THEATER REVIEW: ‘FRANKIE AND JOHNNY’ : From the Grill : Three weeks after meeting, the cook and waitress are in bed together, where we find them.

Perhaps best known for his knockabout farce “The Ritz,” Terrence McNally is the author of the Plaza Players’ current production.

Anything but a farce, McNally’s “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” is a two-character drama of the kitchen sink school typified by Paddy Chayefsky’s “Marty.” The two middle-age characters are from the lower rungs of society’s ladder, and there’s no sign that (short of their drawing a winning Lotto number) Frankie’s and Johnny’s economic station is going to improve.

Their personal life is something else, and that’s the theme of the play. He’s a cook--”the knight of the grill”--and she’s a waitress. Three weeks after they meet at work, they’re in bed together, which is where we discover them as the Plaza Players Theater’s production begins.

It’s three in the morning in Frankie’s apartment. In what seems pretty close to real time, about two hours, we follow the development of their relationship. He’s eager; she’s afraid of a commitment, at least with him.

The truth of the matter is, not a lot happens.

It’s a drama of character, not events, and an audience’s enjoyment of the show will depend on how much we care about the characters and whether they ultimately fall in love and become the Ralph and Alice Kramden of the ‘90s.

He’s gabby, self-educated (apparently) enough to quote Shakespeare and sort of likes classical music, even if he can’t identify Debussy’s “Clair de Lune.”

She’s flighty, and unsophisticated enough to think that he may be Jewish (a very personal clue says that he’s not; his accent says that he may be Irish) and is more of a pop fan. She lives in a mid-town walk-up apartment and drinks bottled water. People who fail to find the relationship involving aren’t likely to find much else of interest in the play.

What might be an interesting sidelight--a neighbor who beats his wife--disappears from the story shortly after being spotted by Johnny.

Ronald and Sherry Rezak play Johnny and Frankie. The actors are long-married and Plaza Players veterans, and their real-life intimacy doubtless helps their excellent and earthy characterizations, well directed by Michael Maynez.

Though talky, the play moves along briskly with enough flashes of wit to keep the audience interested.

The show’s advertising, incidentally, mentions explicit language and recommends the production for adults only. While several body parts and functions are mentioned, the show’s considerably milder than the average X-rated comic.

Maybe the Plaza Players are looking for a 2 Live Crew-type furor, maybe not.

But it is quite likely that the show’s subject matter will be less interesting to a young audience than it will be to people of the protagonists’ generation.

* WHERE AND WHEN: “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” plays at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 4. Tickets are $6 Wednesdays, $7.50 on Friday and $8.50 on Saturday. The Plaza Players Theater is located in the Old Town Livery courtyard, 34 N. Palm Street in Ventura. Call 643-9460 for further information or reservations.