‘Meadows’ Works Best With Simple Premise

“The only reason we’re here is because you sounded like you knew what you were talking about,” an exasperated youth accuses his best friend. They’re at the tail end of a coming-of-age Las Vegas odyssey gone horribly wrong in Trey Nichols’ new play “The Meadows,” produced by Moving Arts at Los Angeles Theatre Center.

Nichols, who wrote and performed a deft monologue about commercialism as part of the company’s “Hate for the Holidays,” transposes his search for values from Christmas in a department store to the round-the-clock eye candy that is Vegas. With notable sensitivity, he traces the disintegrating friendship between Pete (Walter A. Lutz Jr.), a deferential nerd, and Alex (David Hoffman), a conceited blowhard peer who has driven them to Vegas to celebrate Alex’s 21st birthday. Sort of like “On the Road” with Eddie Haskell.

Some quirky encounters supply the highlights: Kimberly Glann’s savvy hooker, Richard Ruyle’s menacing strip club manager, and Brad Henson as an eerie tormented tourist at Hoover Dam. The play still needs work, however, to keep its sometimes preachy and obvious elements more in line with a basically simple, heartfelt premise.

Former Cast Theatre designer Andy Daley wryly conjures up the seedier side of Vegas motels, bars and casinos. Under Julie Briggs’ tightly focused direction, Lutz convincingly portrays Pete’s newfound assertiveness; Hoffman’s Alex, however, is written so over-the-top it’s impossible to believe Pete could be unaware of his friend’s shallow cravenness. Even Wally Cleaver knew better.

*

“The Meadows,” Los Angeles Theatre Center, Studio 5C, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends April 9. $15. (213) 485-1681. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.