That Seeking Feeling

Behind all of the good intentions of Pat Sawyer’s “Lovable Blonde Seeking . . . “ is a play that is still seeking something itself: a shape, a dramatic punch, dialogue and characters that do more than announce themselves.

Inspired by the experiences of Linda Luschei Hunio, infected with HIV from a husband who contracted the virus during a blood transfusion, Sawyer’s dramedy at Third Stage observes HIV-infected Anna (Aurora Cravens) deciding to get on with her life, place a personal ad in the L.A. Weekly and date men.

The differences between Hunio and Anna--Anna’s dead husband was infected by male sex partners, and Anna, unlike Hunio, sadly, is still alive at curtain--are less interesting than the play’s promising dramatics.

First, Sawyer shows us Anna coming to grips with herself and being honest enough to announce her HIV status in the personal ad, with a little help from acerbic friend Shelley (Katie Zeiner).

Then, the men who answer the ad and subsequently meet Anna at the neutral spot of a West L.A. coffeehouse, must get a grip themselves. Do they have what it takes to date a pretty woman with HIV flowing through her veins?

The setup allows for an endless variety of moral dilemmas, Socratic dialogues, emotional arias, theatrical contests and profoundly human face-offs addressing the biggest questions there are about life, responsibility, mortality, sex, selflessness, choice and love. This is a rich playwriting garden to frolic in, albeit with its share of traps in the bushes.

The play that “Lovable Blonde Seeking . . . “ could be is so far from what it is that there’s something badly deflating about the enterprise under Donna Du Bain’s and Sawyer’s direction, a powerful idea decaying into sloppy sitcom.

From first scene to last, the dialogue frequently lapses into either television-like snappy line banter, or worse, rambling chat. It is true what they say, that you can tell a play from the opening minutes, and these opening minutes--and all 150-plus minutes that follow--scream out for an editor.

Unfortunately, the play is doubly burdened with two central characters who are mere ciphers and figureheads--Shelley is the stock Smart-Alecky Friend, and the waiter in the coffeehouse (Dan Zukoski) is the Gay Guy Comic Relief, a throwback to the worst AIDS-themed plays of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. And, one exceptional scene aside, Anna herself pretty much remains unchanged once she takes the leap and places the ad.

That scene arrives far too late to save the play from its grinding narrative, but at least it allows us to see Anna let loose emotionally as she finally rages at her late husband’s irresponsibility and her own powerlessness. These moments feel like the ones Sawyer was meaning to get to all along--to let Anna get it off her chest.

But the play suggests so much more. The various men who parade into Anna’s coffeehouse casbah end up being mostly stock figures, from a greasy guy who is into kinky masturbation (Derek McGrath) to the inevitable Gen-X slacker (Steve Pierson).

Instead of creating interesting male characters, Sawyer has created men Anna might find interesting. The play badly simplifies things, so that the few men drawn beyond a pencil sketch are the ones who catch Anna’s eye.

The only real charm here is projected by Cravens, a winning, charismatic actor who delivers a performance that’s a study in body language. Forget the vapid dialogue; watch instead Cravens physically reacting to her suitors with subtly comic arches and turns of the neck, waist and legs--an actor filling in the playwright’s blanks.

BE THERE

“Lovable Blonde Seeking . . . “, Third Stage, 2811 Magnolia Blvd., Burbank. 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. Ends March 28. (818) 842-4755. $12. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.