STAGE REVIEW : Strong Performances Give ‘Heart’ a Beat

Women’s Liberation and today’s attempts by men to rediscover their masculinity (by bonding, running into the woods, beating drums and what-have-you) have done nothing to help the sexes get along with each other.

It’s all still guesswork for most guys, like Danny in Dayton Callie’s “Survival of the Heart,” at Theatre West. He’s divorced and has been living with Kate for seven years. Now Kate has walked out on him, for the third time, and he’s shattered. The answering machine is always on, in case Kate calls. And Danny doesn’t want to talk about it.

His 18-year-old son, DJ (Albert Oaten), who has moved in to rebuild their relationship, and Danny’s best friend, C (Pat DiStefano), both think he should not only talk about it, but also should be on the hunt again. So C sets up a double date for Danny and himself. Danny is trapped and panicky.

Of course, C gets the swinger, Mel (Allison Winston), and Danny winds up with trench-coated, stone-faced Alice (Mary Van Arsdel).

This all sounds like a retread. But Callie’s razor-sharp dialogue, the originality of his characters, and Mark W. Travis’ vibrant and understanding direction make it much more than that.

It helps that Danny never finds his way into macho heaven. He falls for Alice while still remembering Kate. When all his little games crumble and he’s back at square one, he doesn’t know what hit him--or why.

Another advantage of Callie’s play is his creation of a truly one-of-a-kind persona in Alice. Behind her trench coat, her icy exterior and her ironic sense of humor, she’s a completely different person. In her hippie days she tried to prove her desirability by bedding 100 men (the ones she remembers).

“If you want to be No. 101, you’d better shut up,” she warns Danny. She’s in control of the situation and thinks it’ll be fun to mess around with his mind. Van Arsdel has her character wrapped around her little finger and never misses a beat or a nuance.

Playwright Callie plays Danny with a self-awareness that may come from the fact that the play is partly based on his own experiences. No matter. His flashes of insight into Danny’s confusion are universal, and his well-honed performance is exactly what it should be.

DiStefano is electric as bartender C, a volatile type who understands everything that’s going on, without trying. Oaten is excellent as the son, fiery and vulnerable by turns. As Mel, who isn’t the swinger she appears, Winston is smooth and attractive in her transition to a young woman who knows how to put her foot down (literally) when challenged by DJ’s explosive teen-age libido.

* “ Survival of the Heart,” Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Feb. 29. $12-$15; (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.