, extended waiting on display is, well, turgid. The reason why the ladies of Terry Lawrence's ``Rosenstrasse'' are biding their time outside a de facto Jewish center in 1943 are certainly intriguing, even alarming. But the women themselves - at least in Lawrence's rendering and under Hope Alexander's direction for the Company Rep - hold little interest. In fact, seldom has potential life-and-death tension been made to seem more dramatically boring.

Where ``Rosenstrasse'' - with music by Max Kinberg - derails is tricky to determine. The material practically screams documentary. Perhaps a grander staging suggesting the breadth and magnitude of what these women were able to accomplish might have packed a greater wallop.

We spend most of the production's 2 1/2 hours in the company of the same six women: a selection of Gentile wives (and one daughter) of protected Jews - through their marriages - who had been rounded up and faced deportation to the death camps. Standing in frequently silent vigil, this ever-growing throng faced threats of violence, chanted, ``Give us our husbands back,'' and didn't disperse until the Nazis did just that.

The actors are credible enough in roles that often feel interchangeable. A no-nonsense Chera Holland exudes bravery and fortitude as group leader Katerina Morganstern. And Barbara Haver does a smooth dramatic turn as the older Baroness Schumann, beautifully handling a difficult number titled ``Another Century, Another World.'' Kinberg's music, by the way, is more sung-through dialogue than verse tunes.

Thematic heft ``Rosenstrasse'' possesses in spades. Consistent reasons to stay awake, not so much.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

ROSENSTRASSE - Two stars

Where: Company Rep, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; through April 16.

Tickets: $20 to $22.50. Call [phone].

In a nutshell: Not worth the wait.

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Company Rep's production of ``Rosenstrasse'' tells the story of women standing vigil for their captured Jewish husbands.