STAGE REVIEW : ‘Squirrels’ Looks at Love in ‘80s

Bonnie is a woman who knows her own mind; Russell is a guy who doesn’t. Surely they were made for each other. In a nutshell, that’s what Doug Cox’s mini-comedy, “White Squirrels,” is all about. Marriage a la ‘80s or the taming of the reluctant groom.

In concept it sounds humdrum. In execution (writing, direction and acting) it’s deft and smart and weightless. The squirrels of the title are incidental to the play, which is set in the tiny town of Olney, Ill. (pop. 9,600), the only place known to man (or woman) where these white creatures exist.

If they are a unique aberration of nature, so are Bonnie and Russell (the play’s metaphor, folks). Bonnie must be the only person for miles around who feeds her dog kibbles in beer, decorated with process cheese she squirts out of a can. And she’s positively the only woman in Olney who “auditions” potential husbands. (We warned you she was odd.)

But Bonnie is also bright and attractive and liberated and organized. When she decides she wants something, she goes after it with the cunning and precision of a well-ordered housewife. She’s set to marry Woody, the town klutz. So why is the name “Russell” prominent on her list of “things to do”?

Russell’s the guy who left her standing at the altar four years earlier to go study art in Indianapolis. Now Bonnie’s living through a lot of deja vu, making her own wedding gown, angrily talking back to the radio (whose local disc jockey insists on dedicating songs to her) and hatching a scheme.

Russell, on the other hand, can’t figure out why he’s been invited to Woody’s bachelor party. What do you say to the bride you left in the lurch? No wonder he shows up at Bonnie’s door a little, er, embarrassed.

You can probably piece the plot together from these clues, and if you can’t, you’ll have to see the show, which is not a bad idea. Its success as a small but inviting comedy is slender to the point of transparency, but it rests lightly yet firmly on the performances of author Cox as the reluctant Russell and Robyn Mundell’s Bonnie. She’s winsome, self-assured, refreshingly outspoken; he’s shy, hesitant, easily routed. Bonnie manages to reroute him altogether (pun intended) and he’ll probably thank her for it for the rest of his life. Right now, he’s not so sure. . . .

The repartee is pleasant, even if the play is not much more than an exercise in scene-writing springing from a mind well-attuned to what makes comedy click. Not entirely a surprise, since Cox is a founding member of the Groundlings, that zany improv comedy troupe just up Melrose Avenue. William Schreiner staged “White Squirrels” with all the airiness and looseness it calls for and deserves.

Production values are equally sunny, with an unusually spacious and inviting kitchen set designed by Richard D. Bluhm and adequate sound design by Brad Brinkman.

Performances at 7458 Melrose Ave. run Thursdays though Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. until April 17. Tickets: $12.50; (213) 466-1767.