STAGE REVIEW : Theatre of the Deaf’s Signed and Spoken ‘Spring’

It may seem a bit incongruous for the National Theatre of the Deaf to launch a Southland tour of Robert Nathan’s “One More Spring” in this manicured desert enclave. J Ranelli’s adaptation of the 60-year-old Nathan novel about the endurance of the spirited through a bitter New York winter during the Great Depression certainly finds its echo in the ‘90s, but not necessarily in this wealthy, security-gated community.

Yet the paradox fazed no one last week at the McCallum Theatre of the Bob Hope Cultural Center, where a moderate audience vigorously applauded the effort of this 25-year-old Connecticut-based bilingual company.

The languages spoken by the NTD are sign language and English. Made up of hearing and deaf actors, this ensemble reverses the usual procedure: It “speaks” sign language, while a pair of on-stage narrators (Tommy Cheng and Kymberli Colbourne) offer a verbal translation on the side.

In “One More Spring,” which adapter Ranelli also directs, this well-practiced, well-integrated system illustrates the story of two homeless men--antiquarian Jared Otkar (Chuck Baird) and violinist Morris Rosenberg (Adrian Blue)--who set up house in a Central Park tool shed thanks to the generosity of the local park sweeper, Mr. Sweeney (Mark Allen Branson).

Otkar has salvaged a bed from his antique shop and Rosenberg his violin and a precious coat that doubles as a blanket now and then.

Into this modest abode Otkar invites Elizabeth Cheney (a passionate Camille L. Jeter), a spritely prostitute with an indestructible innocence, who wins Otkar’s heart, Rosenberg’s friendship and even the acceptance of the deeply shocked and Catholic Mrs. Sweeney (a funny Susan Jackson).

Woven into this tale, is the guilty banker, Mr. Sheridan (Josif Schneiderman), who is rescued from the lake and his own terrors by this forgiving band of indigents.

“Elizabeth Cheney had not expected to take care of a banker; she had thought it would be the other way around,” says storyteller Nat Wilson, the sign language narrator of the piece, humorously summing up what was on everybody’s mind.

A program note appropriately compares this sweet fable to Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” and Kaufman and Hart’s “You Can’t Take It With You.” The period and the sensibilities are indeed the same and it was wise of Ranelli not to attempt an update.

Aside from its uncommon bilingual convention, what distinguishes this NTD production is its fluid, non-representational ensemble style, crowned by the splendid musical contributions of solo violinist Douglas Ellison and composer Max Showalter.

Ellison’s exquisite playing of Showalter’s music and of numerous other classical gems is the transcendent third language spoken here. It is a key element, at all times weaving its uncontested magic through the piece.

Ranelli’s staging on an overly busy set by NTD artistic director David Hays sometimes threatens to run into itself, but collisions are carefully averted.

Jane Greenwood’s period costuming serves to anchor us in the ‘30s, which makes it easier to accept the sentimentality of Nathan’s fairy tale.

Its larger implications for the importance of human generosity remain timeless and universal.

Plays today, 8 p.m., Barclay Theatre, Irvine (714) 854-4646; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., Keck Theatre, Occidental College (213) 259-2737; Monday and Tuesday, 8 p.m., UC Santa Barbara (805) 893-3535. The company also performs “Unicorn in the Garden” at the Keck Theatre Saturday at 2 p.m. as part of its Family Series.