STAGE REVIEW : ‘Dances’ Does Well as Message, Falters as Play

Stop-Gap’s “She Also Dances” climaxes with Lucy--a pretty, wheelchair-bound woman--dancing with her friend, Ted. He lifts her from the chair, and they move, almost easily, across the stage.

It’s the play’s gentle metaphor for overcoming handicaps and realizing our potential. It’s also a symbol for what the Santa Ana-based troupe has offered as a message for several years with its therapy-oriented productions.

With that in mind, “She Also Dances” has to be looked at in two ways. As a piece intended to present a hopeful picture of what we can become, no matter the barriers, it accomplishes Stop-Gap’s most basic goal.

As a theatrical experience, however, it is less successful. Kenneth Arnold’s play, a slight piece of spoken doubts and epiphanies linked by soft-focused dances, is so small-framed it has trouble generating enough drama to carry 90 minutes. It’s heartfelt but wan; noble but predictable.

This isn’t to say that director Don R. Laffoon’s actors (Ellen Stohl and J.D. Burns) lack effort. At Saturday’s opening night, both tried hard--often too hard, especially Burns, who didn’t always communicate Ted’s emotions in convincing ways--to make the moments human and humane.

Stohl, a disabled actress probably best known for appearing semi-nude in Playboy magazine in 1987, gave Lucy a degree of spunk that brought some grit to the proceedings. Lucy, a disabled debutante, fights her own anger and unhappiness to make the best of things, diluting much of her cynicism by play’s end.

She is aided by Ted, a gymnast who wants to become a dancer but worries whether he’s good enough and whether people will think he’s gay. Ted prods Lucy, and she pushes him to also follow his heart.

The choreography, also by Burns, is measured and uncomplicated, but the execution had rough patches Saturday night. In his defense, the dances with Stohl require many lifts and must have been demanding. The gymnastic-oriented movements, also taxing, showed exertion as well.

The tenderer dance sequences were accompanied by Patrick Brien’s mellow lighting, all cast against Victoria Bryan’s simple, monochromatic set that placed emphasis on the two actors.

‘SHE ALSO DANCES’

A Stop-Gap production of Kenneth Arnold’s drama. Directed by Don R. Laffoon. With Ellen Stohl and J.D. Burns. Set and costumes by Victoria Bryan. Lighting by Patrick Brien. Music composed and performed by Paul Carman. Choreography by J.D. Burns. Plays Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. through March 24, with a 2:30 showing this Sunday and March 18 at the Gem Theatre, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove. Tickets: $12-$15. (714) 636-7213.