STAGE REVIEW : ‘A Late Snow’ Is Gay Theater for Masses

Gay theater can be universal theater.

Take “A Late Snow,” Jane Chambers’ funny, bittersweet story of five gay women trapped overnight in a cabin in the snow.

The show, being presented through June 2 by Diversionary Theatre, San Diego’s only gay and lesbian theater, is directly about gay love, but it is even more a story about any kind of romantic love, and how we decide who is right for us and why some relationships work and others don’t.

Despite a sometimes seesawing quality of talent and primitive technical design, Lois J. Miller’s sensitive direction of Chambers’ rich writing renders this production far more than the sum of its parts.

Chambers comes up with a winning if convenient premise by giving her central character, Ellie, a chance to examine her past, present and future lovers all in one memorable night.

Ellie’s past lover, a self-destructive alcoholic named Pat, helps deliver a piece of furniture to Ellie’s cabin with Ellie’s current lover, Quincy--an adoring student whom Ellie loves but is not in love with. Then Ellie, who doesn’t expect either woman to be at the cabin, turns up with a writer named Margo, who just might be her future lover if Ellie decides she’s got the guts to pursue her.

To top it all, Ellie even gets to confront her idealized ex-lover from the deep past when Peggy picks this snowy night to split from her straight husband and come calling on her old college “friend,” as Peggy calls Ellie. After all these years, Peggy refuses to acknowledge that she could ever have been the lover of another woman.

The strength of the writing is such that at different points you may well be rooting for different suitors to capture Ellie’s heart: sassy, uncontrollable Pat, played with a terrific, self-mocking come-hither look by Katie Maclean; earnest, loving Quincy, played with radiant sincerity by Shana Wride, and cool, unattainable Peggy, played with prissy self-denial by Jeanne Stawiarski.

Miller’s direction captures the delicate balance of humor, tension and romance in this work. Where subtlety fails, however, is in the depiction of Ellie and Margo, who are supposed to evince an electrical attraction to each other from the moment we see them together.

Paty Sipes, a fine actress, is crackerjack at portraying Ellie’s tension and anger, but she falters when it comes to showing the charisma and charm that attracted these suitors in the first place.

Ricki Douglas is intelligent but too mannered and stilted as Margo. Sipes and Douglas both seem just a bit uncomfortable with their love scenes; one senses tension when what is called for is an irresistible passion.

The lack of technical support is the other major hole in this production; it’s an unfortunate omission that, in the case of the set design, provides some unintentional humor.

Quincy panics at the thought that she has accidentally gouged Ellie’s wooden floor, even though the set is covered with a dull gray carpet. Poor Quincy then proceeds to rub vigorously to smooth out the “nick” in the “wood.” With that kind of grasp on reality, no wonder she has trouble holding on to her woman.

Similarly, the uncredited lighting--just a handful of white lights-- does not begin to suggest the changing times of day that are called for in the play.

Granted, small companies such as Diversionary don’t usually have much discretion in terms of budgets. Still, there are minimal effects one could get simply from working with talented design people and giving them even the limited means needed to do their job.

Diversionary Theatre has a nice new space now at 2222 Broadway and an eye for quality work about the gay experience, judging from its choice of “A Late Snow.”

This show may be good enough to get by on writing, directing and a few key performances. But Diversionary needs to eventually improve its technical quality if it is to be a player and not just “something different” in the San Diego theater community.

“A LATE SNOW”

By Jane Chambers. Director is Lois Miller. Stage manager is Orrick Smith. With Ricki Douglas, Katie Maclean, Paty Sipes, Jeanne Stawiarski and Shana Wride. At 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays through June 2. Tickets are $8. At 2222 Broadway, San Diego, (619) 232-2333.