THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 19, 1996 TAG: 9607190708
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: 62 lines
A BUDDY DRAMA soaked in beer suds and baseball dreams is the second world premiere event in the ``New Plays for Dog Days'' festival at the Generic Theater. The four-week series of five new plays runs through Aug. 8, with a new play opening every Wednesday.
``Eat Your Heart,'' by Virginia Beach playwright Robert Boehler, is a slice-of-life sketch about two high school pals who, as they approach middle-age, are realizing that they aren't heading anywhere in particular. They fish. They play baseball and they soak up the suds.
The play, with David J. Cross and Timothy G. Kircher as Binge and Stub, is rich in characterization in a way that casually invites the audience to hang out.
Boehler, the only local playwright in this summer's showcase of new writing, is better at dialogue and mood than he is at plotting.
His play, like his two central characters, doesn't go anywhere notable but it's a good deal of fun going along. Most refreshingly, it is free of the arty pretension that so often afflicts untried plays.
Kent Collins, better known as a lively choreographer, makes his local directing debut and succeeds in pacing his actors briskly, but never resorting to haste.
The script is rather cinematic in nature, using seven scenes to depict settings from the Niagara River to the local bar, a hospital room and a baseball field.
The rather thankless roles of the ``girlfriends'' are played by Anne Morton and Erin Collins. Morton, coming off a stand-out performance in the Actors Theater's ``Kathy and Mo Show,'' underplays the part of Renee, Stub's former girlfriend who is now being loyal to her ex-husband. Erin Collins is Binge's longtime girlfriend - a woman who is cautioned by him not to use the world ``love'' because he feels it's bad luck.
The play is set in Buffalo, N.Y., complete with fishing on the Niagara and the smuggling of cigarettes and illegal Chinese immigrants across the Canadian border.
Jessmyne Dizon gets the evening's biggest laughs in her cameo as a dragon lady waitress who promotes smuggling. She creates one of the more outrageous Oriental stereotypes since Mickey Rooney in ``Breakfast at Tiffany's.'' It's definitely not PC and it's definitely not in alignment with the rest of the rather low-key playing.
In the second act, the playwright resorts to one of those ``Could I talk to you?'' scenes which leads more to a tame fadeout than to a conclusion. We come away guessing that we are supposed to feel sadder about these two good ol' boys than we do; that there should be some type of tragedy here. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
THEATER REVIEW
What: ``Eat Your Heart'' by Bob Boehler, a part of the ``New
Plays for Dog Days'' festival
Where: The Generic Theater, West 2lst Street, Norfolk
Who: Directed by Kent Collins, featuring David J. Cross and
Timothy G. Kircher
When: Tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., to be
repeated Aug. 10 at 2 p.m. as a part of Judges Week
How Much: $6
Call: (757) 441-2160 by CNB