Actress brings precision to funny, poignant play

If America could harness the vim that actress Audra Honaker brings to her latest gig, the country's energy problems would be solved.

In the Barksdale Theatre's diverting production of Neil Simon's comedy "I Ought To Be in Pictures," Honaker turbojets through the role of Libby, an eccentric 19-year-old who has barged in on the Hollywood home of her long-lost dad.

Fidgeting, tapping the floor with her hiking boots, ripping apart an orange, firing off the quips as fast as Simon can supply them, Honaker amps up the intensity and momentum of this show, directed by Bruce Miller and running at Hanover Tavern through June 21.

The cast's other two actors don't define their characters with as much precision, but they're agreeable presences who grapple effectively with the play's humor and occasional poignancy.

Matt Hackman portrays Libby's father, Herb, a washed-up screenwriter who can muster enthusiasm only for the citrus plants he grows on his patio. Hackman suffers from the handicap of looking about 20 years too young for his character (adding gray to his hair might help), but he exudes the right kind of world-weary cantankerousness as he shuffles around in pajamas, rapping out Simon's droll one-liners. ("I don't know how she found me," Herb gripes after the arrival of his child, who he hasn't seen in 16 years. "They still haven't found Jimmy Hoffa!")

Father and daughter gradually bond, despite bickering over Libby's yen for an acting career. (The girl's other interests include car repair and conversations with her dead grandmother.) Meanwhile, Herb's neglected girlfriend, Steffy (Lisa Kotula, displaying apt wistfulness), frets over his aversion to commitment.

But no worries: "I Ought To Be in Pictures" (mounted on Broadway in 1980 and turned into a film starring Walter Matthau in 1982) wraps up its sitcom-worthy scenario tidily -- though not before delivering a few moments of pull-out-that-hanky emotion, which the Barksdale actors render suitably affecting.

The two-hour production benefits from smart scenic design by Terrie Powers and David Powers, who have conjured up an appropriately shabby California bungalow, complete with those fruit trees on the patio. These set-crafters know the value of positioning a Ritz cracker box or a beaded curtain in exactly the right place, and they make crystal clear Libby's impact on Herb's life.

Just as telling are Sue Griffin's costumes, including soigné outfits for the super-competent Steffy, and a jean jacket and baseball cap for Libby. Like Honaker's shrewdly choreographed fidgeting, the design contributions remind us that, in theater, God is in the details.

Celia Wren is a former managing editor of American Theatre magazine. Contact her at .