THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 10, 1994 TAG: 9409090111
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: BY MONTAGUE GAMMON, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY BREAK
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
SENTIMENTAL ROMANTIC comedies never go out of style, nor do they lose their popular appeal.
``Light Sensitive,'' now running at the Virginia Repertory Theatre's home underneath Chrysler Hall, blends the crowd-pleasing charm of a sweet little love story with writing that is notably more deft and intelligent than is typical for the genre.
The absolutely convincing, detailed, carefully crafted acting of all three performers is one key to this production's appeal. Another is dialogue that is often screamingly funny. The plot is calculated to tug at the heart strings, but some of the speeches aim straight for the belly laugh.
Stewart Reed plays a blind young man named Tom, who was once ``the most dangerous white cab driver in New York.'' After a long night of drinking with Lou, his pal and favorite bartender, he lost his sight in a freak accident. Eight years later, Lou remains his loyal and apparently only friend, and drinking remains their primary recreation.
Dino Coppa's performance as the tough-talking Lou steals a chunk of the show, largely because the part is more flamboyant than the other two.
Leigh Hronek plays Edna, an inexperienced but resourceful volunteer from a charitable group for the blind who tries to help the aggressively independent Tom.
If a plot summary of ``Light Sensitive'' makes it sound familiar, well, it is. Anyone who has seen three plays, two movies or one evening worth of television can predict most of what will happen. The wit with which playwright Jim Geoghan fits together all his recycled formulas, rather than the story he tells, distinguishes his work.
Could you guess that Edna and Tom are destined for emotional attachment? Are you surprised to learn that Tom is an embittered recluse and that Edna must break down all kinds of barriers to ``reach'' him?
Finding that Edna has her own disabilities, a withered hand and some sort of mobility impairment, is not a shocker. That way, we get to hear about how love depends not on superficialities but the true qualities of an individual.
Nor is it wholly unexpected that the physically abusive household in which Tom grew up has its parallel in the emotionally abusive home in which Edna still lives.
Just to touch all the bases, Geoghan makes Edna that proverbial poor little rich girl. She also describes herself as plain, which isn't an accurate description of Hronek, despite the frumpy make-up she wears.
The author gives his characters exceptionally effective monologues that are lyrical, or funny, or sentimental as the situation requires. One wonders if many Hell's Kitchen bartenders could sustain two sentences of the articulate wit that Lou displays for several minutes in Act 2, but then cynical demands for realism should be checked at the box office of most comedies anyway.
Because the acting is so very good, and because director Raymond Brown Jr. has kept the pace quick and the energy high, such reservations about the plot don't surface until well after the show is over.
``Light Sensitive'' may not go down in theater history as great art or important literature, but this production is a delightfully well-done presentation of a highly amusing, enjoyable and most welcome piece of entertainment. MEMO: THEATER REVIEW
Light Sensitive,'' by Jim Geoghan, performed by Virginia Repertory
Theatre at the Little Hall of Chrysler Hall. Presented at 8 tonight, 3
p.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. Sept. 16 and 17. Call 623-PLAY. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Leigh Hronck and Stewart Reed star in ``Light Sensitive,'' a comedy
by the Virginia Repertory Theatre Company.
by CNB