Unpredictable "Black Gold" never really flows

In the award-winning 2007 play "Black Gold," now in its local debut at West Seattle's ArtsWest Playhouse, we are told that a Middle Eastern political theater piece created by Palestinian and Jewish artists was panned by critics as "preachy and predictable."

As for "Black Gold" itself, "preachy" can apply. But predictable? Nope.

Seth Rozin's fiercely topical, overextended one-act careens without warning between Israel and Detroit, between blunt political parody and heart-rending family drama, between the politics of oil and mass starvation in Africa.

Though this production of his Smith Prize-winning work has too many dry patches and hardly any laugh-gushers, Rozin certainly can't be faulted for moral indifference, or a narrow worldview.

In about 90 minutes, "Black Gold" conjures a petro-holic (and petro-sexual) world of woes in a pastiche of satirical skits, dramatic vignettes, faux TV ads, election debates and spin. The message: Well, that is pretty predictable. It's basically greed = bad, power to the people = good.

The whole schmear is enacted by six actors hustling hard to cover some 80 roles. And under Christopher Zinovitch's rush-hour direction, that makes for a rather lurching, stop-and-go race to the finish line.

One can, certainly, find something admirable in the determined, fearless sweep of "Black Gold."

Daniel J. Schuy's deliberately ugly construction zone of a set (chain-link fencing, corrugated metal, graffiti, et al.) plunks us down in a rough inner-city block of Detroit, where laid-off auto factory worker Curtis (Bob Williams) discovers a rich reserve of oil in his yard.

As his excited neighbors urge him to "drill, baby, drill," and imagine their own oil reserves, Curtis agrees to a very sketchy plan by a local politician (Nancy Calos-Nakano) to hold off leasing his land — at least until a deal can leverage major community improvements, not just individual wealth.

But that resistance to go for the gold leads to family tragedy and sparks a military occupation decreed by a clownish U.S. president (played by James Lyle, with Clinton's sexual antics and Bush's brains).

Mass evictions follow, and Curtis and his neighbors are packed into a sports stadium, in a disastrous human warehousing that recalls the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The sobering story of Curtis and family is the narrative crux of "Black Gold," and the best thing about it, despite dabs of melodrama. But it is crisscrossed by a lot of stabs at media and political lampoonery, which tend to be more crude than refined.

Other recurring elements include the person-to-person diplomacy between Palestinian and Jewish actors making agit-prop theater together in Israel (the preachiest setup), and Bette Allen's jokey videos of fake commercials and blustering political cant.

There are some clever, scattershot jabs here. And also some standout, switcheroo acting work by two young cast members, Alex Garnett and especially Aaron Washington, who brings detail and believability to even his quickest cameos.

But the failed attempts to draw laughs with overcooked accents and cartoonish satire are real stumbles.

The show kind of grows on you, and its intention of linking individual promise and adversity to international forces and geo-eco-politics is laudable.

Yet whether it's the script that lags or the overly emphatic direction, "Black Gold" doesn't ignite the way you hope — and keep hoping — it will.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com