Production flaws mar amusing ‘Golf’

If you go into Speeding Theatre - Over 55's premiere production expecting a classroom exercise, there's a decent chance you'll have a good time.

The new troupe is an extension of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' now-defunct senior adult theater program. Under the direction of Doug Hill, their take on Carter Lewis' existential comedy "Golf with Alan Shepard" is amusing and competent. It's only when you compare it with other community theater work that it falls short.

Lewis' script gives us a foursome who, while plodding through 18 holes, deal with life's big questions. The men of indeterminate age cope with ghosts, loss, and fear of the future. Just when you think things will slip into sentimentality, the author uses distancing devices - quick scenes, a voice on a speaker that seems quite mad - to keep the action afloat. The ending is surprisingly surreal. For all of the play's cerebral cleverness, there's a childlike sense of wonder at the core.

You enjoy being in the actors' company. John Slocum makes an amusingly temperamental and controlling Griff. Al Rauckhorst is the endlessly befuddled and self-victimized Milt. Oliver Phillips suggests mystery and wise thoughts as the spiritualist Larkin. Mike Hubbard projects - until we get to know his character better - the easy-to-please enthusiast Ned, who's able to appreciate life's simple treasures. And Robert Sansing, as the voice heard over the microphone, gets laughs by making the most preposterous pronouncements in the sanest of ways.

Hill gets a lot of mileage out of the actors. But you get the feeling the production exists more for their sake than the audience's. There are too many elements that we would accept in a class setting that we don't accept in "real" theater. Many lines are dropped or hesitated over, causing pockets of dead air that stall the momentum. The nondescript set pieces are dwarfed by a naked black wall that gives off funereal vibes. The undernourished lights have a nasty habit of blinking uncontrollably.

Speeding Theatre has a way to go if it hopes to play with the big boys. But Hill and cast put you in a forgiving mood.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.