What they try to hide

WE all deplore intolerance -- except when it comes to our own prejudices, of course. Yet even the most deeply entrenched biases can give way to understanding and reconciliation, a hopeful possibility explored in Jeff Baron’s warmhearted 1998 comedy “Visiting Mr. Green.�

Opportunities for schmaltz litter Baron’s script like landmines, but a commendably restrained, unsentimental revival from Santa Barbara’s Ensemble Theatre Company effectively depicts the unlikely friendship that develops between a crotchety 86-year-old widower and a 29-year-old executive who nearly ran him over in a traffic accident.

During a series of court-mandated community service visits, Ross Gardiner (Aaron Serotsky) tries to find a way past the stubborn isolation that Mr. Green (Ben Hammer) hides behind. It’s not easy assisting someone who doesn’t want to be helped, but Ross perseveres and eventually finds an opening in their shared Jewish heritage.

The double-edged nature of faith as a source of spiritual sustenance and narrow-minded tyranny figures prominently here. Mr. Green’s Old Country orthodoxy led to the estrangement of his daughter after her marriage to a non-Jew. In a carefully modulated performance, Hammer peels away Green’s defenses to reveal the confusion, fear and regret devouring him from the inside.

Serotsky faces a different kind of challenge in Ross’ near-saintly generosity and support in the face of Green’s rudeness; he grounds the character with enough frustration and peevishness to stay credible.

Ross, of course, has problems of his own, mostly revolving around the gay lover he pushed away out of shame. These days, the shock value of disclosing a character’s homosexuality is just about nil, and the fact that Ross’ orientation comes as the big revelation that closes the first act seriously dates the piece.

In his assured first staging since becoming the ensemble’s executive artistic director, Jonathan Fox finds poignant emotional truths within the play’s genteel boundaries. No real surprise there -- the cast and design team are veterans of the production Fox directed for his previous post at New Jersey’s Two River Theater Company -- but it’s a promising debut as he shapes his old course in a county new.

*

‘Visiting Mr. Green’

Where: Alhecama Theatre, 914 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays

Ends: Dec. 17

Price: $25 to $37

Info: (805) 962-8606, www.ensembletheatre.com

Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes