
DATE: Saturday, August 16, 1997             TAG: 9708150097

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E7   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Theater Review 

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   89 lines

ONE-MAN PLAY OFFERS UNIQUE JOURNEY

THE APPEAL of one-man shows is usually based on impersonation - the audience's curiosity to get into the psyche of a famous person, like Mark Twain or Clarence Darrow, about whom they already have preconceived impressions.

A unique entry is D.D. Delaney's relentlessly personal and introspective ``The Holy Fool,'' which is being given its world premiere at the increasingly adventurous 2nd Story Theater in Ghent.

Delaney wrote it himself and acts it himself - and it's all about him. At the outset, it teeters precariously on ego-mania, but if you are kept away by that idea you will miss out on a unique theatrical journey.

Delaney chronicles his years from 1963 to the present in a stream-of-consciousness manner that the somewhat overly pretentious program notes claim is a ``special way of telling a story.''

To characterize Delaney's life as a ``story'' would be as overly simplistic as characterizing this psychological grab-bag as a ``play.'' It is unique. Just how special it is may depend on how much you, yourself, choose to put into it.

Delaney has called himself ``the last of the acid-head playwrights still writing.'' His program bio identifies him as a resident of East Ocean View, as a ``volunteer in the Consciousness Wars'' and the writer of 23 produced scripts. On the local stage, he is remembered for his role in the Generic Theater's ``Faith Healer.''

It is Delaney's eagerness and honesty that dispels, early in the evening, any notion that this might be an ego trip. His vulnerability and willingness to share his precarious journey is irresistible for those who are willing to, equally, open themselves to it.

He berates himself for ``trying to be a Thoreau in the wrong century.'' He brands himself as ``a failure in the economic world'' and ``barred from the spiritual world.'' Yet he is never, quite, a whiner.

Clearly he thinks there is a kind of redemptive happy ending to all this - even if this is the most vague, and somewhat unbelievable, aspect of his journey.

His play-evening is divided into three parts: ``The Casualty,'' ``The Scandal'' and ``The Rescue.'' Of them, ``The Rescue'' is the least convincing. The program notes (again), which provide us with a too-convenient crutch, claim we are on a journey from despair to elation, from tears to laughter and from bondage to liberty. But the case for despair, tears and bondage is a good deal clearer than any attainment of elation, laughter or liberty.

The last-act histrionics, which are a showcase for his acting abilities, are too quick, too simple and too formulaic in their hasty effort to bring us, and this life, to some kind of satisfying resolution and to send us from the theater in a mood other than suicidal.

Much more interesting, and indeed fascinating, is the journey itself. Delaney is apparently bemoaning the loss of simplicity and purity of the '60s and the growth of ``spiritual posturing'' and ``consumer frenzy.''

But his play is best when it deals with the specifics of his own life rather than life in general. Like any good amateur psychiatrist, we want to get at what makes him tick.

We get our clues. He uses the word ``toxic'' a great deal, and always disparagingly.

He talks about ``states of consciousness'' and ``wrapping ourselves in discretion'' as well as something about a grandfather who might have really been his father while the man he thought was his father was actually his brother. (Say what?)

Christa Jones, who has scored as an actress recently at the Generic Theater, makes her directorial debut. It is probably due to her that it moves along briskly enough (although she should have avoided the showiness of the second act).

Delaney himself is an irresistible character and a compelling actor. He has the weathered, creased kind of face that looks as if it has been lived in. Rather than seeming too long, the evening leaves us with wanting to know more, which is both a blessing and a curse. (Perhaps we should know more, after two hours).

``The Holy Fool'' is a difficult ticket to sell, but once you commit to it, and are seated in the theater, you are in for a journey that is always challenging and often fascinating. For those who choose to make it, this is a unique theatrical experience. ILLUSTRATION: TAMARA VONINSKI/The Virginian-Pilot

D.D. Delaney is the author of the one-man play ``The Holy Fool,''

playing at the 2nd Story Theater in Ghent.

THEATER REVIEW

What: ``The Holy Fool,'' a one-man play written by and starring

D.D. Delaney, directed by Christa Jones

Where: 2nd Story Theater, 809 Brandon Ave., Norfolk

When: Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. Runs indefinitely,

but call ahead to check on playdates, which vary.

Call: 623-1776