Monotony eventually dooms ‘Little Sheba’

He may not have written the abundance of stop-dead memorable lines that Tennessee Williams came up with, but William Inge was a master of the small moment.

In his "Come Back, Little Sheba," now at the Nevada Conservatory Theatre, he tells the story of a middle-aged, lower middle-class, Midwestern woman who must come to accept her lost dreams.

Few do loneliness like Inge. His characterization here of Lola (Susan Denaker), a bored, inept housekeeper desperate to make contact with anyone who will listen (the milkman, the postman), still has the immediacy one expects from a good, new play.

Director Jeffrey Koep wisely keeps the script in the '50s. (He even uses the old convention of closing the stage curtain for every scene change.) The characters' surface behavior would seem out of place in 2008 America. But the show's heart is timeless, especially for those who enjoy exploring the details in behavior that make us who we are.

Guest union actress Denaker gets beneath Inge's dialogue to create a flesh-and-blood person. She and Koep manage to keep Lola likable, despite her never-ending need for approval. When her conversation drifts, or when she's trying to cover up her unhappiness by being annoyingly chipper, Denaker gets us to sense Lola's demon visions. We don't quite know what's going on in her head, but we have no doubt something's brewing, and it's torturing her.

Denaker, though, seems to be in a different show than everyone else. Koep overstates most of the other characters. Lola's husband, Doc (Michael Tylo), an alcoholic chiropractor, is equally discontent, but covers up his anxiety with activity. There's an obvious disconnect between Doc's actions and feelings, but Tylo comes across simply as a robotic actor (which he usually does not). Two minor comedic roles -- an athlete (Doug Milliron) and a milkman (Labrandon Shead) -- are played so over-the-top that you can't figure out the play's reality.

The first act is curiously more effective, because, I suspect, the characters are allowed more time to process the events that are taking place. The second is packed with action but feels less felt, less varied. By the time the production is over, monotony sets in, and we've had enough of suffering with this woman.

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