STAGE REVIEW : Double Dip of Dylan Thomas at Cal Rep

Dylan Thomas is the shared theme of two plays running in repertory at Cal Rep in Long Beach.

On paper, the more interesting of the two would appear to be Bill Bushnell’s new adaptation of Thomas’ screenplay “The Doctor and the Devils.” But inside the 221-seat Studio Theatre itself, Joanne Gordon’s revival of Sidney Michaels’ biographical play “Dylan” is far more engaging.

Thomas’ screenplay for “The Doctor and the Devils” was written in the ‘40s but wasn’t filmed until the ‘80s--and then only after it was revised by Ronald Harwood. After reading Thomas’ version and then watching the 1985 film based on Harwood’s rewrite, it’s clear that Harwood’s script is better.

The story focuses on an Edinburgh anatomy professor in 1827 who purchased suspiciously fresh cadavers for his classes from a disreputable pair of drunks, one of whom turned out to be a serial killer. When the killer was finally exposed, the professor was shamed but not prosecuted, leading to serious questions about the class structure and the role of morality in scientific inquiry.

As might be expected from a poet of Thomas’ gifts, he wrote a script that drips with lyricism--sometimes self-consciously so, in the descriptive passages even more than in the dialogue. But his script’s dramatic construction and characterization were weak.

The doctor himself is especially wooden; his final spiritual crisis remains remote because his humanity is barely one step above that of the corpses he dissects--a problem that Harwood addressed with considerable success in his later draft.

Unfortunately, Bushnell drew primarily on the Thomas script, not the Harwood. The problems of the original not only remain, but they’re aggravated by the use of a narrator (Jamieson K. Price) to recite many of Thomas’ pretentious stage directions in a mellifluously stagy voice.

Then, Bushnell added a new layer of problems by halfheartedly updating the story to the present, in Long Beach itself.

The costumes are contemporary, and we hear a number of superficial references to the new setting--for example, the Irish woman who’s a victim of the killer becomes a Mexican. But more important details remain untouched.

Most crucially, the plot still turns on the premise that the doctor is legally allowed to dissect the bodies of executed criminals only. In 1992 California, which only recently resumed capital punishment after a decades-long hiatus, this makes no sense.

It isn’t just an anachronism. It also reflects a missed opportunity to adapt the script in a way that might have been truly pertinent to today’s issues. In his program notes, Bushnell wrote that he hopes the play raises questions about Columbus, poverty and crime, “The Silence of the Lambs” and Michael Milken. But he ignores current issues directly related to medical research--the use of animals or fetal tissue or unusual transplants, for example. Any of these would make a much more naturally fitting and provocative subject for a contemporary adaptation of this particular story.

The actors, imprisoned by the limitations of the original and by a freshly misbegotten concept, must also vie with an intrusive sound track. Small wonder that they have trouble connecting with the audience on any level.

Many of the same actors strike more sparks in “Dylan,” an account of Thomas’ hell-raising American tours near the end of his life. Gregory Mortensen animates a small role here much more effectively than he does with the title role of “The Doctor” in the other play. Likewise with Gregory Wagrowski, who plays the chief “Devil” and then a mild-mannered publisher in “Dylan.” The actor who vivifies both of her roles most successfully is Kimberly Seder, who illustrates two kinds of prostitutes with a beguiling presence.

But “Dylan” belongs to Gary Armagnac in the title role and only slightly less so to Penelope Miller Lindblom as the poet’s long-suffering but combative wife, Caitlin. Both deliver performances that are simultaneously robust and fragile--a combustible combination that keeps us watching and listening even when the material is at its most predictable.

One abstract, modular set works well enough for both plays, but some of the scenes on its top level are too far away, especially in “The Doctor,” adding to the production’s detached quality.

“The Doctor and the Devils” and “Dylan,” Studio Theatre at the southeastern corner of the Cal State Long Beach campus, off 7th Street, Long Beach. “Dylan”: today, 8 p.m.; Saturday and Wednesday, 2 and 8 p.m., Oct. 22, 30, 31, Nov. 4-5, 8 p.m. “The Doctor and the Devils”: Oct. 23-24, 28-29, Nov. 6-7, 8 p.m.; 2 p.m. matinees , Oct. 28 and Nov. 7. $15. (310) 985-5526. Running times: 2 hours, 15 minutes for “The Doctor and the Devils,” 2 hours, 35 minutes for “Dylan.”