STAGE REVIEW : Shaffer One-Acts Place Shifting Demands on Audience

Peter Shaffer’s one-acts “White Liars” and “Black Comedy” have always been intended as a double bill, for reasons that are not very clear. Except for the titles’ punny quality, there seems to be nothing these short pieces have in common.

On one hand, “White Liars” is a humanistic, rather melancholy story that only glancingly incorporates humor in its soft-focus frame. “Black Comedy,” on the other hand, is pure slapstick, a sometimes clever, mostly inane playlet whose only goal appears to be inspiring yuks.

In keeping with Shaffer’s original notion, the Cypress Civic Theatre has resurrected both in one program. The result is a flawed but occasionally diverting mix that expects the audience to be prepared for a sharp shift in gears after the intermission.

Cypress starts with “White Liars,” by far the more challenging of the two. Here we get to see a glimpse of the thoughtful character development that has marked Shaffer’s better work, which includes “Equus” (1974) and “Amadeus” (1981).

The proud and bitter Sophie (Maxine Womack) languishes in her fortune-telling studio, sadly dwelling on Vassi (Joe Nye), a lover who left years ago when her brittle pretensions became too much for him. Her self-pitying ruminations are interrupted when Frank (Bill Burchette) and Tom (Tim Bagley) come to divine their futures.

At least, that’s what they say in the beginning. Once Tom is out of earshot, Frank confesses that he wants Sophie to help him break up a relationship Tom has recently begun. Frank, a dependent, weak-willed sort, is in love with the brash Tom. After first refusing, Sophie agrees to deceive Tom into believing that the affair will end tragically. But the ruse backfires; things are not what they seem, and Tom has a few surprises of his own.

Directors Michelle Hopkins and W. Brown have difficulty clarifying Sophie’s relationship with Vassi. The stage blocking, for one thing, seems to separate them unnecessarily and confuses the issue. But their approach is surer once Tom and Frank enter the scene.

The drama benefits appreciably from Womack’s performance, which communicates Sophie’s deep reservoir of feelings without resorting to bathos. Womack is expected to keep the momentum going by revealing the characters’ idealistic but disturbed nature, and she comes through.

In the W. Brown-directed “Black Comedy,” Shaffer wraps his gags around a gimmick that threatens to wear thin throughout. An important meeting between sculptor Brindsley (Craig Harreld) and a wealthy art buyer (Joe Nye) is all but ruined when a power outage leaves his apartment completely “black.” The stage remains lit, but the actors grope and stumble about in the assumed darkness.

Several characters drop by for what, literally, becomes a bumpy group encounter session. There is Brindsley’s classy new girlfriend (Cheryl E. Hunzicker), his spunky old girlfriend (Julie Haraughty), the frumpy Miss Furnival (Karen Relf), the new girlfriend’s stuffy father (Thomas Keller) and a cheeky gay neighbor (Bruce Morganti).

The antic acting is reasonably good, but even the best of this bunch--Morganti, Harreld and Hunzicker--are eventually let down by a script that doesn’t really go anywhere and feels slight and overextended.

‘WHITE LIARS’ and ‘BLACK COMEDY’

A Cypress Civic Theatre Guild production of Peter Shaffer’s one acts. Directed by Michelle Hopkins and W. Brown. With Maxine Womack, Joe Nye, Bill Burchette, Tim Bagley, Craig Harreld, Cheryl E. Hunzicker, Karen Relf, Thomas Keller, Bruce Morganti, Ron Welker and Julie Haraughty. Plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. through June 25 at the Cypress Cultural Arts Building, 5172 Orange Ave., Cypress. Tickets $5 and $6. (714) 229-6796.