THEATER REVIEWS : ‘Summer and Smoke’ Grasps Body and Soul : Portrayals of the desperately divided Alma and the virile Dr. Buchanan never fail to be moving in production of Tennessee Williams’ work.

Playwright Tennessee Williams was the poet of the dispossessed, the desperate, the souls trapped between the longings of the soul and the flesh. For the 16 years that stretched between “The Glass Menagerie” in 1945 and “The Night of the Iguana” in 1961, no one equaled his grasp of how brutal the battles between the forces of heaven and earth could be.

And while “Summer and Smoke” was coolly received at its New York premiere in 1948, it has proved in revivals to be as delicate and fine as any in the Williams canon--and as resilient.

The play’s key dynamic is the frustrated longing between onetime childhood playmates, the soulful Miss Alma Winemiller and the lustful Dr. John Buchanan. Get that right and numerous small sins can be forgiven.

The South Orange County Community Theatre production at the Camino Real Playhouse gets that right.

Despite several failings in supporting roles, the performances of Nancy Jane Smeets as the desperately divided Alma and John David as the virile Dr. Buchanan, never fail to be moving.

Alma, a preacher’s daughter, and John, a doctor’s son, have known each other since they were children in Glorious Hill. “Summer and Smoke” follows their lives from that time--in a prologue--until they are grown, with Alma and John trying to turn a mutual longing into a union that never quite ignites.

The complications are familiar to followers of Williams’ work. Like Tom, pinned down by a disabled sister in “The Glass Menagerie,” Alma has a mentally disturbed mother who makes her take on responsibilities that prematurely age her.

Like Blanche, whose escape from a world of death was sex in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” John turns to inappropriate liaisons at every opportunity as a refuge from the ever-presence of death in the medical profession.

Then ironically, just as John convinces Alma that there is more to life than the soul, Alma persuades him that there is something more important than the body--but too late to save their relationship.

Director B.J. Scott wisely keeps the focus on the strengths of her two leads.

Smeets, in particular, rises to the occasion of Alma’s complexities, suggesting a burning second personality struggling to escape the artificially restrained self she shows to others.

Unfortunately, much of the rest of the ensemble, particularly the actors playing the various fathers--Jon Harris as the Rev. Winemiller, John Kurywchak as John Buchanan Sr. and Tony Forester as Papa Gonzales--slip into lazy, melodramatic one-note characterizations.

Janet Lee is also less than sizzling as the hot-blooded Rosa Gonzales, but her lovely voice dubs in beautifully for Alma’s offstage singing numbers, the high point being her rendition of “Amazing Grace.”

The minimal, primitively lit sets, while ranging from drab to undistinguished, nevertheless establish four needed playing areas--the fountain where the story begins and ends, the rectory, the doctor’s office and the cafe table where Alma and John have their one ill-fated date.

But the ultimate success of the show rests with Williams’ indelible portrait of the frustrated longings of hopelessly imperfect people. It’s a tribute to Williams and individual performers--such as Smeets and David--who seem to effortlessly understand him.

* “Summer and Smoke,” Camino Real Playhouse, 31776 El Camino Real, San Juan Capistrano. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends May 29. $10. (714)489-8082. Running time: 2 hours, 22 minutes.

Crystal Talbot: Alma as a child Marcel Grissmer: John as a child Nancy Jane Smeets: Alma Winemiller Jon Harris: The Rev. Winemiller Anita Burris: Mrs. Winemiller John David: John Buchanan Jr. John Kurywchak: John Buchanan Sr. Janet Lee: Rosa Gonzales

A South Orange County Community Theatre production. Play by Tennessee Williams. Directed by B.J. Scott. Lights: Michelle D. Evans. Sound: James Bell. Costumes: Diane Green and Dawn DeNuccio.