THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408020145
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: Montague Gammon III
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Watching a rehearsal of ``Night of the Hawk'' suggests that the finished show will be a potent piece of theater.
Two young vagrants seek refuge from a downpour in a sparsely appointed church. As the man roughly tries to seduce his traveling companion, the female pastor of the church interrupts.
There begins a long battle of wits between Joe and the Rev. Melissa Jones, also known as Missy.
Joe is sexually obsessed, foul-mouthed, verbally abusive and highly intelligent. He speaks with scorn of Christianity and of religion, yet quotes Scripture insightfully and at length. He sets himself the goal of deflowering the Rev. Jones.
Of course, a convenient act of God has disabled the phones and the reverend's car. Does some young playwright's handbook dictate this contrivance of stranding characters?
Missy Jones seems at first a match for the literate, clever Joe, but he finds her weak point. She is desperately lonely. She can hold her own in intellectual discussions, but he has the edge when emotions are involved.
Ann, Joe's young lover of the last several months, is quickly pushed aside until she demonstrates a spark of intelligence.
Author David Davis may view the encounter as confrontation of equals, but what he has written actually hinges on the male role, and the production will stand or fall according to the performance given by Rob Cui in that part.
Wit, literacy, intelligence and shrewdness make Joe a dazzling, fascinating ne'er-do-well. He is a brilliant sociopath, flashing through the fringes of society like a comet, crossing the orbits of the civilized now and again with the threat of a fiery collision.
Cui is a fine performer who captures the rhythms of Joe's sermon-style monologues, exploits the flash of his verbal pyrotechnics and conveys a sense of his inner demons clearly. His acting carries the show.
This does not deny the strength of Yolanda Wilkinson as Rev. Jones, nor the vitality of that character. Amy Davis will do well as the immature Ann.
Davis remains a man writing about the psychology of a woman, and few male playwrights have ever been able to write for women convincingly.
In the closest analysis, the author's viewpoint makes this play a look at a male fantasy.
Stan Baranowski makes a directorial debut with ``Night of the Hawk.'' The performances speak well for his influence. ILLUSTRATION: AT A GLANCE
What: ``Night of the Hawk'' by David Davis
When: Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Where: Generic Theater, 912 West 21st St.
Tickets: 441-2160
by CNB