‘Marko’ Struggles to Create Trauma of War

For all its well-intentioned themes, “Marko the Prince,” Jovanka Bach’s last installment of her “Balkan Trilogy,” is clumsily written and director John Stark’s cast never convincingly creates the emotional trauma and questionable honor-driven loyalties of a war-torn country.

Marko is a mythic hero whom the protagonist, Chicha (Tulsey Ball), patterns himself after. Yet despite the presence of a guslar (Jacob Witkin), a wandering balladeer who serves as a narrator, the parallelism isn’t clear.

Springtime in the Bosnian Serb border town of Sabor is anything but refreshing. The vengeful machinations of the police chief, Vuk (John DiFusco), pit Chicha against his blood brother, the Muslim Omar (William Schenker). A romance develops between Omar’s sister attorney (Nina Sablich) and Chicha’s American cousin, Mike (Eric Keith).

Stark’s staging is awkward at times and the pace could be tightened. Bach overstates the motivation of each character. Although her concept of a vicious cycle of revenge and hate has merit, this cycle of plays doesn’t paint the richness of that theme against the backdrop of culture, religion and history.

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* “Marko the Prince,” Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West L.A. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Aug. 12. $19.50-$21.50. (310) 477-2055. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes.