Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 79

Hindi. Lam John Mcvers AGE Living in the dark 'Molly Sweeney brings insight to blindness Hi I 1 WWWmm (rTtfh liU annual Open Daily 10 am. 5 p.m. yr. lis -3MV4s', the great event in Molly's.

Gall this. the "Rashomoo" effects with its huanced points of view." As the three interwoven monologues circle over the same material, we experience a dense counterpoint of themes and images. No one contributes more layers than Frank, Molly's ever-intrigued husband, an enthusiast who takes steps at a bound. He may seem like comic relief, but every one of his stories hits home. Played with gee-whiz wonder and a good heart by Larry John Meyers, Frank is one of the most remarkable creations of the contemporary theater.

On the other side of the stage stands Paddy Rice, the doctor who hopes to revive his blasted career and private life with a miracle operation. Bingo O'Malley nicely balances Rice's vanity, insecurity and rectitude; his elegiac tone is appropriately self-pitying. But not even he can make believable the rather sensational past that Friel leaves underwritten. Each man helps us know the other, but who can really know Molly? Helena Ruoti starts with glowing vivacity, backed by a rueful, edgy insight into much she cannot see. (But "seeing" is not understanding.) She gives us vivid Friel moments in a wild dance of assertion and her final) wan memories.

Her glints of anger convince us of Molly's wisdom and self-confidence, making more tragic her eventual fate. Or is what seems tragedy really something else? Can we ever plumb Molly's mystery? 'MOLLY SWEENEY At City Theatre, Bingham and 13th streets, South Side, through May 4, 8 p.m., Sat. 5:30 and 9 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m.; also 11 a.m. April 23; $18 to $26, 431-CITY.

FESTIVAL PARK: Historic Meyers Homestead, Maple Sugar Demos, Stage Entertainment, Children's Corner, Country Store, Antique Doctor's Office, Cobbler's Shop, Crafts. FAIRGROUNDS: Carnival, Civil War Troop Encampment, Classic Antique Car Shows, Crafts, Entertainment, NASCAR Exhibit, Free ParkingShuttle. ALSO: Grand Feature Parade, Pancake Sausage Meals, Historical Pageant, Car Cruise, Dances, 8K Run Bicycle Races, Quilt Show. Adults: $5.00 Children $1.00 (12 and under) Free brochure or Information: PA Maple Festival, P.O. Box 222, Meyersdale, PA 15552 Phone (814) 634-0213 Fax: 814-634-0147 E-mail: Mapleshol.com wsb address: http:www.shol.commapls GALL NOW FOR TICKETS! (412)456-2670.

vv Aprilll-Mav4 tan 4,5 1 -till PA MAPLE FESTIVAL April 19, 20, 25, 26, 27,1997 STORY OF OUR TIME CITY THEATRE 9Q5 POT Review by Christopher Rawson Post-Gazette Drama Critic Those who know life in its blaze of wonder are likely to know its dark despair, as well. That's true of Brian Friel, grand Irish playwright of "Dancing at Lughnasa," where joy and nostalgia are darkened by bleak intimations. Other plays of Friel's probe even deeper into dark nights of the soul. And in his latest, "Molly Sweeney," he starts us off on what seems a tale of triumph and revelation, only to take us down an unexpected dark turning. Indeed, he brings us even to question our assumptions about light and dark, such as underlie my opening sentence.

Friel's Molly is blind; we root for the operation that will give her sight, the sense many of us probably treasure most. But Molly's journey teaches us to suspect that sight is a paradoxical gift. Perhaps, Friel suggests, there's wonder in the darkness and despair in the light. In short, "Molly Sweeney," which opened its Pittsburgh premiere Wednesday at City Theatre, sticks to the heart and mind, leaving much to ponder. It is not entirely comfortable to watch.

You find yourself intently Partly cloudy Quantum Theater play is slight but poetic Review by Christopher Rawson Post-Gazette Drama Critic Fresh from the triumph of "Polygraph," Quantum Theater is back with a play of less substance but beguiling freshness and style. Jose Rivera's "Cloud Tectonics" masquerades for a while as an offbeat noir mystery, then segues into a time-travel teaser. But it's essentially a visual and verbal poem, with shimmering images of love, loss and relativity wrapped around a slender stalk of story. The central figure is an unlikely goddess, Cclestina del Sol, a pregnant young woman caught in the glare of rainy headlights. Befriended by Anibal de la Luna, a sweet baggage handler, she tells her story of insulated upbringing, panicky flight and sexual adventure.

It just doesn't add up rationally, but nci; ther docs their experience togethi er, which suggests tkai afterlights Helena Ruoti in "Molly listening more than watching, because of both its subject matter and static nature. You have to listen closely the play won't let you slide along on sense of sight. This, discomfort is intrinsic to Friel's insight. Director Lee Sankowich's scrupulous production honors Friel's bitter art: An Act 1 filled with joyful discovery of three complex characters and a gripping narrative, then an Act 2 that deepens. The three characters never interact, except as thrown into passing counterpoint by Sankowich's staging, Tony Ferrieri's subtly eventful set (practically every floor or wall surface a different texture) and William O'Donnell's shifting, mottled lighting.

Each character testifies, in an almost legal sense, coming to terms with their own lives through Stacey Swift in "Cloud Tectonics." can last years, or that years can weigh as lightly as one night. The third character is Nelson, Anibal's soldier brother, who throws an unpredictable macho swagger into the mix. And then The Big One hits LA, and when the city is rebuilt 40 years in the future, much has changed As the names and half-dream 'atmosphere suggest, we're dealing with myth beneath reality. When Anibal invites Cclestina into his pillowed, loft, lit a bower ptlur nar bliss, I thought Endyniion and PhftcUijrjji rxy fii liwiiaiiiia mmii win cent transformed by love of the moon goddess. Celestina has that sort of power, but she is also a disturbingly quirky young woman.

Director Karla Boos unveils a fine actress, Stacey Swift, who makes soaked-to-the-skin a new aphrodisiac. Christian Rummel contributes his boyish truculence to Nelson, but the performance of the night is Greg Longenhagen's Anibal. We've seen him often as a cute, frantic farceur, but here he plumbs a new depth of simple passion. Deborra Bergmark's design offsets the realistic smells of a functional kitchen with a sheet of rain-streaked glass and the near-surrealism of that bower. The sound design by Greg Granger and Patricia Villalobos Echeverria adds a lot.

"Cloud Tectonics" is a slight entertainment of 90 minutes, but it has a magic sheen. Bravo to Boos for introducing us to Rivera. 'CLOUD TECTONICS' Quantum Theatre at Lester Hamburg Studio, Bingham and South Side, through April, 2, "1'-: JlM.Wr'tt'A.'irtil THE CLASSIC LOVE LIMITED ENGAGEMENT AUGUST 6-SEPT. Groups (20 or more): (412) 471-6930 BENEDUM CENTER, Pittsburgh.