Trying to Unearth ‘A Dirty Secret’

Annette Lee’s new play, “A Dirty Secret Between the Toes,” confuses strident overstatement of age-old minority concerns with character development, and the Lodestone Theatre Ensemble compounds the problems.

The tone of the Lodestone production, at East L.A. College’s Little Theatre, is strictly puerile. A couple, Helen and Chuck (Emily Liu and Ryun Yu), have just moved into the only house on a cul-de-sac in an exclusive and formerly all-white gated community. They have a mildly kinky moonlight ritual for planting bulbs.

The Mexican gardener (Felipe Galvez) tries to keep their secret from the nosy neighbor (Robert Christophe), who has a fetish for Helen’s small “Oriental” feet.

Certainly sellout assimilation among ethnic groups is a viable topic, and Lee adds other subjects such as overt racism, stalking (done by a former CIA operative), sexual degradation and consumerism. But like the characters, the issues aren’t fully developed.

Director Chil Kong overdoes the production’s cutesy quality, as do Diana Lee Inosanto and Ron Balicki in their choreography of the fight sequences.

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* “A Dirty Secret Between the Toes,” Lodestone Theatre Ensemble at East L.A. College, Little Theatre, 1301 Avenue Cesar Chavez, Monterey Park. Fridays and Saturdays, 8:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Ends May 13. $13. (323) 993-7245. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.