THEATER REVIEW / ‘LISTEN FOR WINGS’ : Ignoring Barriers : A woman’s refusal to be bound by her deafness gives ‘Listen for Wings’ its comic charm and delivers a worthwhile message.

Talk about art imitating life.

In “Listen for Wings,” the latest offering from Access Theatre, a highly stressed-out artistic director (played by real-life Access Artistic Director Rod Lathim) is hounded by an aspiring actress for the lead in his upcoming production of “Hello, Dolly.” Only problem is, the spunky mature lady with no acting experience is completely deaf. Undaunted by what she deems an irrelevant detail, feisty Nellie (played by Billie Burke Perkins, a real-life Access volunteer with a hearing disability who made a habit of prodding Lathim to cast her in all of his shows) forces her way into the director’s office and insists that he audition her.

To get rid of her (and recognizing the potential publicity and funding possibilities), the director offers her a walk-on, non-speaking part as a grandmother.

“Forget the grandmother!” she huffs indignantly. “I’m going to play Dolly!”

It’s this kind of obstinate refusal to be bound by her limitations that gives Nellie’s story its comic charm and delivers the play’s worthwhile social message in an entertaining fashion.

In so doing, the production fulfills both of Access Theatre’s charter principles: to create a venue for integrating the talents of all performers, including those with disabilities, and to foster the development of original theatrical works.

In creating “Listen for Wings,” Santa Barbara playwright Ellen Anderson drew heavily from Perkins’ experiences in adapting to a hearing world--and forcing the hearing world to adapt to her.

Anderson’s script also overlays a celestial perspective on Nellie’s audition through a pair of guardian angels (John Fink and Val Lamar) assigned to observe the two mortals. But for all the plot convolutions, the piece never loses its focus on Nellie.

It would be hard to imagine a production without Perkins in the role--her tenacity, endurance and good humor are obviously the qualities that inspired the play in the first place.

And she’s not afraid to make fun of herself, or to encourage the audience to laugh at a person with a handicap. This feels awkward at first--it flies in the face of our training to politely look away--but the good-natured comedy is infectious.

And so another little barrier comes tumbling down when, sometime after her hysterically off-key rendition of “Who’s Sorry Now?” Nellie confides to the director, “Actually, I’m a better actress than a singer. I only sing to get attention!”

No argument there.

While generally played for laughs, there are serious moments as well, like a particularly moving sequence in which Nellie recalls not being able to hear her dying husband’s last words. This harrowing moment drawn from Perkins’ life gives us a window into the consequences of her kind of isolation.

As the exasperated director who finally begins to recognize Nellie’s special qualities, Lathim brings credibility to his character: a director who must grapple with deadlines, pressure from his board of directors, prima donna stars and well-meaning but inept volunteers. It’s obvious he’s been there.

The pair of angels are more traditionally rendered through performance rather than autobiography. Lamar makes a lively apprentice guardian who throws herself at her first assignment--the director--with a vengeance, and has to face the disastrous consequences when she tries to intervene on his behalf. As her more conservative companion, Fink has just the right amount of smug disdain for his colleague’s “unmediated interventionism,” until, of course, he’s drawn into the fray as well.

The celestial bickering between these two supplies a backdrop that’s affectionately comic and cosmic; less successful is their gushing commentary toward the end about how special Nellie is. That’s something we see or we don’t--it’s a bad idea to have characters dictate audience response.

But thoroughly professional direction by Jenny Sullivan keeps the tone nicely in check--a particularly tough job with material that could easily lapse into mawkish sentimentality. That never happens in Sullivan’s staging, which maintains a brisk pace and crisp delivery throughout.

In this debut production, “Listen for Wings” logs an impressive initial road test. With a little tightening in the second act, it would make an excellent touring vehicle.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“Listen for Wings” will be performed through May 24 at the Paseo Nuevo Center Stage Theatre in Santa Barbara, Wednesdays through Sundays at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. All performances are signed by a live interpreter and Audio-Description headsets are available. Tickets are $12.50. For reservations or further information call 963-0408.