Review

In evocative 'Lone Star,' all the courtyard's a stage

TAMPA - It was a blow to the artistic ego of Seminole Heights, a burgeoning trendy/bohemian neighborhood, when the Alley Cat Players announced recently they were moving downtown.

Alley Cat had been producing quirky, challenging theater in the courtyard of Viva La Frida! Cafe y Galleria, a Mexican restaurant that has become an artistic focal point in Seminole Heights. The move to an indoor space made sense, but it left a void.

For the moment, at least, the void has been ably filled.

Through the end of August, an ad hoc company is staging Lone Star, James McLure's popular one-act comedy, on the courtyard stage. It's an inspired choice of plays for the space (or maybe the space is an inspired choice for the play). And the production, strong acting and direction are on par with McLure's light, enjoyable script.

What makes Lone Star and the courtyard an ideal match is that the play is set in back of a Texas bar. So the utilitarian ambiance of the courtyard, with air conditioner compressors buzzing and traffic whirring by, enhances the play.

Okay, that may be overstating the case. The noises are going to be a distraction no matter what the play's milieu. But the industrial hum at least seems more intrinsic than it has in some previous productions. Sound designer Edward Ross deserves congratulations for making the actors unfailingly audible despite difficult surroundings.

Though McLure's play is billed as comedy, and it's amusing from start to finish, it's really a character study. Two brothers and an acquaintance, denizens of a small-town dive, none too bright and all lacking in integrity, spend an inebriated evening behind Angel's Bar. It's a night like many others, but festering resentments and long-held secrets come to the fore.

It sounds heavier than it is. This isn't the beer-drinking version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It has an amiable, even affectionate attitude toward its characters.

The thing that sticks with you about the script is its fully-drawn portrait of the small town. By the end, you can picture the desolate highway that leads out of town, marked only by a single cottonwood tree, and you feel you know the downtrodden but not-quite-desperate populace.

The three-man cast (Kevin Whalin, Adam Belvo and especially Jack Holloway) does earnest, textured work and helps make its somewhat obnoxious characters likable. Director Mark A. Marple keeps the pace lively and ekes as much action out of the script as possible.

The only real flaw, and it's not a huge one, is in the costuming of Belvo's character. The character is supposed to be socially inept, and that comes through in the script. He's unnecessarily attired in the cliched trappings of a nerd: black-framed glasses, slicked-down, ill-fitting clothes. It's a stale element that mars an otherwise refreshing show.

Lone Star runs Friday and Saturday through Aug. 28 at Viva La Frida! Cafe y Galleria, 5901 N Florida Ave., Tampa. Tickets are $10. Call (813) 231-9199.

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