Folk Tale Heard in ‘Voice of the Prairie’

Set in the farm belt of middle America, John Olive’s “The Voice of the Prairie,” at Actors Co-op, flashes back and forth between 1895 and 1923. In 1895, the recently orphaned young Davey (Welborn Ferrene) flees cross-country with his feisty new friend Frankie (Laura Becker), the runaway blind daughter of a wealthy but abusive landowner. In 1923, when the infant medium of radio is first insinuating itself into the national psyche, the grown-up David (Perry Stephens) becomes a popular sensation with his riveting broadcasts about life on the road with Frankie the Blind Girl. Through the machinations of his wheeler-dealer pal Leon (Tom Sminkey), an early radio entrepreneur, David ultimately confronts his past and reunites with the lost companion of his youth.

There’s a slightly heightened reality to Olive’s period paean to the American heartland, but this is no tall tale, although we might mistake it for such in this hyperbolic production. This is more a fireside folk tale, the gentler rhythms of which are lost in the gale force of Russell Pyle’s overblown staging, which too often opts for the obvious while leaving deeper subtexts unexplored.

The relaxed, smoothly naturalistic Stephens avoids being swept away into caricature, as does RoseAnne Vau as the grown-up Frankie. The other performers, particularly Jacqui Parker in a near-hysterical turn as a besotted radio fan, exercise no such restraint. As is typical with most Actors Co-op productions, the technical elements are superb, particularly Deena Lynn Mullen’s versatile lighting, which casts a heartening mellowness upon the prevalent stridency.

* “The Voice of the Prairie,” Actors Co-op at the Crossley Theatre, 1760 N. Gower, Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends May 18. $12. (213) 964-3586.