Theater Reviews : Black and Blues View of ‘Heart’ : Victimization seems to be the common thread in the actress’ one-woman show, an affecting but odd collection of readings and songs.

There is something ineffably sad about Karen Black’s one-woman show, “A View of the Heart,” at the Theatre in Old Town--and it’s not just the bluesy subject matter.

Black, who seized fame 25 years ago for playing a victim in “Five Easy Pieces” shows off an intelligence and power in this 70-minute show that goes far beyond anything she had an opportunity to do in Hollywood.

And yet her choice of subject matter--an odd mix of literary passages, blues, pop and rock all about victims--leaves one wondering just what she is trying to convey.

Is she exorcising personal demons? One gets that impression at the end, when she tells the audience that the last character she is playing is herself, crying as she sings Janis Ian’s haunting “Jesse” as an ode to the son she lost to her ex-husband. But if the show is about her life, it would have helped to establish that idea at the beginning.

Or is “View” meant as an assertive reminder of Black’s talent? If so, it would help if she did more than play women left by men. Even a fresh perspective on the she-loved-him-and-he-left-her genre might have worked better than stringing together 15 songs and monologues without clear reasons for most of the choices.

*

Lena Horne did a triumphant one-woman show on Broadway 15 years ago. What made it work so brilliantly was the way she told her own moving story of her life as a black woman battling for roles in a racist Hollywood. It also served as a reminder of the Horne voice and sass that make her story so irresistible.

Seeing Black’s “been through it” demeanor, which she plumbs for these blues songs, suggests that she, too, might have tales worth telling.

Black, who conceived “A View of the Heart” with Hollywood choreographer Toni Basil, appears on stage shoeless, in a plain white nightgown over a to-be-revealed black beaded dress. She explains that, because she is an actress who sings--rather than a singer--she will play the characters behind the songs. And she does, showing off a surprisingly big voice in songs ranging from Bessie Smith’s “Has Been Blues” to the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns.”

She is immensely appealing and at moments even astonishing, as in her brilliantly subtle and moving reading from William Faulkner’s difficult “As I Lay Dying” and her own gloriously funny song, “Too Big to Cry,” about eating away one’s troubles. A sweetly sung Cole Porter tune, “Ten Cents a Dance,” evokes a telling vulnerability.

The five-member onstage band, a seasoned troupe led capably by Marty Buttwinick on bass, provides fine musical support. The uncredited set, lit by Terry Price, offers a small table, a chair and a four-poster bed (sans one post--evidently for visibility’s sake). As Black explains, most of the blues songs begin with the woman waking up one morning--in bed--to find her man is gone.

Still, the show as a whole leaves one wondering why. Why these songs, why these choices? Curiouser and curiouser. And yes, inexplicably sad.

* “A View of the Heart,” Theatre in Old Town, 4040 Twiggs St., San Diego. Wednesday-Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m. Ends Sunday. $25. (619) 699-2494. Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes. A Theatre in Old Town production of a one-woman show conceived by Toni Basil and Karen Black. Directed by Robin McKee. With Karen Black. Musical direction by Marty Buttwinick. Lights: Terry Price. Sound: Stuart Holmes. Production stage manager: Lisa McLeod.