Larkin’s Star Begins to Rise in the U.S.

The words and work of English poet Philip Larkin (1922-85) come to town in “Larkin,” an original piece adapted and directed by Ron Hutchinson. It opens today, kicking off the ninth season of the Mark Taper Forum’s “Sundays at the Itchey Foot” literary series.

“I think he’s a great find--and it’s always nice to give people that,” said Hutchinson, who assembled his material from Larkin’s poems and from a 1982 interview published in Paris Review. “Sometimes it feels like I’m carrying the torch. Although it is one of those happy things--increasingly he’s getting an American reputation, becoming more and more popular.”

The piece, which features William Glover as the poet (and includes a saxophone/clarinet accompaniment), imitates the form of Robert Phillips’ interview, “then improvises on that: what (Larkin) felt about jazz, how writing a poem was like taking off on a jazz riff,” noted the playwright (“Says I, Says He,” “Rat in the Skull” and the Taper’s 1987 adaptation of “Babbitt”).

Although Larkin was not prolific (one 10-verse piece took him three years to write), Hutchinson feels he has created a representative assemblage: “I’ve chosen one of each kind of poem he wrote: funny, sad, nature, love. Larkin writes very well about quiet happiness and steady sadness--but with a lyric glee. He had an extraordinary lyrical view of what other people were doing in their lives: having romances, falling in love. I always picture him standing by a window, watching.”

Caryl’s Dressing Room

It’s life backstage and pre-performance in Naomi Caryl’s black comedy “The Dressing Room,” opening Saturday at the Matrix.

“The action takes place in four dressing rooms--simultaneously--one hour before a show begins,” explained the playwright. “All (10 characters) are nuts: charming, silly, wonderful. And everyone is looking for somebody or something to relieve their isolation. At the end, we watch them in their play-within-a-play, contrasting what we’ve seen in their real lives with their stage life.”

A “kernel” of the play was originally presented at Theatre West in 1981. “I thought, ‘I’m not done with this,’ ” Caryl recalled. “So I began to write about other people in the same theater--and it just grew and grew.” In 1985, another incarnation was done at Theatre West’s Sunday matinee series--and would have been mounted there now if funding hadn’t fallen through. “But I’m glad it’s opening at the Matrix,” she stressed. “It’s the next step: to move it out and into the world.”

Tea and Sympathy

A Jewish shivah (the mourning period following a funeral) is the setting for Dana Coen’s “Sympathy,” opening Thursday at the Burbank Theatre Guild.

“I lost my father when I was 11, but it’s not about that experience,” explained the playwright. “I don’t even remember the shivah . However, the feeling of losing someone and responding to the people around me--I have very clear memories of that. And when I was at a shivah 10 years ago, there was such a feeling of celebration of life. Also, I was looking at a heightened behavioral arena. People’s behavior tended to be sharp, less muddy; their real personalities came out.”

The play was originally staged at Manhattan’s Punch Line Theatre in 1983. This time around, Coen (whose “Twice Upon a Time” is upcoming at the Victory and has been optioned by Universal as a TV series) is serving as director.

“One thing you have to deal with when a director/writer goes in is that he’s already branded as not being objective,” he admitted. “So it took a while to convince the cast I could be. Also, this is a fifth draft--so I’ve been able to go into rehearsals feeling that there were no major flaws. Meaning I could step back from being a writer and just direct.”

Critical Crossfire

The kudos are in for David Steen’s “A Gift From Heaven” (at the Chamber Theatre in Studio City), the turbulent story of a backwoods family in 1954 North Carolina.

Said The Times’ Ray Loynd: “ ‘Gift’ is a remarkable playwriting debut by Steen. This four-character drama of incest leading to tragedy is rich with regional grit and poetry--including humor that rises from the fabric of the earth-hewn material.”

From T. H. McCulloh in Drama-Logue: “It’s a powerful little saga, rough-hewn and full of painful truths. Director Jim Holmes understands and treats it with refreshing candor, allowing its honesty to shine through, his naturalistic approach to the piece illuminating the natural drama of the human heart in chaos.”

Noted Alison Sloane in the Reader: “Steen’s impressive first effort blends mysticism, folk humor, incest and the fear of God for a provocative look at an Appalachian family. . . . Holmes’ naturalistic directing makes it all captivatingly believable. The play features first-rate production values, including an original score by Charles Neuschwanger.”

Said Al Saxon in the L.A. Review: “ ‘Gift’ is a powerful piece of theater which comes across in a raw and crude manner, much like a documentary film. In this painfully true-to-life drama, Steen has skillfully mapped out three revealing days in the lives of four characters in search of unattainable happiness and salvation.”

From Jane Lieberman in Daily Variety: “While the play is set in 1954, central themes of incest and abuse are just as relevant today. Yet in spite of the downbeat subject, Steen weaves delightful touches of humor in just the right places. Director-producer Holmes’ skillful direction elicits stellar performances from the cast.”