Life’s Echoes

Theater 150 ends its current series of one-person shows this weekend, and although each has had its merits, Alan Aymie’s “Child’s Play” may be the most inviting and accessible.

Like his predecessors this season, Aymie writes from his own life. A month after a brief romantic relationship ends, he learns that the former girlfriend is pregnant. Somewhat taken aback by the news, if only because he’d thought she was using birth control, Aymie is thrilled by the prospect of fatherhood and immediately offers to marry the woman.

Explaining that, among other qualities, he’s “too hairy” and smells like garlic, she declines. From that point, he embarks on a brief (45 minutes onstage) retelling of advice from several sources and recounting of his efforts to gain partial custody of the child, Emma.

The tender coming-together of father and child is the show’s focus, and--refreshingly--Aymie doesn’t paint the unnamed mother as a villain. But at least as interesting is the writer-performer’s telling of his time as a substitute teacher in an inner-city school. Although it forms a substantial part of this piece, it might be expanded rewardingly into a show of its own.

Aymie and director James Brown-Orleans have come up with a presentation that’s informative, powerful and energetic, touching, funny and humane--in short, everything a one-man show should be.

DETAILS

“Child’s Play” continues Friday through Sunday at 8 p.m. at Theater 150, 918 E. Ojai Ave. in Ojai. Tickets are $20, with a two-for-one special Sunday. For reservations (recommended) or further information, call 646-4300.

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Becka (Sarah Campbell) and Boomer (Katie Campbell) Waller live with their mother, Irene (Jennifer Reilly Nims). Becka’s friends convince her that her younger sister should learn the “truth” about Santa. And, within a couple of hours of the audience’s time, they all do.

It’s nice in principle to see a new Christmas play, and to have one by an established playwright such as Mark Medoff is especially promising. One might hope, though, that Medoff would come up with something a little more imaginative than illustrating whether Santa Claus really exists, as he does in “Kringle’s Window,” finishing its run this weekend at the Elite Theatre Company in Oxnard under the direction of Bill McDonald.

The “window” in question isn’t made of glass; in Medoff’s uninformed use of computer terminology, what Becka is really looking for is (Kris) Kringle’s Web site. Technical jargon, mercifully minimal, is similarly garbled throughout; Medoff should have hired a 13-year-old to get the language right. (One wonders: Does the author of “Children of a Lesser God” know as little about the hearing-impaired as he seems to about computers? And wouldn’t Santa be a Mac user, anyway?)

Despite some engaging performances by the kids, by Nims and--especially--by Judy Heiliger, who, as the mysterious Mrs. Rosen, gets many of the best lines--the dialogue often sounded stilted Friday night. That, too, might be the playwright’s responsibility: Even Meryl Streep or Laurence Olivier might have trouble making a line like “That’s quite an agenda of accusations, Irene” sound as if spoken in real life.

“Christmas is supposed to be about love and caring” is Medoff’s conclusion; and indeed, the holiday’s place in Christian theology is ignored with a vengeance, best reflected when the children discover just who Mrs. Rosen really is.

All that aside, “Kringle’s Window” is frequently charming, refreshingly brief and certainly suitable for the whole, not-too-discriminating family. In addition to the cast members already noted, the play features Ron Feltner as the girls’ father; Jas Batra, John Cruz, Rachel Hart, Matthew Morrison and Halie Clemens as the sisters’ friends; and Glen Campbell (not the singer) and James Wortman as a couple of guys in Santa Claus suits. They have the play’s funniest exchange--not written by Medoff and possibly outdated by Friday night.

DETAILS

“Kringle’s Window” concludes this weekend at the Petit Playhouse, 730 South B St. in Oxnard’s Heritage Square. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets to all shows are $12; $10 seniors. For reservations (recommended) or further information, call 483-5118.

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Todd Everett can be reached at teverett@concentric.net.