When the World Was Green

 ((A CHEF'S FABLE) and CHICAGO)

By HOWARD WAXMAN

A Signature Theater Company presentation of two one-act plays by Sam Shepard ("When the World Was Green" co-authored by Joseph Chaikin). Directed by Chaikin.
 
Cast: Alvin Epstein (Old Man), Amie Quigley (Interviewer/Mira), Woody Regan (Pianist), Elie Chaib (Policeman), Wayne Maugans (Stu), Leslie Silva (Joy), Sean Patrick Reilly (Joe), Lia Chang (Sally), Clark Middleton (Jim).
 

When Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin get together to cook up a new work like "When the World Was Green (A Chef's Fable)" or reheat an old one like "Chicago," attention must be paid. But what they have to serve up here is a dish that simmers without ever coming to a boil.

The evening features the New York premiere of "When the World Was Green," which Chaikin co-authored and directed. The play had its premiere at the Olympic Arts Festival in Atlanta this past summer, and indeed there is something Olympian about its main character, the Old Man. Some of that stature must be attributed to Alvin Epstein, who brings a lofty yet intensely vital quality to the role of a man imprisoned for murdering a stranger. The Old Man admits to the murder, explaining to an interviewer that he thought he was killing his own cousin, whom he had been tracking for years in order to fulfill his role as avenger in a centuries-old family feud.

The Interviewer (Amie Quigley) seems at first to be a reporter. She claims to be drawn to the Old Man because his tale is not unlike her own quest to find her missing father. But soon it is unclear whether she is there for a story or because the Old Man's victim was her father.

As the Interviewer, Quigley has the intimidating task of sharing the stage with an actor of the first order. She gives it her all, but one can see her mid-gesture hesitations. As a result, the tension between the two characters is diminished and the play's already limited dramatic structure wavers even more.

What remains are lyrical speeches about cooking, for the Old Man is the fabled chef of the play's title. And hearing Epstein recite descriptions of food is the best part of the evening.

The other piece on the bill, "Chicago," is a work of Shepard's from 1965. (The Signature Theater is producing the evening as part of its Shepard season.) The play brings a rush of nostalgia for the days when Greenwich Village bristled with one-act plays full of sexual tension, absurdist humor and ruggedly poetic dialogue. Wayne Maugans, in the central role of a man watching his lover walk out the door, seems to have stepped right out of that heroic era, making the work as fresh as if it had been written just the other day.

Set, Christine Jones ("World"), E. David Cosier ("Chicago"); lighting, Beverly Emmons; costumes, Mary Brecht ("World"), Teresa Snider-Stein ("Chicago"); music, Woody Regan ("World"); sound, Red Ramona ("Chicago"); casting, Jerry Beaver; production stage manager, Donald Fried. Artistic director, James Houghton. Opened Nov. 7, 1996, at the Joseph Papp Public Theater/Susan Stein Shiva stage. Reviewed Nov. 5; 109 seats; $ 25 top. Running time: 2 HOURS.