Alternative Theater Pursues Its Goals With Mixed Pair of Plays

Steve Wilber and Kent Hawkins say their fledgling theater group, the Orange County Coalition of the Theatre Arts, has two goals: to showcase new and emerging writers and actors (many from Orange County) and to present works that are “art-oriented,” meaning adventurous, or at least different from those that can be seen in most area playhouses.

After a short trial run late last year, the coalition has started its first full season with a series of one-act performances on Sunday nights at the year-old Illusion’s New View Theatre, a tiny but reasonably accommodating space in a Fullerton mini-mall. Both of the initial playlets, Andrew Lowery’s “The Cult of Gwanda” and Max Espinosa’s “3 for 1,” meet the theater’s manifesto.

That doesn’t mean both are good. “3 for 1,” despite some unevenness in theme and approach, is better written and better realized than the psycho/paranoia absurdist comedy “Gwanda.” All in all, though, there is reason to smile over the coalition’s entry into the local scene: Alternative voices and game plans can only add to the landscape.

In “3 for 1” (directed by Steve Wilber), Espinosa examines the romantic headache experienced by a young writer (James Hoff) as he struggles over ways to approach an attractive woman at the office. Espinosa reveals the writer’s character, insecurities and strengths by having actors represent the Freudian aspects of his personality, his Id (Andrew Lowery) and Ego (Christopher Wade).

The setup is relatively trite, but Espinosa redeems things with a spate of clever, heartfelt dialogue that strikes a fairly comfortable balance between sentiment and humor. We may know what’s coming when the writer’s “internal” voices start talking back, vying for control: Lowery is the daring one who wants to boldly confess his feelings; Wade, who bruises easily, is a bit more restrained. But it all comes across naturally and vigorously.

The play is aided by the capable performances, especially from Lowery, who is an electric shock of emotions and movement.

As a playwright, however, Lowery is too indulgent for his own good. His antic, 30-minute “Cult of Gwanda” (directed by Mason Malone) is original, all right, but to the point of being incomprehensible. Lowery apparently is making a statement about domestic paranoia and “alienation” (or so the program says), especially in Orange County. But his plot is mostly shadow lines without much definition.

What we have is a husband (Robert Blankenship) who is a self-absorbed type with a streak of cruelty. His mousy, schizoid wife (Deirdre West) lives, it seems, for visits to the market, dreams about having a really good cup of coffee and has nightmares about a cannibalistic Gwanda cult. He and she ramble and rumble inside their messy home; sometimes an overhead light goes on and she inexplicably enjoys a St. Vitus dance. Newspapers keep stacking up in the hallway until he finally gets buried under them.

Abstruse and silly stuff, even for the theater of the absurd. West does bring an amusingly manic aura to the proceedings, though, and Blankenship is, well, real freaky, man, which in this context is a compliment.

‘THE CULT OF GWANDA’ AND ‘3 for 1’

An Orange County Coalition of the Theatre Arts production of one-act plays by Andrew Lowery and Max Espinosa. Directed by Mason Malone and Steve Wilber. With Robert Blankenship, Deirdre West, Walter Brown, James Hoff, Andrew Lowery and Christopher Wade. Plays at 8 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 19 at the Illusion’s New View Theatre, 3030 Brea Blvd., Fullerton. Tickets: $5. (714) 990-9605.