The Lawndale Ensemble Theatre brings a bit of England to the Civic Center

Two years ago, the Lawndale Parks and Recreation Commission decided it was time that the city had a community theater group.

Larry Corrington, city recreation and community services director, recalls that the commission “felt there was an interest and directed the staff to come up with something.”

That something turned out to be the Lawndale Ensemble Theatre, and judging by the success of the group’s debut production of “Picnic” last year, live theater was something Lawndale had been waiting for.

More than 40 people tried out for parts in the show. Others said they didn’t want to be on stage but would gladly paint scenery.

During four performances at the Prairie Avenue Community Center, more than 375 people saw the William Inge drama about life and love in a small Midwestern town.

Considering that seating capacity was 100 for each performance, the show “virtually sold out,” says Phil O’Connor, the Leuzinger High School drama teacher who organized the group with $3,000 in seed money from the city.

O’Connor attributes the success not only to word-of-mouth publicity and promotion by the city, but also to the choice of “Picnic” as the first show. He calls it “something a Lawndale audience could relate to.”

“It’s a piece of Americana and is fairly well known because of the movie. There’s a family generational struggle people can relate to and a good variety of ages in the cast.”

The group is offering its second production--the English comedy, “Round and Round the Garden”--and O’Connor says the audience may be in for more of a challenge than “Picnic” presented.

Set in the garden of an English country home, the play is a complex tale of sexual intrigue involving an eccentric English family. A likable rascal named Norman tries to prove that he has a Midas touch with women by seducing his female in-laws while continuing to charm his wife.

O’Connor, who directs the play, said he has always wanted to stage the comedy because of its offbeat characters and the clever dialogue turned out by playwright Alan Ayckbourn.

“It’s very funny and deals with basic domestic problems,” he said. “To see the English twist will be very entertaining. It’s educational, enlightening and very witty. The man can turn a phrase.”

A portion of Ayckbourn’s trilogy, “The Norman Conquests,” the comedy plays tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. It repeats April 25 to 27. Performances are at the Lawndale Civic Center next to City Hall.

While the actors sound like proper Britishers on stage, by day they are South Bay residents whose occupations run the gamut from hairstylist and physician to medical student, nurse and security-alarm specialist.

O’Connor said the group gives people with a knack for theater a chance to work hard during several weeks of rehearsal and then to bask in audience appreciation during performances.

“There’s a good rapport among the people, who like each other,” he said. “They enjoy getting on stage and performing.”

Kemal Koknar, who was in “Picnic” and also has a role in the current show, said he joined the group out of boredom. “I had nothing to do, I was bored, and I went and tried out,” he said. “I’d thought about acting, but I’d never motivated myself toward it.”

But now that he’s tasted applause, he said, he’s hooked.

Vivian Leff, who plays one of the women Norman lusts after, said members of the group have become a team. “It’s a special feeling we developed,” she said.

In the Lawndale company, everyone pitches in to put on a show. The cast spent two weeks building and decorating the set, which transforms the plain interior of the Civic Center building into a colorful English garden with a terrace and French doors leading into the house.

Cast member Judy Law borrowed the large collection of plants and flowers from a wholesale nursery she spotted while driving. They were brought to the building in the back of a pickup truck, O’Connor said. “It looked like a moving garden.”

After staging one play at the the Prairie center and the second at the Civic Center, O’Connor said his top priority is finding a permanent home for the group.

“We’re limited with city facilities,” he said. “They’re very busy with everything from women’s clubs to discussion groups. It’s hard to build a supply of props and furniture. We have nothing but someone’s garage.”

He also would like to do more than one play a year and is hoping to do a show this summer, which may be a play for children. He also wants to stage “Dracula” in the fall--appropriately, in October. “It’s very gothic,” he says.

Apart from the initial $3,000 allocation, the city is putting no money into the theater group, although it does provide city facilities rent-free. O’Connor said the group, which is spending about $1,000 on “Round and Round the Garden,” intends to recover its expenses from the box office.

O’Connor said: “We don’t want to be a city adjunct. We’re good for the city, but we want to be an independent group.”

What: “Round and Round the Garden.”

When: Tonight, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; also April 25 to 27, 8 p.m.

Where: Lawndale Civic Center, 14701 S. Burin Ave., Lawndale.

Admission: $8; advanced purchases: $7, $5 for seniors and groups of 10 or more.

Information: 640-9322.