THEATER REVIEW / ‘THE BABY DANCE’ : Breaking the Mold : Conejo Players connect with a wry, beyond-mainstream exercise that deals with the sale of an infant.

Justifiably or not, Thousand Oaks’ Conejo Players don’t leap to mind when one is compiling a list of experimental theater groups. Their operating expenses are large, and the company doesn’t want to alienate the long list of patrons who form the Players’ subscription list.

So when the group comes up with something a little more unusual than Neil Simon or Rodgers & Hammerstein, it’s worthy of special mention. And not only is their current production of Jane Anderson’s “The Baby Dance� unusual, it’s one of the Conejo group’s most outstanding shows of the last few years.

The “unusual� aspect reflects more on the show’s relative unfamiliarity--it came up through regional theater, the author isn’t a “name� and the play never made headlines--than with the story or the production, both of which are quite conventional.

A couple living in a Louisiana trailer park read an advertisement from a Los Angeles couple willing to pay for a baby to adopt. With four children already, Wanda and Al see the fifth pregnancy as a moneymaking opportunity. Moreover, the infant will be put in a good home. Al finds birth control inconvenient and uncomfortable, and neither Al nor Wanda believe in abortion.

Rachel Lieberman comes down to meet the birth parents, who even their neighbors would probably classify as “undesirables.� Predictably, there ensues a culture clash between the couple and Rachel, who’s “in development� at a film company and who’s spent a lot of time reading up on modern parenting. Rachel offers Wanda a tape by the likes of Pachelbel and Paul Horn to play on her Walkman; Wanda’s barely heard of a Walkman, let alone the supposed fetus-calming effects of new age music.

Al and Wanda might be poor and uneducated, but they’re basically decent people, and they are canny--attributes that occasionally clash. Before long, Al begins to think of the Liebermans as an endless supply of money; the Liebermans, understandably, feel used. But they still want the baby.

The action in Act II moves to a hospital, with the appearance of Richard Lieberman and his attorney at the birth.

The characters are well-rounded and human, with Anderson applying just a touch of parody to them all. Under the direction of Lucien Coniglio Jervis, the cast brings both couples to life: Devery Holmes and Tom Rees as the well-meaning, slightly desperate Liebermans; Marianne Corney and Steve Donnemeyer who, as Wanda and Al, refuse to patronize their characters.

Aumi Katz appears as the Beverly Hills couple’s attorney; whoever thought of giving him and Richard Lieberman virtually matching gold neck chains has a sly wit, indeed.

The producers recommend “The Baby Dance� to adults only. While children would find nothing to amuse them in the show, anyone old enough to have a baby of his or her own can handle the material. And the more conservative Conejo Players patrons needn’t worry. The forthcoming season consists of “Into the Woods,� “The Man Who Came to Dinner,� “A Few Good Men� and “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.�

* WHERE AND WHEN

“The Baby Dance� continues Thursdays through Saturdays through Feb. 27 at the Conejo Players Theater, 351 S. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks. Tickets are $8 Thursdays, $10 Fridays and Saturdays; all performances are at 8:30 p.m. For reservations or information, call 495-3715.