Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 3, 1990                   TAG: 9003032794
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SHOWTIMERS DOES A GOOD JOB WITH A DIFFICULT DRAMA

That is the playwright's intended effect.

The play is a jarring, unsettling look at contemporary life and relationships. The script is thick with raunchy language and sexually explicit content intended to shock the audience's sensibilities.

But regardless of whether you decide you like the play's hard-hitting tone, Showtimers' cast and production staff cannot be denied kudos for a job well done.

No detail, from set furnishings to sound effects, is overlooked in creating the illusion of Anna and Larry's studio apartment in Lower Manhattan.

The play opens with Anna, a dancer played by Susan Brugh, grieving over the recent deaths of her roommate and his homosexual lover. And as with most plays that begin with a death or a funeral, a morbid thread weaves throughout.

The rest of the play focuses on the roommate's survivors, his friends and his brother - those who are still alive, but who are afraid to live. Their most private fears are examined in turn.

The brother is Pale, played energetically by Tim Toler. Pale is an agitated, intense personality, whose body language reflects his inner turmoil. Pale is attracted to Anna. However, Anna is involved with a somewhat boring screenwriter, Burton, played by Jeff Walker. Yet she is torn between the security Burton offers and the passion Pale displays.

Anna's other roommate, Larry, played by Mark Newbill, is the intelligent observer. A homosexual, he moves outside the mainstream of social acceptance. His kind, quiet demeanor conceals a great loneliness. But he is the only one able to view objectively the conflicts that clutch at Pale, Anna and Burton.

Director Jeff Berger has pulled off a difficult and daring project. His efforts, and the casts', are to be applauded, even if you decide you don't like the play.

"Burn This" continues at Showtimers Studio, 1431 McVitty Road S.W. through Sunday and again on March 8-12 and March 15-18. Curtain is at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 7:30 p.m. the first and third Sundays; and 3 p.m. the second Sunday of the run. Tickets range from $5 to $8, depending on the performance day and time.

The box office is open from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of performance weeks and from 2 p.m. until curtain time on performance nights. Sunday matinees hours are 1 p.m. to curtain. The box office number is 774-2660.