THEATER REVIEWS : The Simplicity and Strength of ‘Lily Dale’

“Lily Dale,” at the Little Victory Theatre, is chapter three of Horton Foote’s nine-play cycle “The Orphans’ Home,” inspired by the experiences of his parents between 1902 and 1928.

Although “Lily Dale” is being presented here by itself, it succeeds more as a compelling episode from a longer serial than as a play on its own. However, this is a skilled and loving presentation, the quality of which almost makes up for the lack of the larger context.

It’s 1909, and Horace Robedaux (Brian Colburn), a character based on Foote’s father, is 20. He’s on a train bound for Houston, determined to visit his mother, Corella Davenport (Melissa Weber), and younger sister Lily Dale (Karri Bowman).

They had left him behind in Harrison, Tex., after his parents’ separation, his father’s death and Corella’s re-marriage to Pete Davenport (C. Jack Robinson), a railroad worker in Houston--all of which is dramatized in the cycle’s earlier plays.

In Houston, Horace encounters a nattering and self-absorbed sister and a mother who loves him but can’t easily express it. He’s there only a few hours when his icy stepfather unexpectedly returns from a trip. No longer welcome, Horace starts to return to Harrison, but he becomes sick.

For the next three weeks, he’s more or less stranded on the sofa in this home where he feels like an orphan, despite his mother’s best efforts to take care of him.

The play probably was named “Lily Dale” not because Horace had fond memories of his sister but because she’s the most entertaining character. She chatters about her own affairs or blurts out other people’s revelations with a stunning absence of tact. She enjoys showing off her own limited skills at the piano and can’t abide the slightest interruption of her little recitals. Bowman doesn’t shrink from Lily Dale’s more annoying features, but she has a harder time making Lily Dale’s one remorseful speech sound convincing.

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Lucky for Lily Dale, she becomes engaged to the affable and enterprising Will, played by Richard Amend with James Cagney looks and charm.

Even more unpleasant than Lily Dale, but minus her ability to amuse, is Mr. Davenport, Horace’s wicked stepfather. In the play’s published acting edition, he’s roughly the same age as his wife. But here, director Crystal Brian cast actors who look as if they could be father and daughter, emphasizing that theirs is a marriage of convenience. Robinson gnarls his face and voice for Horace but softens it for his spoiled princess, Lily Dale.

The fact that Weber’s Corella looks like a relatively young 39 makes one wonder how she’s maintained her youth despite all her problems, but Weber manages to draw her skin tightly across her face and suggest a world of woe underneath her words. Colburn, as Horace, suggests the same with his soulful eyes and by carefully restraining his rage until it finally breaks out at the right moment.

Joan Chodorow and Rudy Young play minor roles with precision. Brian Alan Reed’s period furnishings look authentic, and Chris Van Ness’ period ragtime sounds right.

“Lily Dale” isn’t as powerful or as autonomous as “1918,” a later chapter of the cycle (presented by Actors Co-op in Hollywood, 1992). The important events that took place before “Lily Dale” would need no further explanation if the plays were presented in repertory, but here these matters seem a bit more mysterious than they should.

References to characters not in this play sometimes pop up for no apparent reason, particularly in one of Corella’s speeches early in the second act.

These exceptions aside, the writing retains Foote’s trademark simplicity and strength, and the characters are vivid reminders of the timeless heartbreak that families endure.

* “Lily Dale,” Little Victory Theatre, 3324 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Feb. 26. $15. (818) 841-5421. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.