A wall of emotions from Vietnam War

A gleaming black granite scar carved into the grassy Mall in Washington, D.C., the Vietnam Veterans Memorial evokes both a painful reminder of a war that once divided our nation and a meditative prayer for healing. Yet anyone who’s visited the wall knows that its most devastating impact lies in the expanse of notes, letters, photos and other mementos left each day for loved ones whose names are engraved in the list of casualties.

Culled verbatim from those anonymous outpourings to fallen American soldiers from surviving wives, sons, daughters, mothers and comrades, “Touch the Names” can’t begin to offer a theatrical equivalent to the actual memorial. Yet in the show’s first West Coast production from Santa Barbara’s Ensemble Theatre Company, skilled performers deliver some poignant meditations on loss and grief with timely resonance.

Conceived by New York-based director Randal Myler and blues performer-composer Chic Street Man (whose wistful folk songs punctuate the recitations), “Names” is not an angry piece -- its concern is with personal stories rather than taking sides. If anything, its overall tone of sad gentleness and delicacy moves us a little too easily to equanimity rather than outrage at lives cut tragically short.

The selections vary in length and potency, at their best wielding considerable dramatic heft. Thomas Lyons, Gretchen Evans, Randy Ryan, Kem Saunders and Annie Golden all have their moments in the voices of shattered vets, children who never knew their fathers, nurses who were the last faces seen by dying boys.

In a testament to the universality of loss, not all the subjects are soldiers. In the most riveting sequence, Tria Xiong recites a Vietnamese woman’s poetic allegory about the way her mother used to carefully peel orange skins in one intact strand -- contrasted with the abrupt severing when her mother was taken from her.

Like the memorial itself, the piece aims to make simplicity its strength. Other than the songs, staging embellishment is minimal. Though it keeps the focus on the text, this hands-off approach takes familiarity with the wall too much for granted. A set including actual photos rather than abstract fabric panels would provide a stronger visual context for those who haven’t actually touched the names -- or been touched by them.

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‘Touch the Names’

Where: Alhecama Theatre, 914 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays

Ends: March 5

Price: $25-$37

Contact: (805) 962-8606 or www.ensembletheatre.com

Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes