THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 10, 1994 TAG: 9411100030
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: BY MONTAGUE GAMMON III, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY BREAK
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
THE GENERIC THEATER is on a roll. The former step-child of Norfolk's Parks and Recreation Department has followed the great fun of its curtain-raising musical with another world premiere that could pack the small house almost as full as did the last show.
Hampton Roads audiences should find ``Amazons in August'' to be an engaging, funny and tender play.
Under the direction of Bob Nelson, four fine performers bring Ernest Thompson's carefully drawn characters to life in a story that cannot help but be popular. Thompson is best known as the author of ``On Golden Pond.''
The format is not unfamiliar: It's yet another tale of an unlikely pairing in which two wildly different people, through much mutual soul-bearing and after much friction, become deeply important to one another.
In this case, an overbearing, free- spirited actress meets a demure, withdrawn housewife who has come to New York from the Midwest for a second opinion on her breast cancer diagnosis.
They, and two men who make more brief appearances, spout clever and insightful dialogue. Ample sentiment, witty repartee, frank talk and a touch of tear-jerking are all wrapped up in a package that begs for film rights. If the idea of a miniseries should occur to someone, the storyline has prelude and sequel built right in.
Formulaic though it is, the script is so well-crafted that the dearth of dramatic surprise goes unnoticed, or at least provokes no complaints.
This is commercially entertaining writing at its slickest. It may not be the thematically challenging or theatrically innovative work often associated with the Generic, but then the group should be allowed to get its first independent season under way before taking too many risks.
Playing the wildly extroverted Cassandra, Candy Aston confirms her reputation as the best actress to be found on local stages. The role gives her a chance to pull out all the stops in an inexhaustibly energetic performance. This may not be the most richly layered character Aston has ever presented, but it's wonderful fun to see crowd-pleasing raised to the highest level.
The subtlety is left to Leigh Winter Hronek, as the small-town housewife Ruth. ``It's not easy to hold your own with a exhibitionist,'' said one audience member. Hronek, however, takes care of herself quite nicely. She carries off with proper restraint her own chances to leave some mild tooth marks in the scenery, but it is her quiet moments that are most memorable.
Hronek's shares with D.D. Delaney an especially charming and emotionally satisfying passage. In all his scenes, Delaney brings a modulated, easy touch to the role of a small-time producer who would like to bed Ruth but also holds her best interests in mind.
G.F. Rowe is almost as much fun to watch as Aston. Wallace, the character he plays, is a randy, wise-cracking, self-admiring and intelligently coarse embodiment of masculine life-force.
For all the strength of the individual performances, it is the sense that these people are not only real, but that they are really communicating that gives this production its finished feel.
Generic again benefits from the scenic and lighting designs of Elwood Robinson, whose sense of detail and eye for composition are always an asset. ILLUSTRATION: THEATER REVIEW
What: ``Amazons in August,'' by Ernest Thompson
Where: Generic Theater, 912 W. 21st St., Norfolk
When: 8 tonight through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. next
Thursday; through Nov. 27
How much: $8 and $10
Information: 441-2160
by CNB