L.A.'s Drama-Logue award-winning Namaste Theatre Company mounts its second production, the world premiere adaptation of R.A. White's The Dismantling of Lemuel Pitkin, running at the Actor's Gang Theatre, July 12-Aug. 16.

Lemuel Pitkin is based on Nathanael West's satire, A Cool Million. Guided by a former president of the United States, Lemuel travels from New York to California and back again in his pursuit of the American Dream. Along the way, he is assaulted, trampled, robbed, jailed, beaten, scalped, kidnapped, conned, and abused.

White is a founding member of Tim Robbins' theatre troupe, The Actor's Gang, and served as The Gang's associate artistic director from 1992-1996.

The Namaste Theatre Company began its collaboration with The Actors' Gang in 1996, with the West Coast premiere of Eric Bogosian's subUrbia. The Namaste production sparked the idea for the film version, and earned the company six Drama-Logue awards.

The Dismantling of Lemuel Pitkin will be directed by Michael Uppendahl, with sets by Kris Sandheinrich, costumes by Ann Closs-Farley, lighting by David Hahn, and original music by Gang composer Lawrence O'Keefe. For tickets or more information about Namaste's The Dismantling of Lemuel Pitkin, or upcoming events at The Actor's Gang, please call (213) 465-0566, or refer to the regional theatre listings on Playbill On-Line.

--By Sean McGrath