STAGE REVIEW : ‘Lettice & Lovage’: Truth & Illusion : The touring Broadway production of the Peter Shaffer play, featuring Julie Harris and Roberta Maxwell, continues at the San Diego Civic Theatre through Sunday.

Playwright Peter Shaffer loves a good fight.

In “Equus,” he pitted madness (the horse-blinding boy) against reason (the psychiatrist). In “Amadeus,” genius (Mozart) battled mediocrity (Salieri). And in “Lettice & Lovage,” at the San Diego Civic Theatre through Sunday, Imagination squares off against Truth.

If this last seems the slightest of these struggles--it is.

In “Lettice & Lovage,” tour guide Lettice Douffet (Julie Harris) tries to spice up the stories she tells visitors to an old English mansion, only to get carried away by her own sense of romance. She is fired from her job for her excesses by her humorless superior (Roberta Maxwell), but in the second act both make the convenient discovery that they are not so unalike--and they become great friends.

There’s a bit of Blanche du Bois in Harris’ depiction of Lettice as one who tells what ought to be the truth, not what is the truth. But “Lettice & Lovage” is a comedy, not a tragedy, because Lettice ultimately becomes catalyst, rather than victim; she’s part unflappable Auntie Mame, part crusading Man of La Mancha and part Laverne-and-Shirley comedian.

Unfortunately, while playwright and cast manage to get the souffle to rise, they can’t seem to keep it from falling long before the exposition ends. The show is two hours and 45 minutes, and its length shows.

Shaffer wrote the play for Maggie Smith, who triumphed as Lettice in London and on Broadway. Most New York critics were so dazzled by her, they didn’t talk about the show itself. Instead, they praised Smith’s vocal delivery and her deftness.

Julie Harris, a national treasure who has won five Tonys, including those for her portrayals of Joan of Arc and Emily Dickinson, is astonishing when she plays great women. But Lettice is not a great woman and this is not a great play. Harris is not right for this material, and, if anything, shows too much respect for the work.

Harris is still a pleasure to watch; when on stage, she is incandescent, glowing through her bright bohemian costumes like a candle through a paper lantern. But a glow is not enough to carry this play off. Only dazzle would distract one from the plot contrivances which boil down to two women squaring off with each other in the first act, becoming buddies in the second, then squaring off and making up in the third.

Director Michael Blakemore, who directed “Lettice” on Broadway, has not struck the right chemistry between Harris and Maxwell. And Maxwell’s work is so extreme that it’s caricaturish. The rest of the production exudes quality--from Marylouise Burke as Schoen’s intimidated secretary to John Horton as the incredulous lawyer who has to mediate a rift between the women. But the grinning, bowing Japanese tourist who shows up in every tour scene flashing a camera is an offensive stereotype.

The sets by Alan Tagg are tellingly detailed (if a bit too intimate for the cavernous Civic Theatre), the costumes by Frank Krenz capture just the right touch of faded, theatrical glamour and the lighting by Ken Billington is quietly effective.

Despite the show’s predictability, many may relish its siren call as proclaimed by Lettice: “Enlarge! Enlighten! Enliven!”

It’s not a new message, but it is good to see some positive female bonding and a sensitivity for people who fall between the cracks. Given the right actresses, this show may yet have a long life on the regional theater circuit.

* “Lettice & Lovage,” San Diego Playgoers, San Diego Civic Theatre, 202 C St., San Diego. Today-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Sunday. $17.50-$37.50; (619) 236-6510 or 278-TIXS. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.

Julie Harris: Lettice Douffet

Roberta Maxwell: Lotte Schoen

Marylouise Burke: Miss Framer

John Horton: Mr. Bardolph

Dane Knell: Surly Man

Marylouise Burke, Timm Fujii, Bonnie Hess-Rose, Dane Knell, Barbara Lester, Sybil Lines, Hugh A. Rose, Jill Tanner, Laurine Towler, Tyrone Wilson Visitors to Fustian House

A San Diego Playgoers presentation of the Broadway touring show. Playwright Peter Shaffer. Director Michael Blakemore. Sets Alan Tagg. Costumes Frank Krenz. Lighting Ken Billington. Production stage manager Susie Cordon. Stage manager Jack Doulin.