A ‘Hatful’ of American Social Realism

Life can seem so full of promise when, all of a sudden, troubles begin to sprout up like weeds, choking out hope and happiness.

The protagonist of “A Hatful of Rain” has overcome a difficult childhood to emerge as a Korean War hero in prosperous mid-’50s America. But he also has a morphine addiction that he’s trying to hide, and it’s about to cost him everything he holds dear.

Michael V. Gazzo’s play is a grim little slice of social realism from 1955, when America and the family were being closely scrutinized by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and William Inge. Gazzo’s script doesn’t match theirs, but it still speaks powerfully when performed with conviction, as it is at Actors Forum Theatre in North Hollywood.

Events play out in a cramped yet meticulously cared-for apartment on New York’s Lower East Side, designed by Juan Rojas Aguilar.

As embodied by Dominic Comperatore, the central character, Johnny, is strong yet fragile, with haunted eyes that are the window to his soul.

As Celia, his wife, Laura Lamson is a lovely, willowy young woman who is quickly turning hard and brittle. Stuck in a secure if unrewarding job and married to a man who refuses to tell her anything--least of all, why he disappears at night--she is frustrated and lonely.

Fred Saldone--playing Johnny’s brother, Polo--is torn between his love for his troubled sibling and his growing attraction toward Celia. He tries to do the right things for both yet always manages to come out in the wrong.

The pacing is taut, the performances lived-in, in a staging overseen by Actors Forum producing director Audrey M. Singer.

Well-observed if at times melodramatic, “A Hatful of Rain” is an American tragedy about lives chewed up and spit out by the machines of war and commerce.

“A Hatful of Rain,” Actors Forum Theatre, 10655 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends March 31. $15. (818) 506-0600. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.