
DATE: Saturday, July 26, 1997               TAG: 9707260039

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   63 lines

DIFFICULT PLAY ENTERS NEW TERRITORY

ONE OF THE characters in ``Oceancity,'' the twentysomething chat-a-thon which is having its world premiere at the Generic Theater, looks at the audience and comments that ``intimacy is not easy for any of us.''

She's right. It is, most of all, difficult to write. ``Oceancity'' is one of those plays that risks everything on how well we get to know the five characters, all of whom are involved in an identity search.

But at the end of Act I, about all we really know is that their booze of choice is scotch, two of them are lesbians (but wavering), one of them is in danger of ending his nine-year marriage and another is in trouble with his new girlfriend because he insists upon wearing a condom during sex.

Their talk ranges from references to the pope to Janet Reno, the holocaust and how ``innocence ended in 1945.'' At times, things revert to the old standby - whether or not God exists. Add a touch of mythology and hallucinatory dreams and one supposes you get what passes as ``complexity.'' Or is it just confusion?

Confusion is fine if it mirrors the characters' condition, and if it leads the audience on a meaningful search. While ``Oceancity'' touches all the bases, it doesn't linger on any of them very long. Playwright Jennifer W. Kiffmeyer, who flew cross-country to attend the world premiere, gets warmer in Act II in a particularly well-written barroom scene.

Getting the prize for the most natural evolution is Audra L. Stovall as a painter who, in the opening scene, declares she would ``kill a dragon'' for her lover (Kim Blasdell). It must not be easy to read a line like that and seem natural.

Getting points for convincingly suggesting male buddies are Chris Wilkins and Scott Rollins as two friends on vacation. They're assigned the difficult roles of ``regular guys.''

Wilkins plays a Washington, D.C., career man who resents the fact that his wife is insisting he move to Montana so that SHE can follow HER career. Rollins is on the make for one-night stands but thinks he's in love with a woman (Tara Whitehurst) until she insists that he's being insensitive by insisting on wearing a condom during sex. (``Now THERE'S a switch,'' his buddy delcares).

On the technical side, there are too many missed lighting cues and entrances to go ignored.

The playwright is on to surprisingly untapped territory here. While cinema has explored group therapy through everything from ``The Big Chill'' to ``Return of the Secaucus 7,'' the legitimate theater has been regrettably amiss in avoiding a new generation of identity crisis. Plays like ``Oceancity'' are needed in the current canon of theater.

The search is worth a look, but, perhaps as in life, it ends with everyone merely calling for another round. ILLUSTRATION: THEATER REVIEW

``Oceancity''

What: World premiere of a play by Jennifer W. Kiffmeyer. The play

is a part of the New Plays for Dog Days Festival '97.

Where: Generic Theater, 912 W. 21st Street, Norfolk

When: Tonight at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. To be repeated on

Saturday, Aug. 9.

Who: Directed by Steven Harders, featuring Audra L. Stovall,

Scott Rollins, Chris Wilkins, Kim Blasdell, Tara Whitehurst

How Much?: $7

Call: 441-2160