Short and Incomplete

The seats are quite comfortable in the new Falcon Theatre in Burbank, the playhouse that Garry Marshall built. The current plays there, however, are a bit harder to take.

Featuring the Buffalo Nights Theatre Company, “Suburban Motel” is actually two short works by one of Canada’s best known playwrights, George F. Walker, both of which take place in a cheap motel room.

The opener, “Featuring Loretta,” is a world premiere. Despite perhaps the busiest use of phone ringing and door knocking in the history of short plays, nothing of consequence happens to characters who are loaded up with idiosyncrasies but seem dull and constructed. As pretty as a Barbie doll, Loretta (Khrystyne Haje) has run away from her small town to work as a waitress at a fast-food chain called Buffalo Bobs. Loretta is a man magnet and a theoretical feminist; she’s sick of men telling her what to do, but she has no plans for herself, except to be the kind of woman whom no man tells what to do.

Loretta coyly fends off two current suitors, Dave (Brian Kite) and Michael (Jeff Maynard). Offstage, charged but unbelievable events occur. One character, we hear, is eaten by a bear. Onstage, Michael wants to feature Loretta in a series of sex videos. She considers this option because she wants to make money so that she doesn’t have to make any decisions based on money, even though Michael is not offering her any money, at least upfront. The characters don’t add up.

The second piece, “Problem Child,” at least has a motor driving its engine. Former drug addict Denise (Margaret Welsh) and her husband R.J. (Kevin Weisman) want their baby back. Now they are holed up in the same cheap motel room, waiting for a visit from the prissy, judgmental welfare agent Helen (Diana Georger). Helen and Denise hate each other instantly, and they become engaged in a struggle for primacy that goes to comically gruesome extremes.

Still, troubling details abound. How does Helen get into their motel room to snoop around while Denise is sleeping? Why would a cut on a hand cause someone to faint and appear dead? Instead of imbuing the play with the crazy spontaneity of life, these details just seem sloppy.

As the married couple, Welsh and Weisman create a credible relationship of bickering and comfort. But, overall, Rob Kramer has directed passively, following the characters on their aimless paths and not creating a context in which their actions would seem inevitable, or even interesting.

BE THERE

“Suburban Motel: ‘Featuring Loretta’ and ‘Problem Child,’ ” Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank, Saturday, 7 p.m.: “Featuring Loretta.” Saturday, 9 p.m.: “Problem Child.” Thursday, 8 p.m. and Sunday, 7 p.m.: “Problem Child.” Friday, 8 p.m. and Sunday, 4 p.m.: “Featuring Loretta.” Ends March 22. $20-$22.50. (818) 955-8101. Running time: “Featuring Loretta,” 1 hour, 25 minutes. “Problem Child,” 1 hour, 15 minutes.