THEATER REVIEW:OCC’s ‘Norton’ imperfect, but engaging

About halfway through the second act of Casey McCabe’s “Dreaming of Norton” at Orange Coast College, one character pulls a gun from another’s overnight bag, removes the bullets and replaces it. Later, the other character “frisks” his buddy, finds the bullets and replaces them in the gun.

The weapon is never seen nor referred to again, only one of the dramatic contradictions of this brief but often engaging play offered by OCC’s Repertory Theater Company.

“Dreaming of Norton” places an “odd couple” of insurance claims adjustors in a motel somewhere in the middle of Kansas, 12 miles from the geographic center of the United States. Nearby is the small town of Norton, where one of them grew up.

The adjustors, much like the brothers in Sam Shepard’s “True West,” are decidedly dissimilar. The Kansas-bred fellow, Flynn, is easygoing and laconic. His partner, Toby, a Californian by birth, is a walking poster child for attention deficit disorder.

Two women enter the picture in the second act — a striking blond waitress named Karen (who, for sophistication, pronounces it CAR-en) for Toby and an old hometown flame, Sara, for Flynn. It’s a pity playwright McCabe didn’t introduce them sooner if, for no other reason, to keep audiences from nodding off.

At Orange Coast, student director Jennifer Stoneman has mounted an interesting production of an incomplete play, one that veers off in more directions than an episode of “Twin Peaks” and leaves viewers equally unfulfilled.

At its core, the OCC project is buoyed by a pair of fine, contrasting performances from Steve Gordon as the pensive Flynn and Casey Moriarty as the more hyperactive Toby. They are settling claims — some of which might be authentic — brought by victims of a vicious Kansas hailstorm.

Moriarty has the showier role, chafing under the hot Kansas sun and the torpid ennui of his assigned duties, and he projects his discomfort splendidly. Gordon’s quieter part, however, seems the more demanding of the pair, as he is charged with maintaining the play’s surreal atmosphere.

Things brighten in the second act with the appearance of Fiona Wynder as a local waitress brought back to the room by Moriarty while Gordon is reconnecting in Norton. Wynder is, perhaps, too attractive for the role — any young lady this appealing would have been long gone from Podunk, Kan., by the time she reached the age of consent.

Krystal Dukes completes the cast as Sara, for whom Gordon’s character has long been carrying a torch. She has the smallest role in the show, yet etches the most believable character.

“Dreaming of Norton” succeeds as a character study or an acting workshop exercise, rather than as a full-bodied play. For Orange Coast College’s student performers, director and backstage crew, it’s a meaningful project preparing them for more important theatrical ventures.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Dreaming of Norton”

WHERE: Studio Theater, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa

WHEN: Closing performances tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2:3

COST: $6 to $7

CALL: (714) 432-5640, ext. 1