The Ordinary Becomes Compelling in ‘The Speed’

Steve Tesich is one of those rare playwrights who can handle touchy subjects like domestic violence, suicide and post-traumatic stress without sounding too much as if he were writing the movie of the week. His insightful “The Speed of Darkness” at the Tamarind is a case in point. The play teeters near gooey, but it’s so finely observed that it only occasionally gets sucked into its own self-importance.

A drama about the pull of the past, “The Speed of Darkness” centers on a Vietnam vet named Joe (Andy Garrison) and his family and what happens to their home sweet home when one of Joe’s old war pals shows up. Mostly though, it’s about two particular skeletons in Joe’s closet.

It’s not that the situation or the characters are particularly original, although they are convincingly detailed. Instead, Tesich’s triumph is that he makes the ordinary compelling--mostly by virtue of his economical yet naturalistic dialogue.

Ron Glass gives a standout performance in the proverbially tough role of a homeless disturbed vet. Garrison’s Joe is relaxed and believable, while Scott Weinger is also convincing as Joe’s daughter’s boyfriend, Eddie. The two women (Shawn Weatherly, Rachael Harris) acquit themselves respectably, but they add little to their admittedly underwritten roles.

Robert Spera’s evenhanded, if sometimes too reverential, direction makes the play flow. But the device he uses to bridge the blackouts--a lone stagehand slowly and deliberately places an array of props every time the lights go down--quickly wears out its welcome. Or maybe it’s just the New Age music playing in the background that makes it a bit irritating.

* “The Speed of Darkness,” Tamarind Theatre, 5919 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends March 27. $18. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Updated ‘Servant’ at the Fountain

Some things never change--like the gags in the 200-year-old Carlo Goldoni romp “The Servant of Two Masters” at the Fountain. This theatrical cotton candy still provides a good chance for a wily director to strut his stuff. And sure enough, Florinel Fatulescu adds lotsa lazzi.

Re-imagined as a cross between a backstage comedy and a circus, the farce centers on a moonlighting servant who gets caught in the middle of a web of mistaken identities and foiled romances.

Fatulescu cleverly updates the commedia with a wash of stylization that includes anachronisms such as rap music and a hanging microphone that’s used for asides to the audience. Not all of his devices and bits of business work, but it’s a pleasantly chock-full approach.

Running around on a cluttered and cartoony set (by Robert W. Zentis), the servant Truffaldino (agile Alan Goodson) and the merchant Pantalone (sly Ed Levey) marshall the necessary combination of physical and verbal humor, and their limber performances drive this staging. Most of the rest of the young cast, however, aren’t up to the task.

* “The Servant of Two Masters,” Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 3 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends March 26. $15-$17.50. (213) 663-1525. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

A Heavy-Handed ‘Cross in Mirror’

*

Argentine writer Coral Aguirre’s “La Cruz en el Espejo” (The Cross in the Mirror) may take as its subject one of Mexican history’s most enigmatic figures, but the wooden acting and staging at the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts suffocate this already turgid play.

In the English translation by Margarita Stocker, “The Cross in the Mirror” tells the story of the cloistered 17th-Century nun Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (Johanna Seigmann) who was punished for her controversial writings.

Ostensibly set against the backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition, Aguirre’s version of the nun’s life actually narrows the story. Sor Juana the proto-feminist goes head to head with one-dimensional Church bad guys and appears with an array of simpy women, including her benefactor. But the heroine herself is never fully realized.

Director Margarita Galban treats each ponderous, expository beat of the story as if we wouldn’t know the forces of evil without a score card. And none of the actors rise much above chest-beating.

* “The Cross in the Mirror,” Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, 421 N. Avenue 19, Lincoln Heights. Alternate weeks in Spanish and English: Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays 3 p.m. Ends March 20. $15. (213) 225-4044. Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.

‘Elvis & Juliet’: Don’t Be Cruel

*

Regrets. I’ve had a few . . . More than a few, actually, about “Elvis & Juliet” at the new Theatre at the Improv. Mary Willard’s clunky comedy is so derivative that even a decent Sinatra impersonator can’t save the evening.

Two star-crossed sweethearts fall in love while at Yale, only to find they’re from different worlds--a la Romeo and you-know-who. She comes from a family of nerdy eggheads given to spouting Latin at one another. He’s from a bunch of tacky, loud-mouthed Vegas performers, and Dad, natch, is an Elvis impersonator.

The conflict consists of pitting the two clans against one another, but there are no surprises here. Most of the actors in the more caricatured parts confuse louder with funnier, while those in the “normal” roles have a tough time avoiding being upstaged by their garish castmates. Fred Willard and Johnny Dark do manage to eke out a few funny moments, but they quickly get sucked back down into the mud.

Return to sender.

* “Elvis & Juliet,” the Theatre at the Improv, 8156 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends March 19. $10. (213) 651-2583. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

‘Car Tunes’ Stalls at the First Light

*

What do you get if you cross a kiddie show about some friendly automobiles with one of those campy big-hatted revues like “Beach Blanket Babylon”? “Car Tunes” at the Melrose Theatre. Fasten your seat belts. This one really is a bumpy ride.

A string of songs performed by an under-rehearsed cast of eight (all dolled up in silly, sparkling car outfits), “Car Tunes” is strung together by a story that’s about as exciting as the DMV drivers’ test booklet. The heroine, Siren the sports car (Heidi Godt), has to get Buck the truck (Robert Jeffrey Wagner) to perform with her in the big song and dance number, or else she won’t win the “Windy 500” competition.

If the setup sounds older than the maps in your glove compartment, it is. And the songs, amateurishly sung, are straight off the factory line as well.

There’s a smattering of mildly off-color humor throughout, but it’s neither plentiful nor smart enough to make this into one of those over-the-top late-night spoofs. And it ruins “Car Tunes” as children’s fare (which is what this show really wants to be).

Stop. Yield. Don’t Go.

* “Car Tunes,” Melrose Theatre, 733 N. Seward St., Hollywood . Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Ends March 8. $15. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.