‘Gulls’ Given Its American Premiere

A 40-year-old aphasic man faces life, death and spiritual release in Robert Hewett’s “Gulls,” opening in its American premiere tonight at the Powerhouse Theatre.

“It’s about a person, Bill, who was brain-damaged in a car accident during high school,” said actor Jeff Doucette, who’s playing the role. “He says of the accident, ‘My friend walked away; I died. My body regained consciousness--my brain, however, did not.’ Through the course of the play, he’s beginning to open up to his unconscious. He remembers the past and present, his impact on people around him.”

In the staging (which utilizes rod puppets to represent the titular seagulls), Bill articulates his thoughts to the audience, though remaining incomprehensible to his fellow characters. “People don’t understand what’s going on inside a brain-damaged person,” the actor noted. “They treat him like he’s not even there. His higher consciousness is the one that wants to be away. That’s how he relates to the birds.

“I grew up with this (kind of thing),” added Doucette (“Getting Out,” “Baron in the Trees”). “My Aunt Susie had Down’s Syndrome; she was like the ninth kid in our family.” Coincidentally, all of the cast members have close ties to someone with a mental disability. “It made it mean a lot to us,” he stressed. “I think audiences will walk away not taking any victim for granted. It’s also a hilariously funny play.”

Joining Doucette are Lee Garlington, Dena Dietrich and Joel Polis. Devorah Cutler directs.

“INTO THE WOODS”: Tickets--and holiday gift certificates--go on sale today for the Tony award-winning musical, “Into the Woods” which can also be described as “What really happened in Grimm’s fairy tales when everyone allegedly went on to live happily ever after. . . . “

“Woods” opens Jan. 11 at the Ahmanson Theatre, with Cleo Laine as the witch and Charlotte Rae playing Jack’s beleaguered mother (as in Beanstalk). Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine who teamed up for the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Sunday in the Park With George” again did the book, with Sondheim creating music/lyrics.

CRITICAL CROSS FIRE: Terrence McNally’s “Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune” recently opened at the Mark Taper Forum. Paul Benedict directs Kathy Bates and Kenneth Welsh.

Said The Times’ Sylvie Drake: “It’s one of those plays you love to love. Line by funny line, it wears down your resistance, just as Johnny does Frankie’s, even if it does take him all night . . . ‘Frankie and Johnny’ is a love story, artfully crafted, ultimately simple.”

From Thomas O’Connor in the Orange County Register: “Romances this enchanting went out of fashion with running boards and double-breasted suits--notwithstanding some up-to-date nudity and explicit sex talk.”

The Daily Breeze’s Sandra Kreiswirth found “a sweet, caustic, ribald romance. . . . What makes the whole thing so winning is the simplicity of McNally’s play and his characters. Recreating their original New York roles, Welsh and Bates are an ideal match.”

Growled Tom Jacobs in the Daily News: “It’s a very thin two-character romantic comedy, a passable one-act stretched out to fill an entire evening. It contains modest amounts of wit and charm, but mostly it’s just repetitive and boring.”

The Herald-Examiner’s Richard Stayton agreed. “Redundant, saccharine and manipulative, it’s basically an adult sitcom with a few borderline soft porn elements.”

And from Drama-Logue’s Richard Scaffidi: “The humor is character humor, the richest kind. Which brings us to Bates and Welsh, who act the title roles splendidly. They seem to have real affection for the play and each other, so you can’t help but love them.”