City house, country house: a fairy tale

Fast-lane people who leave the city for the supposed serenity and stability of rural roads are the theme of the month at La Jolla Playhouse, with two productions examining ex-urbanites.

The premiere of Tom Donaghy’s “Eden Lane” in the Mandell Weiss Theatre is more engaging than Martin Crimp’s “The Country,” in the smaller, adjacent Mandell Weiss Forum.

Both plays share an elliptical quality. In “Eden Lane,” as in “The Country,” some details are not spelled out. But these covert details in “Eden Lane” are less important and don’t impede a full understanding of the characters. It also helps that “Eden Lane” is about 10 times funnier.

Middle-aged ex-actress May (Roxanne Hart) and her new husband, wealthy medical publicist Philip (Francois Giroday), have fled New York City in the wake of the collapses of May’s career, her first marriage and the World Trade Center.

May’s 22-year-old daughter Ruby (Sarah Avery), a nursing student, has moved with them. So has a longtime family friend in his 30s, Timothy (Peter Paige), who was once an acting student with May. Timothy, who has no visible means of support other than May’s largesse, has also been through a recent breakup, with a boyfriend. He’s now in love with a classic car, and he’s getting restless in his new digs.

But the new house isn’t finished. In the first act, about half of John Arnone’s living room set is still covered with industrial debris. May and Philip are interviewing designers, including young Alberta (Rachel Jacobs).

May likes Alberta’s plans but is disappointed that the designer has vetoed one window for structural reasons. Meanwhile, the friendliest neighbor, dowdy-looking Eileen Marie (Kate McGregor-Stewart), drops hints that Alberta is trouble.

Much of the comedy and pathos here arises out of the fervency with which these people, especially May, believe that they can create a personal Eden out of their house, when in fact the house appears to cause more stress than bliss.

In the second act, the house is considerably closer to being finished. It looks like quite a showplace, with a dramatic staircase, high windows and an interior atrium. The irony here is that Ruby and Timothy are on the verge of leaving the palace that was built, in part, for them.

The relative affluence of the characters creates more comedy than pathos. And Donaghy demonstrates some of the same sleight of hand with his dialogue that was evident in his “The Beginning of August” at South Coast Repertory in 2000. He doesn’t write jokes; he writes characters who say funny things -- sometimes in halting, indirect or even overlapping ways.

The exception to this indirection is Philip, a boisterous man who intentionally tries to enliven the party with his imitations of lines from movies, his martinis, and his overall joie de vivre. Giroday proves almost as irresistible here as he was a year ago in La Jolla’s production of “Wintertime,” which is set in a similar milieu.

May is a ripe role, because she is -- by her own admission -- “actressy.” Hart honors this quality without turning her into an overbearing diva.

Avery’s Ruby is amusingly petulant, for reasons that aren’t at first obvious. McGregor-Stewart’s nosey neighbor gets to undergo a remarkable cosmetic transformation halfway through the play.

Paige’s Timothy and Jacobs’ Alberta provide a few darker tones, with their suggestions of offstage trauma. But Paige also gets his share of the play’s funniest lines.

Lines about Alberta’s sick boyfriend sometimes feel forced by Donaghy, as if they exist only to provide those darker tones. And Timothy’s mysteries and a self-conscious monologue about his supporting role status also seem a bit artificial in the generally realistic context of the play.

Des McAnuff’s staging enhances Donaghy’s subtle but evocative comedy. The production lacks the urgency of “The Beginning of August,” which Donaghy set in a less affluent slice of society. But it continues that play’s meditation on the concept of “home” -- both its appeal and its fragility.

Anyone who’s trying to control fate via real estate might want to catch this disarming little comedy.

*

‘Eden Lane’

Where: La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla Village Drive and Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla

When: Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m.

Ends: Sept. 14

Price: $39-$49

Contact: (858) 550-1010

Running Time: 2 hours, 5 minutes

Roxanne Hart...May

Francois Giroday...Philip

Rachel Jacobs...Alberta

Peter Paige...Timothy

Sarah Avery...Ruby

Kate McGregor-Stewart...Eileen Marie

By Tom Donaghy. Directed by Des McAnuff. Sets by John Arnone. Costumes by David C. Woolard. Lighting by Howell Binkley. Sound by Robbin E. Broad. Composer Michael Roth. Stage manager Mark Tynan.