STAGE REVIEW : The Storms of Life Howl in ‘Desert’

There’s a brief scene in Glen Merzer’s “Stopping the Desert” that makes a stab at explaining its title. “One day the sand blow; the next day, blow back.” Good try, but the Egyptians have a better proverb for it: “One day is like honey, one day like an onion.”

In short, the new play at the Victory Theatre in Burbank is not about desert storms but the storms of life. It is not particularly subtle about it either, as it tracks a likeable young man’s fancy, his acceptance of love, his laid-back pursuit of fulfillment and the peregrinations that finally make him a successful man. But what defines success? There’s the rub.

Rick (played with a bashful charm by the boyish Jeff Allin) is the embodiment of the American success story of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s (‘90s too, if the story carried that far). We know this from broadside references to changing administrations (Nixon to Ford to Carter to Reagan). Merzer’s idea is to anchor events in the play to the psyche and style of each era, but the gesture is redundant.

We know when it’s happening. What we care about is how this highly unpromising knockabout guy who never finished high school, sleeps quite happily on other people’s couches, is too lazy to pursue his interest in economics and who marries a woman because she asks, ends up a lovable millionaire.

An unlikely story. That can be seen as a problem, in which case the play doesn’t work, or it can be seen as a fable, in which case it does. Either way, Merzer’s statement about the last three decades is mere background for a sly, Candidesque personal odyssey told in elliptical scenes and spiced up with witty closing lines.

Rick is so affable, so open to possibility, that we expect him either to fail miserably or to attract not only fortune but friends.

Among the latter are Cat (Kate Williamson), the free-lance rock reviewer and leftover hippie who lives on the edge of civilization; Walter (Gary Blumsack), the school-chum turned yuppie lawyer, comfortable as an old shoe; Malik from Mali (Rif Hutton), a chance encounter who gives up university studies to throw in his lot with Rick; artist Nina (Barbara Whinnery), who discovers photography after Rick hands her a camera; and Lauren (Melissa Webber), the complicated schoolteacher who talks Rick into marriage.

If at the beginning the sand blows in Rick’s face, it soon blows the other way--and back again. The wealthier he gets, the less satisfying is his life. His marriage sours, his friends grow problems of their own. Things change from decade to decade, and part of Merzer’s play is that parallel examination of a period and its effects on lives. There may be no “Stopping the Desert,” but we can put up some tents.

Rick does. This easygoing guy learns to look inward. He has tough choices to make, rejecting a corrupting one, making another that pays off. One of his favorite phrases (in several permutations) is, “That cracks me up.” Anyone who sees the world through that fractured prism is bound to come out on top.

Perhaps too much so. Merzer’s play has perception and bonhomie enriched by lean and lively writing, but it can be accused of being morally simplistic. Its second act sags under the weight of too much philosophical noodling. The play is better off when it takes itself less seriously. This is a comedy and should remain one.

Tom Ormeny directs with a light hand that could be lighter--and snappier--especially in Act Two. Webber manages to modulate the relentlessly unpleasant Lauren, an accomplishment in itself (though Merzer should rethink the character). And Hutton’s Malik is nicely centered, even if his accent is all over the place.

The richest support comes from Williamson, Whinnery and especially Blumsack who play much livelier characters and turn in brisk, witty performances. Norman Burton, on the other hand, is stuck with a standard issue corporate mogul, but manages to retain composure even when trading words with as quick a mind as Rick’s.

D Martyn Bookwalter has designed a bland all-purpose set the color of sand, enhanced by Michael Killen’s sound. “Desert” may not be a great play, but with a little nipping and tucking, Merzer just might be able to sand-proof the tent.

* “Stopping the Desert (Victory Theatre, 3326 Victory Blvd., Burbank. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Indefinitely. $15-$17; (818) 841-5421. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.

‘Stopping the Desert’

Jeff Allin: Rick

Melissa Webber: Lauren

Gary Blumsack: Walter

Rif Hutton: Malik

Kate Williamson: Cat

Barbara Whinnery: Nina

Norman Burton: Reed

Producer Maria Gobetti. Director Tom Ormeny. Assistant director Peter Sprague. Playwright Glen Merzer. Sets D Martyn Bookwalter, Michael Hruska. Lights D Martyn Bookwalter. Costumes Meg Gilbert. Sound Mix, Michael Killen.