Comfortable ‘Travels’ Companions

At its best, acting can remind us how much we all have in common. When one individual brings the essence of another to life, it prods the audience to see and feel through the eyes of another human being.

The concept is brought home more strongly when one actor plays many parts. Giles Havergal’s adaptation of Graham Greene’s 1968 novel “Travels With My Aunt,” at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre, pushes the envelope even further.

Not only does each member of the four-man ensemble play many roles--about two dozen, including a wolf--but also the main role of dull, retired bank manager Henry Pulling is played by each in turn.

Though that may seem odd at first, it makes sense, underscoring that point that everyone has some Henry Pulling in him. Likewise, most everyone needs or longs for an Aunt Augusta--who bursts into Pulling’s life on the day of his mother’s funeral--to shake off sleepy shadows and wake them into a life of excitement.

Under Craig Noel’s silken direction, the play opens with four men (William Roesch, Jefrey Alan Chandler, Brian Lohmann and James Saba) in identical bowler hats, mustaches and suits, sipping tea and reading newspapers at the four corners of the Cassius Carter Centre Stage.

They narrate Greene’s remarkable story--all of Havergal’s lines are from the book--using such mannerisms as a change of voice, a startled look or a suggestive wink to change character.

On the day of Pulling’s mother’s funeral, his mother’s 70ish older sister, long-lost Aunt Augusta of shady reputation, arrives and tells him that his mother was not his biological mother.

She invites him to travel with her, which he takes to mean to the seacoast. Before he knows it, he is embroiled with colorful characters, smuggling, illicit drugs and more details of his aunt’s sex life than he ever cared to know.

The only weakness in this otherwise exhilarating tour de force is Roesch’s Aunt Augusta. He gives an intelligent but overly fussy interpretation of what should be a larger-than-life force of nature. If ever there was a part where less is not more, this is it.

Performances by Chandler and Lohmann are the backbone of the production. Lohmann’s roles show off his adeptness with accents, but his standout part is Wordsworth, the sometime lover of Augusta, for whom he expresses heartfelt longing.

Chandler, who is quick and funny, summons up emotional yearning with telling looks as the other women in Henry’s life. Saba, who attends to more of the stage’s busy work, putting away props and moving signs, gets to cut loose as a great wolf and as a party animal of the human variety.

Kent Dorsey’s set is simple but fun, decorated with advertisements for the globe-trotting and making use of dropping chandeliers and hideaways to stash props. Jack Taggart’s costume design--dark cloth in the first act, white linen for South American adventuring in the second, Barth Ballard’s lighting and Paul Peterson’s sound delineate the mood and add to the feeling of travels within and without, from controlled country living to living on the edge.

The Globe makes it almost as fun a ride for the audience as it is for Henry.

* “Travels With My Aunt,” Cassius Carter Centre Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Balboa Park, San Diego. Tuesday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends April 27. $22-$39. (619) 239-2255. Running time: 2 hours, 23 minutes.

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“Travels With My Aunt,”

William Roesch: Henry Pulling, Augusta Bertram

Jefrey Alan Chandler: Henry Pulling, Richard Pulling, Miss Keene, Tooley, Italian Girl, Frau Gen. Schmidt, Sparrow’s colleague, O’Toole, Yolanda

Brian Lohmann: Henry Pulling, Taxi Driver, Wordsworth, Det. Sgt. Sparrow, Hatty, Mr. Visconti, Col. Hakim, Spanish Gentleman

James Saba: Henry Pulling, A Vicar, Girl in Jodhpurs, Policeman, Wolf, Hotel Receptionist, Bodyguard

An Old Globe production of Giles Havergal’s adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel, directed by Craig Noel. Sets: Kent Dorsey. Costumes: Jack Taggart. Lights: Barth Ballard. Sound: Paul Peterson. Stage manager: Raul Moncada.