Reflecting on Reality of Writer

Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical “Jake’s Women,” presented by Actors Alley at the refurbished El Portal Center for the Performing Arts’ Studio Theatre, is an audacious but problematic play in a checkered production.

Jake (John Hugo), a renowned writer, is so accustomed to thinking in dialogue that he’s having trouble distinguishing between reality and the fantasy voices in his head. Whenever he needs advice or diversion, Jake “summons” various influential women in his life, present and past, for imaginary powwows.

Jake’s conferees include his opinionated sister, Karen (Carol Keis), his saucy shrink Edith (Lynn Lowry) and his daughter, Molly (played at 12 by Ashley Seide and at age 21 by Jill Simon).

By far, Jake’s most longed-for visitor is his deceased wife Julie (Summer Dare Litwin), who has been so dangerously idealized by Jake that his current marriage to Maggie (Marja Rennholm) is in serious trouble. When Maggie insists on a six-month separation to iron out their problems, Jake’s fantasies threaten to take over his life--and outstrip his sanity.

The increasingly out-of-control conversations may be all in Jake’s mind, but the women are sharply realized individuals with minds of their own who do not suffer Jake’s wish fulfillments gladly. Indeed, they mouth off to Jake at every turn, forcing him to reflect on his own motives and shortcomings.

That’s where the comedy comes in, at least theoretically.

Simon, who himself was widowed and left with young daughters to raise, is a playwright of such durability and stature that we are fascinated by his own “back story” of how he grappled with grief and presumably emerged a better man. Yet, there’s a fine line between self-examination and narcissism. Simon waxes tedious in his personal expiation, misplacing a lot of laughs along the way.

But there are more chuckles here than in director Everett Chambers’ lively but limited staging. The biggest shortcoming is Hugo’s performance as Jake.

On the surface, Hugo possesses the presence and timing to pull off his crucial central role. But scratch deeper and you find serious limitations.

If ever a Neil Simon play required emotional internalization, this is it. Hugo rattles off his lines with percussive precision, seldom pausing the required split-second to show us what Jake is really feeling--a fault that could have been rectified by a more vigilant director.

An appealing performer, Rennholm does her best with her innately clunky character, which in Simon’s condescending rendering comes across as one part dizzy dame, two parts stereotypical modern woman. Angela Box is attractive but stiff as Jake’s new lover, Sheila.

The other actors fare better. As the child Molly, Seide is a gamin with a precocious sense of comic timing, while as the adult Molly, Simon is an assured young actress whose baby face little prepares us for her considerable emotional depth.

Keis and Lowry alleviate the sometimes painfully sincere proceedings with a welcome sardonic approach, while Litwin’s ebullient Julie makes us understand why Jake is still pining for her, so many years after her death.

BE THERE

“Jake’s Women,” El Portal Center Studio Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Nov. 7. $16. (818) 508-4200. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.