THEATER REVIEW : Two Good to Be Three One-Acts

Revolving Door’s “Three Original One-Acts,” at the Tribune Theatre, runs three hours. It’s obvious the evening is one play too long.

That play is the opener, William Alewyn’s “El Dorado.” Followed by Steve Spehar’s intriguing “Delilah’s Garden” and Lydia Dunn’s delightful faux feminist “Dancing Through the Arms of Desire,” it pales.

“Dorado” is little more than an event that takes place in a coal mine that has just collapsed. The protagonists (Bradley A. Whitfield, Steven Lamprinos, David Paris) alternate between bonding and coming unglued, all to the tune of their mutual relationships with a prostitute named Bianca (Su Madrinan).

Under Whitfield’s even-headed direction, the performances, like the writing, are standard. It looks for all the world like a scene extracted from a movie.

Spehar’s “Garden,” directed by the playwright, is a tone poem about a girl’s attempt to rationalize her father’s death. It is poetic and well-constructed, but Spehar’s extended blackouts for changes tend to break the rhythms of his writing. A bare stage with a couple of chairs and a table would allow him to gather the seams of his lyrical tapestry together.

Jennifer Bishton as the girl, Martina Paris as her mother and Terry McNichol as the memory of her father are a great help in creating the misty mood of loss and the dawning light of healing.

The gem of the evening is Dunn’s “Desire.” It begins on a 19th-Century battlefield, where Christian (Mike Murphy) is dying in the arms of his friend Barnes (Chris Egger). His love, Cora (Erica Dewey), arrives to make him promise that he will wait for her, as she will for him, until they meet in a future life. The acute satiric tone is established by Christian’s stated desire to die and leave good-looking hair.

In her next incarnation, Cora discovers that her female roommate Chris (Kara Knappe) is really Christian, this time the satire aimed at early 20th-Century attitudes about lesbian love. Finally, in the present day, Cora finds Christian once again a male, but this time he’s philandering and emotionally dishonest.

“Desire,” tautly directed by Nicholas Boicourt II deserves to be a longer play. Dunn’s humor, aimed at the male and society’s rules of conduct between the sexes, is sharp, fresh and revealing. The performances are totally matched to character and period.

* “Three Original One-Acts,” Tribune Theatre, 116 1/2 Wilshire Ave., Fullerton. Friday through Sunday, 8:30 p.m. Ends Sunday. $5. (714) 525-3403. Running time: 3 hours. “El Dorado”

Bradley A. Whitfield: Liam

Steven Lamprinos: Beans

David Paris: Trace

Su Madrinan: Bianca “Delilah’s Garden”

Jennifer Bishton: Delilah

Martina Paris: Brenda

Terry McNichol: Him “Dancing Through the Arms of Desire

Erica Dewey: Cora

Mike Murphy: Christian

Kara Knappe: Chris/Molly

Chris Egger: Barnes/Jones

Suzanne Simeroth: Mother

Lara Haddad: Heather

Steven Lamprinos: Man No. 2

* A Revolving Door production of plays by William Alewyn, Steve Spehar and Lydia Dunn. Directed by Bradley A. Whitfield, Steve Spehar and Nicholas Boicourt II.