‘Streetcar’ Stalls; ‘Home’ a Satisfying, Emotional Trip : Cal State Fullerton’s production of ‘Home’ takes a sentimental look at the life of a young North Carolina man.

In Samm-Art Williams’ “Home,” we follow Cephus, a young black man from rural North Carolina, as he moves from the good to the bad and back to the good again over the course of a life both mundane and eventful.

It’s a sentimental odyssey, sometimes too pat in its awareness of the human experience, but also emotionally satisfying. “Home” has the preciseness of decent television, when scenes manipulate us to feel the right thing. Williams has written for TV--he helped create the quality “Frank’s Place” for CBS--and you can see the economy and control that form requires in his 1979 drama.

At Cal State Fullerton, “Home” finds warmth in the performances of its young cast: Brian Keith Allen as Cephus and Stefanie Peterson and Carla Michelle Johnson in various roles. The finesse that comes from experience isn’t always there, but all three have ability. By emphasizing their youthful zeal, director Annie Fields-Walters employs them in colorful ways.

To be sure, Allen is better at portraying Cephus’ early life, when his own vitality is so apparent. Later on, as Cephus faces disappointment and tragedy, episodes that etch his character, Allen is less sure of himself and the distinctions are not always convincing.

It’s a role that makes several demands, primarily because Williams’ story is designed for a large canvas. “Home” covers a breadth of territory as Cephus, as a young man, inherits his family’s farm and, later on, loses it.

He also falls in love with Pattie Mae, then loses her. A religious man, he is jailed for draft evasion after refusing to fight in World War II. Ostracized as a coward, he heads for the city (possibly New York), where he runs into fiery women and bad habits. Life there wears him down; he takes drugs and eventually descends into alcoholism.

His resurrection is centered on the farm and has the too-easy resolution of television, but it does give the audience a tidy feeling of completeness that comes from hoping the always-likable Cephus will succeed.

Much of the spice here is sprinkled in by Peterson and Johnson, two talented students. Peterson, who portrays Pattie Mae, among others, is the more reined-in and sensitive.

Johnson, on the other hand, is the play’s voluptuary--as the urban vixen, she tempts Cephus away from the state of grace he knew on the farm. Once he escapes her hold and the city’s, we know his salvation is a fait accompli .

‘HOME’

A Cal State Fullerton production of Samm-Art Williams’ play. Directed by Annie Fields-Walters. With Brian Keith Allen, Stefanie Peterson and Carla Michelle Johnson. Set by Robert W. Gore. Lighting by Thomas Stanton Jr. Choreography by Julie M.L. Tucek. Costumes by Juan Lopez. Makeup by Gary Christensen. Plays Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with a 2:30 p.m. matinee Saturday and a 5 p.m. performance Sunday at the campus’ Arena Theater. Tickets: $4 and $5. (714) 773-3371.