Surprises Lurk Behind ‘Briar Patch’

Nothing makes a theater reviewer cringe quite like the phrase “an earlier screenplay version.” Oh, no, not another fully produced pitch to Hollywood.

But Deborah Pryor’s “Briar Patch,” which as a screenplay won a Nichols Foundation award, surprises on all counts. The story may indeed work on the big screen, but the stage version--first produced at Arena Stage in Washington--now works strikingly well at the Ventura Court Theatre in Studio City.

In a backwater town in Virginia, the vivacious Inez (Melissa Nickert) chafes against her marriage to Edgar (Christopher Curry), a criminal, unsuccessful pot farmer and generally abusive loser. Aggravating her discomfort is Edgar’s best friend, Flowers (Steve Hofvendahl), who shows his fondness for Inez by stealing her clothes.

Inez, though, has a back door man, who happens to be the heir to the local peanut farming fortune. The handsome young Druden (Michael DeGood) plans to whisk his little bundle of backwoods love off to Richmond--if she can just wait one more week.

A lot can happen in a week.

Mark Worthington’s ingenious set contributes to the successful shifts in tone. Stage right is the interior of Edgar’s and Inez’s hovel. Stage left is the work space of spiritual advisor Butcher Lee (Mary Portser). A patchwork of corrugated metal covers the high back walls of the stage--but two doors then swing open to reveal a huge window and the paneled walls of Druden’s mansion, providing a stark visual contrast between his life and Inez’s.

It is much to DeGood’s credit that Druden seems so sincere in his love for Inez. Any chink in that romantic armor would make Inez look pathetic and undermine the whole story. For her part, Nickert is sweet but willful. Because she seems far from helpless, we are surprised at the turn of events that leaves her at a disadvantage.

Hofvendahl’s Flowers is the guy who is hard to get a bead on. He is taken for a simpleton by Inez--a mistake. He may say things such as “If somebody squeezed you, you’d be as sweet as cream coming out of a Twinkie,” but his elementary-school crush on Inez has a more sinister side to it.

The tightly plotted play has a surprisingly open ending, but perhaps it’s open-ended only for the optimists in the audience.

Playwright Pryor is currently a fellow at the American Film Institute in L.A. That may be a promising sign for American cinema, but one hopes she won’t leave the stage behind entirely.

BE THERE

“Briar Patch,” Ventura Court Theatre, 12417 Ventura Court, Studio City. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.; Nov. 30 at 2 p.m. Ends Dec. 14. $15-$20. (888) 566-8499. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.