A fitting start for SCR’s new stage

An overarching theme has emerged from the Richard Greenberg plays that were selected to close South Coast Repertory’s Second Stage last spring and to open its new Julianne Argyros Stage last Friday. The two plays’ concerns bounce off each other handily.

Greenberg’s “The Dazzle” closed the previous space with a depiction of men who were buried in the past and the present, lacking any sense of the future. In retrospect, “The Dazzle” appears to have been South Coast’s way of declaring: out with the old, in with the new.

Now, Greenberg’s brand-new “The Violet Hour” is opening the new Argyros Stage, and -- perversely enough -- its subject is the futility of becoming future-obsessed. Although the opening of any new building is a natural occasion for speculation about the future, “The Violet Hour” points out the limits of such thoughts.

Its conclusion is commonplace: that if you could divine the future, you probably wouldn’t want to do so. By definition, the future is what will happen, and as such it’s not subject to change. Better to live with a more upbeat vision of what might be.

This is a well-worn lesson, familiar from previous time-travel tales. But Greenberg’s characters are fresh, and his dialogue retains its customary bite. One of the characters observes that reading the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins is “like walking barefoot on a New England beach. You’re constantly being pricked by unexpected stones.” Greenberg’s writing often successfully replicates this effect.

On the other hand, he goes to such great lengths to prevent this play from becoming predictable -- the chief sin of the Broadway theater, according to one of the characters -- that Greenberg’s efforts become strained and excessive during the second act.

Like “The Dazzle,” “The Violet Hour” is set in New York in the first decades of the 20th century (specifically, for “The Violet Hour,” in 1919). Both plays also share a visual motif: clutter. When the curtain rises on “The Violet Hour,” we see boxes of manuscripts filling a Manhattan publisher’s office, with glimpses of the skyline revealed through the windows.

John Pace Seavering (Hamish Linklater) is in his mid-20s, convinced that his life can only get better, now that the Great War is over. He has set up his publishing business with some family funds, but they aren’t unlimited. Because of this, he has a dilemma. Should the first book he publishes be a sprawling opus by his college buddy Denis McCleary (Curtis Mark Williams) or the memoir of John’s secret older lover, Jessie Brewster (Michelle Hurd), a glamorous African American singer?

Denis’ claim is urgent because his wealthy girlfriend, Rosamund (Kate Arrington), is searching for some evidence of his future solvency that she can show her father. But Jessie feels a perpetual urgency in her life, which she has molded from a poverty-stricken childhood. She implies that John’s failure to publish her book could spell the end of their affair.

Meanwhile, John is informed by his assistant, Gidger (Mario Cantone), that a strange machine has been delivered to the anteroom. As the play develops, the machine begins to spit out pages of writings from the future. As might be expected of Cantone after his appearances in “Love! Valour! Compassion!” and “Sex and the City,” Gidger is a flamboyant closet queen whose interjections and sarcasm provide at least two-thirds of the play’s laughs.

As in “The Dazzle,” Greenberg offers no explanations for certain major elements of his story, such as the machine’s arrival and the origin of the Jessie-John affair. However, the suspension of disbelief is a little easier here than in the earlier play. Still, the plot turns in the second act are loose-jointed to the point of feeling almost arbitrary. Evan Yionoulis staging sags a bit in the only scene in which John leaves the stage; the story of Denis and Rosamund doesn’t seem important enough to occupy the stage alone at this point. However, Greenberg’s plays that premiere at South Coast -- most notably “Three Days of Rain” -- often are revised after they leave. Part of the adventure of a new play on a second stage is the sense that it’s testing its wings, that it may choose to fly in several directions.

The production looks great. The performances are all on target. Christopher Barreca’s set is sharply focused, Donald Holder’s lighting suggests an array of shades without overemphasizing the violet.

Of even more importance to South Coast veterans, the Argyros is a triumph. With 336 seats, none more than 39 feet from the stage, it retains a cozy warmth and old-fashioned elegance that are in contrast to the cool, sleek lines of the building’s new entrance. We shouldn’t dwell on the future, but it certainly looks promising at the Argyros.

*

‘The Violet Hour’

Where: South Coast Repertory, Julianne Argyros Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: Tuesdays-Sundays, 7:45 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m.

Ends: Nov. 24

Price: $27-$54

Contact: (714) 708-5555

Running Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes

Hamish Linklater...John Pace Seavering

Mario Cantone...Gidger

Curtis Mark

Williams...Denis McCleary

Michelle Hurd...Jessie Brewster

Kate Arrington...Rosamund Plinth

By Richard Greenberg. Directed by Evan Yionoulis. Set by Christopher Barreca. Costumes by Candice Cain. Lighting by Donald Holder. Music and sound by Mike Yionoulis. Stage manager Jamie A. Tucker.