Although the days of being accosted by an assortment of political, street theater groups have, for the most part, gone the way of pet rocks, the Bay Area is by no means devoid of homegrown political theater of the comic variety.

In a newly christened performance space in the rather un-Berkeley Gaia Building lies that most Berkeley of institutions, a small theater company. The Marsh's latest production, "The Dick and Dubya Show," a political-satire-meets-musical-theater one-act, made a highly entertaining showcase about the present administration that our fair city hates so much, all in under an hour.

A well-executed bit of comedy reminiscent of "Saturday Night Live" back when Chevy Chase did Gerald Ford, its most disappointing feature was its unfortunately short running time.

The concept behind the play was simple but really rather imaginative. On tour, the President and Vice President tried to recruit new members into the Republican fold, particularly in those areas populated by, as Dubya opines, "Pinko commie queers." They reinterpreted New Deal reform acts-a nice interactive moment for the history geeks in the audience-and engaged in "extreme compassionate conservatism," a cross between group hug and assault. It featured such wonders as President Bush frolicking with a toy Flipper, receiving electric shocks when he mispronounced words and cowering in fear at the mention of "Uncle Karl."

Performed in a space smaller than that allocated for your average high school drama production, Ed Holmes and Amos Glick, both San Francisco Mime Troupe veterans, made remarkably effective use of a few props.

In a space so small, both actors were well aware that every gesture and facial tic was unavoidably obvious to the audience. Glick perfectly captures the president's unwitting trademark snicker and style of gesture; Holmes' Cheney was, if anything, even more convincing.

The performances were so well executed and amusing that the show comes not so much with downsides as caveats.

Those uncomfortable with a little bit of audience participation may want to avoid the aisles and front row at the risk of being haunted by the image of a singing President Bush caressing your cheek. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, these two are-brace yourselves-making fun of the Bush administration!

It is, after all, things like this that make Bill O'Reilly want to bomb the Bay Area off the map. But for anyone who's a fan of the Berkeley political or theatrical culture, the show is an excellent, inexpensive, if all too quick, fix.