‘Nightingale’ a Formulaic Wartime Drama

Actors probably enjoy appearing in C.P. Taylor’s “And a Nightingale Sang.” Depicting an English working-class family’s domestic crises and comedies during World War II, it offers actors an opportunity to exercise their accents while playing characters with easily defined traits.

That’s what the actors at Interact Theatre do--with modest success, but without transcending the formulaic quality of Taylor’s script.

The father (Gregory White) plays the piano and flirts with communism, the mother (Betty Vaughan) is a nervous devotee of all things Catholic. The grandfather (James Greene) spouts amiable pessimism, likes pets and shuttles between his daughters’ homes.

The younger generation is represented by narrator Helen (Sione Owen)--whose slight limp leads to low expectations for her love life--and her fluttery sister (Rachel Griffin), who can’t decide whether to marry (or to love) her soldier boy (Don Fischer). Whaddya know, the frustrated boyfriend has a friend, kind-eyed Norman (Doug Ballard), who brings Helen love, teaches her how to dance despite her disability--and then admits that he’s already spoken for. “Glass Menagerie,” anyone?

Taylor’s writing is hardly akin to the poetic intensity of Tennessee Williams. Only one scene--during a bombing raid--brings home the war. The soldiers come and go so often, it’s difficult to imagine they’re in any peril.

Alan Brooks’ staging has some charming moments, despite accents of widely varying thickness. Owen has a lovely presence, and her scenes with Ballard generate some romance. The friction between Griffin’s bride and Fischer’s groom adds a bit of an edge.

But it doesn’t add up to much. Bradley Kaye’s rudimentary set is no help.

* “And a Nightingale Sang,” Interact Theatre, 11855 Hart St., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends March 31. $17. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes.