THEATER REVIEW : Actors Aren’t Up to Task in ‘Therese’

Thomas Job’s “Therese,” an adaptation of the Emile Zola’s novel “Therese Raquin” set in 1875 New Orleans, has lots of roles--which probably explains why the Hollywood Thespian Company decided to stage it. Unfortunately, the acting on view at Theater 1761 is so consistently wretched that the plodding drama serves as anything but a showcase.

A melodramatic rehash of the Naturalist saga about a woman who takes an artist-lover who helps murder her husband, “Therese” would be tough going even for expert actors. But these performers, under Rai Tasco’s static direction, show no trace of inner life. What’s more, they don’t so much act as declaim, saying their lines at rather than to one another--and flubbing every other one at that.

Poor Therese may have had it tough, but never this bad.

* “Therese,” Theater 1761, 1761 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Feb. 26. $12. (213) 298-0961. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.