Pear Avenue's 'Incurable' engaging

Oakland Tribune, Jun 29, 2004 by Keith Kreitman, CONTRIBUTOR

THE Pear Avenue Theatre in Mountain View is gaining a reputation as a venue for quality plays and as a gateway for newer, unproduced works. As a result, some of the best performers in the Bay Area are drawn to this small, unpretentious, 40-seat theater.

The theater is premiering a new work, "A Beautiful Home for the Incurable," by Ian Walker. This warm, loving comedy is a tribute to those who fall through society's cracks, the social misfits who live invisibly outside of the mainstream.

It is a well-constructed play about four dysfunctional friends who group together to outwit a very clever identity thief.

Driven by frustration and greed, a victim of the dot.com collapse, Bernard Temple (Michael Sofaer), steals the identity of another with the same name and goes on a buying rampage.

His theft had been simplified because he was able to invade the computer of the other Temple, nicknamed Bunny (Eric Rice), who suffers from agoraphobia, a fear of open spaces. He never leaves his New York City apartment and conducts all of his business on the PC.

Bunny has three co-dependent friends who meet with him once a week. Nick (Bill D'Agostino) has a condition that impairs his physical movements. Madilyn (Shannon Stowe) is an occasional amnesiac who is liable to tell fibs in conversation. Lucy (Kristen Lo) is a narcoleptic, falling asleep at any moment, who dreams of buying a home so they can all live together.

When the other three discover that Temple has rendered Bunny virtually penniless, and he is in danger of losing his only shelter, they swing into action to ensnare Temple in his own web of deceit.

This is a very engaging comedy, written by one who is wise to the world of the dysfunctional and disadvantaged.

There is no maudlin appeal for sympathy. All are independent within the confines of their psychological and physical disabilities. The dialogue sparkles as all of the eccentricities of these special people are given an outlet and are woven into a tapestry of warm, loving and true friends.

Director Jeanie Forte pulled together a first-rate, audience- winning cast. As Bunny, Rice projects a persona controlled by effort but interrupted intermittently by panic and mania.

As his nemesis, Temple, Sofaer is cunningly confident in his evil doings.

Stowe and Lo merge their strengths to push Bunny toward a freer future.

In this excellent cast, D'Agostino almost steals the show as effete, self-indulgent, prejudiced Nick.

Walker is an accomplished playwright with a number of successes already under his belt. This one is a winner.

Keith Kreitman is a freelance writer. You can reach him by calling (650) 348-4327 or by e-mail at Rainykeith@aol.com .