STAGE REVIEW : ‘KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN’ PLAYS IT GENTLY AND TRUE

“Kiss of the Spider Woman” at the Cast Theater doesn’t have anything like the flash of the movie.

The set is mostly curtains--not very atmospheric for a prison play. The sound is on tape. The actors are happier in the small moments than the big ones. The scenes outside the prison cell are so awkwardly handled that they hardly exist.

But the core of Manuel Puig’s play is what happens as a gay man and a straight man settle down to sharing the same few square feet of space. And here the production’s modesty has the virtue of making what happens completely understandable.

Raul Julia and William Hurt gave such virtuoso performances at opposite ends of the spectrum that their eventual night together seemed a bit of a fantasy. But here the gay window decorator (Javier Grajeda) isn’t played as that much of a fantastick, nor is the straight revolutionary (Enrique Sandino) that encased in his macho armor.

They are seen as two fairly ordinary guys learning, first, how to stay out of each other’s way and then, very slowly, how to trust one another. The sex is the culmination of that trust, and the moment is handled with the same quiet dignity in Richard Dotterer’s staging as in the movie.

The small annoyances and the little courtesies of their time together are well observed. Sandino’s embarrassment at having to be tended after, in his illness, by Grajeda is especially charming. Alas, a certain sameness sets in--more than is needed to make the point that one day in prison is more or less a repetition of the last. Both actors need more vocal variety.

This would be especially useful in the scenes where the two men flare up at each other. The emotions are suddenly very big, very pronounced, without a clue as to where they came from. The harder the actors act, the more we catch them acting.

Since Scott Herbertson’s set is so sketchy, Grajeda and Sandino also need to do more to convince us that, for them, this is truly a prison cell. Sandino, for example, ends an early scene by tucking himself in for the night--with his shoes still on. The details need sharpening.

Yet there’s something true and touching at the heart of this performance. If we left the film admiring the brilliance of the actors, we leave the Cast thinking about the characters. In the theater, too, blessed are the humble.

‘KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN’ Manuel Puig’s play, at the Cast Theatre. Adaptation by Allan Baker. Director Richard Dotterer. Produced by Gretchen Weber, Richard Dotterer, Ted Schmitt. Set design Scott Herbertson. Lighting Anthony Battelle. Costumes Stephen Bishop. Sound Rick Larimore. Assistant director/stage manager Gary Spencer. With Javier Grajeda, Enrique Sandino. Voices Tony Coletti, Jerry Craig. Plays Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. Closes March 15. Tickets $12. 804 El Centro Ave., Hollywood. (213) 462-0265.