STAGE REVIEW : ‘A Bus Called Lust’ Is Only Token Drama

The Orange County Coalition of the Theatre Arts has opened its new six-play season with “A Bus Called Lust,” described by Orange County writer Kent Hawkins as “for the most part, a parody of (Tennessee Williams’) ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’ ”

Come again?

Except for the silly title, “A Bus Called Lust” bears only a cursory resemblance to Williams’ venerable drama. Sure, Hawkins does turn the second act into a shadow joke of “Desire’s” plot, but it’s more a misuse of a great story than a brash and lively comic experience.

Actually, “Lust” is a very difficult play to figure out, with or without the reference to “Desire.” It starts with a middle-aged boozer wife (Sara St. James) picking up a young female punk (Simone Slifman) in a seedy coastal bar on the eve of nuclear holocaust in the Reagan years. Thinking the world’s coming to an end, they decide to have sex.

Well, the big bombs don’t drop, so these two losers fall in love the next day, proving there is hope for anyone prone to one-night stands. A lesbian affair ensues because the wife hates her womanizing husband (Robert Blankenship), a reverend with rampaging hormones. While still digging her sweetheart, the punkette also hooks up with a mean fellow named Stan (get it?), who has a pal with weird hair named Mitch (get it?).

The trouble (and the “Desire” angle) starts when the wife leaves home and settles in with the punks. Uh-oh, Stan (Frank Liddi) is getting pretty angry, he might do something nasty.

Whew, it’s a good thing Mitch (Marty Rynearson) is around because he may be a punk, but he’s a nice guy, too. The wife gets raped and goes nuts, just like Blanche in “Streetcar,” and there’s some talk about committing her.

Simply put, “Lust” is an exercise that’s all over the map--it’s distractingly messy, as if Hawkins tossed in just about any idea that came into his head.

You have to hand it to him (and the Coalition) for having the chutzpah to stage a play that revolves around a lesbian relationship, but “Lust’s” problems stand out in high relief. Hawkins has imagination, but he doesn’t know when to put on the brakes. At the least, his play needs an aggressive dramaturge.

Director Steve Wilber, who’s also the Coalition’s co-founder, had difficulty at Friday’s opening night keeping a balance between the humor and the pathos.

His actors often veered from wild-eyed overacting to relatively subdued gesturing. It all underscored “Lust’s” inherent flaws in style and content.

There were a few interesting moments, though.

Blankenship was funny in his brief time alone on stage, when the reverend rehearsed his next sermon, and Frank Liddi had to be admired for the way he threw himself around the set and even into a wall during his tantrum scene. St. James went overboard in her nightmare sequence, but the visual of her in a barbed-wire cage under Rudy Salazar’s shadowy lighting was striking.

The remaining five plays in the Coalition’s season are all new works by local writers.

Next up (Oct. 12 through Nov. 17) is A. L. Parish’s “Snakes,” which is said to deal with toxic exposure at a chemical plant.

‘A BUS CALLED LUST’

An Orange County Coalition of the Theatre Arts production of Kent Hawkins’ play. Directed by Steve Wilber. With Robert Blankenship, Frank Liddi, Marty Rynearson, Simone Slifman and Sara St. James. Sound and lighting by Rudy Salazar. Hair and makeup by Deborah Hill. Plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through Sept. 29 at 729 W. 16th St., Studio 1-A, Costa Mesa. Tickets: $8 to $10. (714) 991-8556.