Hitting the Skids in L.A.

Alyson Croft’s new play, “Fifth and Spring,” is about love and lust amid the low-lifes of downtown Los Angeles. This Blue Sphere Alliance production at the Lex is bold and brash at the beginning but loses momentum toward the end, although strong characterizations carry our interest.

Director Anthony Barnao sets a driving beat with snappy transitions and musical selections of Geoff Green’s sound design. Young Tony (Ronnie Walsh) bare-knuckle brawls on a street corner for money, fighting to support his heroin addiction. He’s no oversized brute. As played by the wiry, average-size Walsh, he’s a jittery junkie who will eventually meet his match. Dino (Hans Bodenweiser) takes bets but doesn’t always give Tony his share because he needs to fund his own desperate life.

Sandy (Croft) has just lost both of her jobs and wistfully dreams of launching a tap-dancing career in New York. Sandy’s mother, Nancy (Peggy Mannix), is self-employed--she gambles. Hoping to cheer up Sandy, her best friend, Ziggy (Joel West), takes her to a rave, where their friend Lindsay (Anna Bocci) supplies them with drugs. Sandy then meets Tony. The foursome head out to Joshua Tree for another party.

Croft has fashioned an unconvincing love story of sorts between Sandy and Tony. Intoxicated by alcohol and drugs (including Viagra), they share a carnal clinch and don’t regret it the next day, although they soon part. Circumstances force Sandy to find Tony a few days later and reexamine her relationship with her mother.

Croft wisely avoids a happy ending, but the second act has a softness that takes away some of the earlier grit and growl. The rhythm slows, and energy is lost.

The second act also leaves questions unanswered. It’s unclear if Croft means Sandy’s tap-dancing aspirations to be seen as a viable possibility or if this is a pipe dream that drives the addictive personalities. Also, are Nancy’s and Tony’s addictions meant to parallel the designer-drug dabbling of Sandy, Ziggy and Lindsay?

Director Barnao, who also plays a minor role, pays enough attention to even the unnamed ravers to create a fascinating milieu of personalities that at once repels and attracts. Among the main characters, Bocci stands out as the spoiled, sexually bold vixen, who easily obtains and freely dispenses pills. Croft’s Sandy reacts to situations set into motion by others, and her matter-of-fact attitude makes her the least interesting of the principals.

You might not recognize these people or want them as your friends, yet this production makes their stories compelling.

* “Fifth and Spring,” Blue Sphere Alliance at the Lex, 6760 Lexington Ave., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends April 7. $15. (818) 906-0675. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.