Motivation Blanches in ‘Blood Ties’

Stages Theatre is one of those few Orange County companies that operate on the correct assumption that unless theater keeps itself fresh, it will die. So why does the new play at Stages, Martin Williams’ “Blood Ties,” feel about as fresh as the food at the back of the refrigerator?

Stuffed with a bunch of playwriting’s most trusted and overused devices--including bitter family members spilling their secrets--”Blood Ties” would come off as much dustier than it is without some rough and ready energy from director Kirk Huff’s game but uneven cast.

But the dust is there, and pretty thick, and no hip tweaking on Williams’ part changes things. Unwisely choosing a dramatic structure that constantly switches between rooms in a family house, with one brief scene after another, Williams has created a family of talky, sniping sisters who bare their souls even when there’s no dramatic logic to it.

Closer to a writing exercise in draft form than a completed play, “Blood Ties” presents ever-drinking Pepper (Sue Abir), who’s hosting; Minnie (Susana Garcia), who has brought along griping daughter Lydia (Kara Knappe); GoGo (Stephanie Bonas), with her immature son Chewy (Joe Hamblen); and upscale-looking Licha (Paige Giffin). While the sisters gather, get drunk and finally get down to discuss what to do with their convalescing mother and her house, Lydia retreats to a bedroom, where she talks to Pepper’s brain-damaged, speechless son Tiny (Max Conner).

Williams’ best and only theatrically interesting idea is to have Lydia, whose self-esteem is like a snuffed candle, imagine Tiny coming to speaking, walking life. Through the two acts, Lydia and Tiny grow to share a charming time together, as he offers her some precious gifts that actually provide her life with some meaning. There’s a play here.

Unfortunately, the other half of “Blood Ties” meanders in the swamp of American-style psychodrama, where every family member reveals a secret, as in some mechanical game of spin-the-bottle. Especially when things get hot and heavy with Licha lashing out against her sisters, the dramatic motivation for this emotional bloodletting is murky indeed.

Garcia, Giffin, Abir and Bonas also have some difficulty giving this emotional life and don’t all physically resemble sisters. One of the play’s oddities is that this is supposed to be about a Latino family, yet few of the cast members even suggest being Latino. (It’s further complicated by Licha, who says she has always been picked on because she didn’t look like the rest of her siblings--yet that’s true for all of them.)

Like their half of the script, Knappe and Conner click as kids coming out of their shells. But while there’s the general feeling at Stages of the fun of putting on a show (especially with set designers Mitch Faris’ and Anthony Dagestino’s charmingly rough revolving platform), there’s also the sense that this particular show was put on before it was ready to roll.

* “Blood Ties,” Stages Theatre, 1188 N. Fountain Way, Suite E, Anaheim. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Ends Sunday. (714) 630-3059. $8. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

Kara Knappe: Lydia

Max Conner: Tiny

Susana Garcia: Minnie

Paige Giffin: Licha

Sue Abir: Pepper

Stephanie Bonas: GoGo

Joe Hamblen: Chewy

A Stages Theatre production of Martin Williams’ drama. Directed by Kirk Huff. Set: Mitch Faris and Anthony Dagestino. Lights: Adam Clark. Sound: Barney Evans.