Theater Review : A ‘Memory’ So Vivid It Comes to Life

In a season that overflows with Dickens, Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” is a simple, uncomplicated holiday treasure. Just being recognized as a Christmas classic, it hasn’t yet worn the shine off the holly.

The production that Alternative Repertory Theatre offers as its Christmas card, directed by Joel T. Cotter, for the most part retains the simplicity in Capote’s touching remembrance. It details one holiday the author spent as a 7-year-old with his “friend,” a distant cousin half a century older but close to his age mentally and in her ability to dream childhood’s dreams.

Her announcement each year that “oh, my, it’s fruitcake weather” signals the bustling period during which they make a slew of cakes for “friends,” among them the Franklin Roosevelts and a missionary in the South Seas.

It’s a delightful journey for two actors who can relish the homespun dialogue and the trusting and loving relationship. Barbara Sorenson has an earthy sensitivity and the bubbling enthusiasm that attracts the boy and helps give his lonely life a shape. If her cousin is not as backward as she should be, the message is in the writing, and the actress and the text blend with infectious humor.

Lee J. Clark spends too much energy playing the child. His Buddy is too hyper, less in awe than he should be of his small corner of the world. But there is a sparkling joy in his performance that creates, if not the dreamy-minded Capote, a sort of Everyboy image.

Cotter’s direction is full of movement, much more in fact than the piece needs, and Clark’s approach may be part of that concept. It is a memory, though, and the text doesn’t need as much visual action as Cotter has given it. Sorenson and Clark are at their best when they are still, the aged simpleton and the boy communicating in their personal and limited language.

The first half of the program, “Holiday Tales,” is a refreshing compilation of Christmas bits and pieces as varied and delicious as the currants, citron and nuts of a plum pudding. An effervescent ensemble of Dina Bartello, Kathryn Byrd, Dick Harris and Jonathan Motil presents the literary snippets, both reverent and rash, with high style.

Directed by Patricia L. Terry, this Christmas quilt of holiday humor and drama--from Shaw and Dickens to Jack Prelutsky, from Betty Smith to Steve Martin--is full of subtle contrast and high color, like the Victorian Christmas cards it resembles.

* “A Christmas Memory” and “Holiday Tales,” Alternative Repertory Theatre, 1636 S. Grand, Santa Ana. Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sundays and Dec. 24 at 5 p.m. Ends Dec. 24. $16. (714) 836-7929. Running time: 1 hours, 30 minutes.

Lee J. Clark: Buddy

Barbara Sorenson: Cousin

Bina Bartello, Kathryn Byrd, Dick Harris, Jonathan Motil: Ensemble

An Alternative Repertory Theatre production of Truman Capote’s story and other holiday writings, produced by Kathleen A. Bryson, directed by Joel T. Cotter and Patricia L. Terry. Lighting design: David C. Palmer. Sound design: Gary Christensen.