Her ‘Treasure Hunt’ for Perfect Ending

Does Jean Colonomos’ story of a woman writer searching for the perfect play-ending--and the exorcism of some debilitating personal demons--borrow a little from personal experience?

“Yes and no,” hedged the playwright, whose psychological drama, “The Treasure Hunt,” premieres Friday at the Callboard Theatre in West Hollywood. “It all happened so many lifetimes ago. It’s not personal anymore.

“The play happens on several levels simultaneously,” noted the writer, whose well-received one-act, “The Waiting Room,” played at Company of Angels in 1988. “On one level, it’s a comedy about trying to get (a small theater) production on in New York--and the writer is a central character, trying to find an ending for her play. At the end of the first act, she loses both her lead actors, so she has to audition new ones.”

At that point, a whole new play--a play within the play-- unfolds. “The writer is dealing with two abandonments: a director who leaves her, and a friend who dies of cancer,” explained Colonomos, a former dance critic for New York’s SoHo News. “So the play she’s writing starts to reverberate with her personal life--and theater, art and reality get completely blurred. Finally she’s able to work out a new ending, handle the consequences of her relationships, and let go of her ghosts.”

Jules Aaron directs the 17-character/eight-actor production, which includes Lynn Milgrim as the playwright, Jodi Carlisle, Charles Dougherty, Susan Harney, Judith Heineman, Gregg Ostrin, Tony Rizzoli and Laura Wernette.

THEATER BUZZ: Last May Shakespeare Society president Thad Taylor vowed that he wouldn’t produce any more Shakespeare at the Globe Playhouse in West Hollywood unless he raised $500,000. The group’s production of the Bard’s “The Rape of Lucrece” opened there Monday. Does that mean the goal was met?

No. Taylor said he hasn’t yet mailed out his grant requests for his $500,000 campaign. But he wanted to get a production up in 1990 to maintain the group’s record of producing Shakespeare, more or less continuously, since 1967. So he returned to his former method of financing--taking the money out of his own pocket. He said he contributed almost all of the $15,000 he spent to mount “Lucrece,” and he plans to do the same, if necessary, for upcoming productions of “Macbeth” and “The Comedy of Errors.”

THEATER BITS: The five-year old Shakespeare Festival/LA, in partnership with Vons Grocery Co. and the Salvation Army, delivered food to more than 4,000 families as part of its holiday collection program. The canned-good donations--provided in lieu of admission to all Festival theater events--numbered 18,000 items (valued at $28,854), which were matched can-for-can by Vons and distributed by the Salvation Army.

Upcoming at Highways: Dan Kwong’s growing-up memories in “Tales From the Fractured Tao” (opening Friday), a different take on Columbus in “Discover Amerika” (Jan. 23), a visit from San Francisco’s 1800 Square Feet (Feb. 1-3), Larry Hyman in “Max and Other Queerish Love Stories” (Feb. 7), performance artists Gregg Bielemeier and Naomi Goldberg (Feb. 8-9), and John Patterson in “When the Colored Band Goes Marching . . .” (Feb. 15-17).

Times staff writer Don Shirley contributed to this column.