Review: ‘Diviners’ doesn’t quite sidestep the pitfalls

Set in rural Indiana in the early 1930s, Jim Leonard Jr.’s 1980 play, “The Diviners,” drips with a period regionalism that is almost folkloric in tone. The play requires careful handling, or its characters can lapse into stereotype.

In his current staging at Actors Co-op, director Mark Henderson does not always avoid that pitfall. Indeed, the faint whiff of condescension hovers over this production, a cloying miasma that can obscure the production’s other considerable merits.

Granted, Henderson is dealing with material as occasionally problematic as it is colorful. The action revolves around the naif character of Buddy (Michael Beck), a mentally challenged adolescent whose near-drowning has resulted in preternatural powers as a water witch and weather forecaster – skills essential to the Depression-era farmers of the region. When disenchanted preacher C.C. Showers (Clay Bunker) wanders into town, he forms an intense friendship with Buddy that will prove fateful.

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There are many virtues to this production, including Bill E. Kickbush’s virtuosic lighting and strong performances by many in the cast. Bunker is particularly splendid as the well-meaning wanderer who rattles this religion-starved community with hopes that he will resume his pastorship, while Ivy Beech is also excellent as Jennie Mae, the girl who starts falling for C.C.

David Atkinson delivers a lynchpin performance as Ferris, father to Buddy and Jennie Mae, whose rough ruralism covers his innate sagacity.

As for Henderson’s direction, there are moments approaching brilliance, including a penultimate underwater scene that is so magnificently realized, it’s breathtaking.

The real problem here lies with Buddy. In unfortunate combination with his floridly overwritten character, Beck’s performance is obnoxiously broad, at least initially. Later on, as Buddy’s phobic intensity comes to the fore, we sense the range of Beck’s actual abilities, and they are formidable. Perhaps a bit of directorial tweaking could yet invest Buddy with the naturalistic astringency required to counterbalance his overpowering sweetness.

“The Diviners,” Actors Co-op, 1760 N. Gower St., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Also Oct. 25 and Nov. 22 at 2:30 p.m. $30. (323) 462-8460. www.ActorsCo-op.org. Running time: 2 hours.