STAGE REVIEW : ‘Party Favors’ Devoid of Subtlety and Surprise

Observing the work of young playwrights sometimes gives one the uncomfortable feeling of being a voyeur.

Often, such plays are more self-revealing than the writer might like; the work doesn’t stand on its own as much as it shows the writer struggling to find a voice or subject matter.

“Party Favors” by Mark Melden, at the Elizabeth North Theatre, is just such a play.

It is the third new play in three years in San Diego for Melden, a UC San Diego undergraduate majoring in biochemistry.

Sadly, while “Party Favors,” a story about a father and son warring over the son’s choice of a girlfriend, is the clearest of Melden’s plays, it is also the most lifeless. It shows an increasing command of dialogue, but it also shows the the playwright still unclear about what he is trying to say.

In his earlier plays--”Childing Strangers” and “Where’s Oscar?”--Melden’s stories had strong beginnings and meandering ends. But there was an energy and passion that hinted at potential.

In both shows, a twentysomething character flirted with madness--in the first play because of ambivalence over the death of a father and in the second because grief over a cat’s death reawakened buried guilt over an abortion.

In comparison, “Party Favors” moves ahead cleanly, straightforwardly and bloodlessly.

Each character has one point of view. The father, Alfred, is a bigot and an alcoholic who has resented his son from the day his wife died while giving birth to him. The son, Peter, is a victim trying to conciliate, avoid conflict and be a superson--keeping up his job as a waiter as a premed student in college. The father, who is Jewish, attacks the girlfriend, Sage, for not being Jewish. Sage, in turn, loves the son and hates the father.

No surprises, no turns, no subtleties as the play moves toward its inexorable end.

The hard-working cast deserves better. So does Melden in his role as director; he pulls out high-energy performances from each one: Todd O’Keefe as the tormented son, Robert Larsen as the tormenting father, Robin Rich as the angry young girlfriend.

The simple set by Hal Lubash, a poor, cluttered apartment, seems appropriate.

But the frustration in watching this poor, cluttered play unfold is that there seems to be potential here for a more affecting story.

Perhaps the father isn’t just rejecting the girlfriend for not being Jewish: Perhaps he is looking for an excuse to kick out a son he has always had a troubled relationship with anyway. Perhaps in his loneliness, he cannot bear to share his son. Perhaps he can’t accept seeing his son happy in a relationship when that son deprived him of the one female relationship he cared about. Perhaps he is an alcoholic who just wants to be left alone to steal liquor and consume it without his son’s interference.

But perhaps, too, these are just speculations on the part of a critic who is trying to find something to occupy her mind while the characters reiterate their points of view over and over again for two hours.

“PARTY FAVORS”

Written and directed by Mark Melden. Set by Hal Lubash. Stage manager is Kelly Potts. With Robert Larsen, Todd O’Keefe and Robin Rich. At 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, through Saturday. Tickets are $12.50. At 547 4th Ave., San Diego. (619) 238-5582.