AIDS in the Family in ‘Mijo’ at Noho

“Mijo,” the title of Michael Kearns’ new drama at Noho Studios, is the Americanization of mi hijo, Spanish for “my son.” The phrase can also be used as a term of endearment among friends.

Presented by Artists Confronting AIDS, the play dramatizes the confrontation between the mother of a young man dying of AIDS and that man’s longtime friend and lover.

Carmen (Laura James) has been nursing her son Juan through his agonizingly protracted illness. Michael (Jay Arlen Jones), Juan’s longtime sex buddy and pal, has been ill himself and hasn’t seen Juan in a year.

Thus, Michael is horrified to learn that the offstage Juan--now blind, deaf and completely bedridden--has been in a state of persistent agony for weeks. An angel of death in black leather, Michael persuades Carmen to help nature along.

This dramatically ripe situation yields many genuinely moving moments--as well as a few frustrations. Kearns’ play disorients from the outset when Michael, a stranger to Carmen, enters Juan’s apartment spouting a blue streak of nasty talk that should send Carmen scurrying to dial 911. Granted, Carmen feebly brandishes a baseball bat for a moment, but her quick acceptance of Michael’s outrageous behavior is incredible.

Carmen may not use that baseball bat, but director Alec Doyle does, beating the audience over the head with the emotional content of the piece. The actors rant at one another in operatically grand style, frequently substituting stridency for subtext.

A situation this fraught with drama doesn’t require over-the-top histrionics to put the point across. When playwright, actors and director settle into the mellower, more mystical elements of the piece, the audience finally experiences unassailable emotion, honestly come by.

* “Mijo,” Noho Studios, 5215 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends July 3. $12. (213) 969-2445. Running time: 1 hour.