THEATER REVIEW : Who’s Afraid of an ‘Autumn Romance’?

Ever wonder what George was like before meeting Martha? Then consider Dr. Curtis in “Autumn Romance” at the McCadden Place Theatre.

The young, gifted and prematurely bitter professor might easily climb the academic-ladder ending in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Curtis bemoans the “graveyard fungus” of “modernism,” calls female students “trollops” and brilliantly insults everyone. But just like Edward Albee’s George, Allison Burnett’s teacher is covering up guilty secrets.

Yet some college is lucky that playwright-director Burnett never identifies his “Midwestern university town.” If he had, its physically stunning population might cause an “Animal House” stampede to the admissions office. This talented ensemble could double as models in a fashion magazine.

But beauty is only on the surface of “Autumn Romance.” Curtis, as portrayed by Antony Alda, is seedily handsome, but his good looks are erased by hard cynicism. His roommate Alan (Justin Williams) is a frustrated artist whose creativity is wasted by bedding and dumping students. A gorgeous journalism student (Carrie Stevens) pathetically allows teachers to exploit her. A to-die-for nurse (Sarah Kim Heinberg) is a masochist to male chauvinism.

Obviously, “Autumn Romance” is no “Goodbye, Mr. Chips.” The real story happens under the surface. In both writing and casting, Burnett deftly forces collisions between the visible and the hidden. His theme of self-denial and academic inversion is handled impressively in a studious, meticulous, refreshingly literate manner and realized by a first-rate cast.

However, it’s unfortunate that Burnett sets his campus in “the present.” The naivete required to keep hidden his poetry professor’s dark secret is an unnecessary contrivance. Even in remote areas, satellite television projects urban issues of sexual identity.

For example, Curtis overflows with self-loathing and is a budding alcoholic--an addiction noticed only by the building’s janitor (a droll Jack Andreozzi recycling his “Hill Street Blues” role). Curtis pontificates that “distance is the nature of love.” He fears a dominating mother and “husband hunters,” is childishly jealous of his roommate’s dates and spends celibate evenings reading aloud Victorian poetry with a sexually liberated, beautiful librarian (Marianne Hagan)--whom he never touches.

Hmmmm . . .

Otherwise, Bennett has done his homework. Although sometimes schematic, expositional and forced, his play’s tone is reminiscent of Terrence Rattigan’s “The Browning Version.” There are traces of William Inge and Tennessee William’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” too. His deft handling of abundant literary allusions is impressive. Few writers trust their audiences to understand references to Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach.”

“Autumn Romance” gets an A for effort. With a rewrite, it could be superior to the similarly themed but more seriously flawed “Twilight of the Golds.” This, too, moves toward a didactic, melodramatic climax. But instead of operatic indulgence, “Autumn Romance” simply opens its heart in a graceful, stunning gesture of self-sacrifice.

* “Autumn Romance,” McCadden Place Theatre, 1157 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood, Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sunday, 7 p.m. Ends Sunday. $12.50. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours.