Of four shorts in OCC show, ‘Nebula’ shines

Lanford Wilson has gained a measure of fame as the dramatist who created such works as “The Hot L Baltimore,” “Talley’s Folly” and “The Fifth of July,” among many others. But he’s equally adept at writing short plays, a premise effectively underscored at Orange Coast College.

OCC’s Repertory Theater is presenting a quartet of brief Wilson works, the crown jewel of which is the finale, “The Great Nebula in Orion.” This one-act examines two women -- college chums now in their mid-30s who meet again by chance in a New York department store and tell one another how their lives have, most dissimilarly, turned out.

Louise (Devri Richmond) has become an award-winning fashion designer, and Carrie (Amy Abbasca) has married into money and repaired to the Boston suburbs. Both carry the scars of intense relationships gone sour, which in the play bubble to the surface, fueled by generous quantities of wine.

Director Sean Engard has done a fine job of exploring the subtleties of Wilson’s most insightful work, not an easy assignment. Both actresses deliver asides to the audience, snippets of which are heard and responded to by the other without interrupting the essential rhythm of the piece. The performers mesh splendidly into a seamless performing unit.

Richmond’s Louise projects sophistication without excessive patronization (except for those moments she shares with the audience) while maintaining a genuinely amicable relationship with the more sheltered Carrie. Abbasca avoids the “cuteness” of her character as she becomes progressively inebriated and defensive of her ornamental status.

The opening short play of OCC’s foursome is “The Moonshot Tape,” an extended monologue in which a young but already successful writer (Erika Miller) returns to her Missouri roots and an interview with a reporter (unseen) for her hometown newspaper.

Miller, an apparent latecomer to the project, successfully involves her audience as she recounts a horrific childhood and her gleeful revenge on a molesting stepfather. Sisi Chen directs the playlet, which offers frequently moving moments.

The other two shorts, both directed by Andrew Vonderschmitt, fall into the farcical realm. “Abstinence” ostensibly involves a party for recovering alcoholics, but it morphs into something else entirely. Danielle Louie’s seductive predator captures the spotlight, though the funniest moment is Jill Prout’s comment as the maid: “I gave up a paying job to do this play.”

There’s no explanation for the title of the other entry -- “Ikke, Ikke, Nye, Nye, Nye” -- except for an author’s note that “the play got out of my hands” and is “totally wrong.” Wilson’s two characters -- a telephone operator and a mailroom clerk, whose dad owns the company, conduct an awkward first date in which both struggle with their carnal desires. Averie Huffine and Ryan O’Melia take their characters over the top and down the other side.

Although these plays are vintage Wilson, they still pique the imagination -- and “The Great Nebula in Orion” by itself is worth the price of admission.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews appear Fridays.

IF YOU GO

* WHAT: Lanford Wilson: Voices of American Theater -- Four Short Plays

* WHERE: Orange Coast College Drama Lab