‘Hand’ Mixes Spirituality, Impulsiveness

“Scenes From a Broken Hand,” Andrew C. Ordover’s expressionistic drama, is a sort of New Age “On the Road” that mingles an inchoate spirituality with the throbbing impulsiveness of its Beat predecessor.

A veritable primer in semiotics, Ordover’s saga concerns two youths, Mordecai and Jim, who embark on a cross-country odyssey in search of “signs” to explain the recent murders of Mordecai’s parents, civil rights activists slain in the line of duty. During his obsessive quest, the bereaved Mordecai (Mike Borrelli), a flighty, sardonic young man, becomes progressively more vulnerable and volatile. Mordecai feels that he is coming into his godhead. His more pragmatic pal Jim (Douglas Fields), an upwardly mobile African American law student who is only along because of a sense of loyalty to Mordecai, suspects quite the contrary, that Mordecai is flirting with madness.

During the course of their journey, Mordecai and Jim meet up with a succession of eccentrics, including a couple of itinerant lesbian folk singers (Laura Becker and Abigail Rockwell) and a ‘Nam vet turned biker (Albie Selznick) whose whimsical Carrollian nonsense masks a pathetically ravaged psyche.

Ordover’s work has obvious flaws. Using the stereotypically polar opposites of Mordecai and Jim as his exponents, Ordover is occasionally guilty of writing a dialectic--and a reiterative dialectic at that.

However, this and other failings are mere ripples on the surface of Ordover’s dreamlike drama, authoritatively directed by Deborah Calla, who shows a keen sensitivity to Ordover’s intellectual intent. Selznick particularly impresses in this fine cast, which also includes Howard Mungo and Granville Ames.

* “Scenes From a Broken Hand,” Burbage Theatre, 2330 Sawtelle Blvd., West Los Angeles. Fridays-Saturdays, 9:15 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Dark Mondays. No performances Dec. 23-Jan. 1. Ends Feb. 5. $15. (310) 478-0897. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.