Gaps in ‘Mountain’ make it a mere hill

The most charismatic character in Christopher Shinn’s new play “On the Mountain” is dead.

Jason Carlyle, a Kurt Cobain-like rock star, killed himself a few years back. His former girlfriend Sarah has tried to say good riddance. She remembers Jason as an addict and a fraud. She’s now clean and sober.

Another part of Sarah, however, can’t let him go. She keeps photos from the old days within easy access. And the couple’s daughter, Jaime -- a depressed teenager who barely remembers her father -- is a constant reminder of him.

Shinn, a 29-year-old New York-based playwright who has acquired some buzz in London and New York, attempts to chart the long-lasting psychological ripples left in the wake of a young celebrity’s fatal crash in this play, which was written on a South Coast Repertory commission.

Yet he never mentions an obvious question that arises after seeing the play’s premiere at South Coast -- shouldn’t Sarah, who works long hours as a waitress in Portland, receive child support from Jason’s estate, which no doubt continues to rake in royalties from his albums?

It’s one of several areas in which Shinn’s play, intriguing as far as it goes, stops short of exploring its potential.

The most conspicuous missing link in the play occurs at the end. Until halfway through the second act, a Jason Carlyle fan named Carrick appears to be just as important a character as Sarah and Jaime. An assistant manager at a Sam Goody store, Carrick learned about Sarah’s history with Carlyle and the rumor that she possesses the only copy of a recording that her ex-lover made for her. Without initially revealing all of his cards, Carrick seeks out Sarah and begins to woo her.

This part of “On the Mountain” was inspired by the Henry James novella “The Aspern Papers,” which is about a literary scholar who tries to obtain access to a dead writer’s letters by insinuating himself into the household of the writer’s now-aged paramour and her niece. James told the story entirely from the scholar’s perspective.

“On the Mountain” never goes that far. But Shinn suggests that Carrick has the potential to become a beneficial influence on Jaime. He also illustrates how some of Carrick’s attitudes are in distinct counterpoint to Sarah’s.

The play’s title refers to a weekend excursion by Sarah and Carrick to Mt. Rainier. Their divergent interpretations of an incident that took place there highlight their larger differences.

That incident is recalled only from the vantage point of the next day, as is a clash over the extent of Sarah’s candor with Carrick. Sometimes it seems as if Shinn is trying to keep most of their drama offstage.

This tendency culminates when Carrick exits before his story feels close to resolution. Another potential suitor for Sarah then receives a brief introduction and also vanishes, all within one scene.

Shinn rigorously focuses his ending entirely on mother and daughter, almost as if someone told him that he was trying to do too much.

The play feels curiously muted and unfinished. While the mother and daughter scenes are perceptively written, they don’t feel as fresh as the material that is left incomplete.

The last scene involves some literal muting, as the headphones-wearing Sarah listens to the recording that Jason made just for her on Jaime’s iPod, and looks transported. It’s an effective scene in part because only Sarah, not the audience, can hear the music.

But there are other moments when the play cries out for more of the music itself -- we hear only a few brief Nirvana-like riffs as the scenes change. At times, “On the Mountain” gives hints that it could have been a rock musical, if not for Shinn’s dogged devotion to maintaining a realistic style.

Under Mark Rucker’s direction, the actors honor that realistic style with rock-solid performances.

Susannah Schulman, tall and blond, has the faded glamour of someone who could easily have attracted a rock star when she was 18. But she also has the sensible quality of a hard-working waitress who spends much of her spare time in AA meetings. She unleashes a torrent of yearning in the play’s final moments.

Daisy Eagan’s shorter and pudgier Jaime looks nothing like her mother, which in an indirect way triggers their second-act fireworks. Despite her depression, Jaime’s stories can beguile, and Eagan takes Jaime well beyond stereotypes.

Nathan Baesel’s Carrick moves from an affable generic quality to hints of something more idiosyncratic before he’s whisked off the stage. Matt Roth provides a brief dash of contrast as the second-act gentleman caller.

At least “On the Mountain” has one storied virtue -- it leaves us wanting more.

*

On the Mountain’

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

When: 7:45 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays

Ends: Jan. 23

Price: $27-$56

Contact: (714) 708-5555, www.scr.org

Running Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Susannah Schulman...Sarah

Daisy Eagan...Jaime

Nathan Baesel...Carrick

Matt Roth...Phil

By Christopher Shinn. Directed by Mark Rucker. Sets by Donna Marquet. Costumes by Melanie Watnick. Lighting by Rand Ryan. Music and sound by Aram Arslanian. Stage manager Randall K. Lum.