Erosion: Life on Life's Terms

I left Nicholas A. Linnehan's "Erosion: Life on Life's Terms" with the suspicion that its story is either highly autobiographical or that of someone very close to the playwright. The reason is the lack of distance Linnehan seems to have from his material. He's still entirely too close to his story and characters to make much sense out of them.

Twenty-something Donny is already in trouble when we meet him, having tried to commit suicide due to the loss of four close friends and family members in a year. While undergoing psychiatric treatment in a hospital, he meets the handsome Will, a former drug addict about Donny's age who shares his obsession with the film "The Wizard of Oz." Donny falls in love with Will, who is a sexual tease but claims to be straight, and when Will shows up on his doorstep after both have been released, it's only a matter of time before Will starts using again, taking advantage of Donny's love and cash (though where the latter comes from is never clear) and addicting him in the bargain. We follow the pair's inevitable couplings, fights, partings, and finally Donny's attempt to shake drugs (and Will) through psychiatric therapy and Narcotics Anonymous.

Linnehan's central problem is Donny. His initial turmoil over losing friends and family is unpersuasively dramatized, and though he keeps proclaiming his consuming love for Will, we never believe or understand it. His repetitive bad behavior, however truthful it may be in real life, just becomes annoying and tiresome. Linnehan's device of a chorus of six actors, each named for a color of the rainbow, who speak Donny's inner feelings and drug cravings, adds nothing to our understanding of him, proving more of a distraction than anything else. Even less successful is the liberal use of snippets from the soundtrack of "The Wizard of Oz," as well as its iconography, to punctuate or comment upon the action. Donny's obsession with the film contributes little to our understanding of him, and the gimmick undermines the serious subject matter.

Under Andrew Rothkin's indulgent direction, Matt Weaver as Donny, virtually never offstage during the show's highly excessive two-and-a-half-hour running time, works hard but can't supply depth where there is none, nor can he solve the problem of being asked to play the same note repeatedly. Max Rhyser certainly gets Will's sexiness down but is otherwise equally hamstrung by the writing. Teisha Bader can do little with Donny's dull psychiatrist. Only Joane Cajuste, as Courtney, Will's girlfriend and supposedly Donny's best friend (he calls her his "fruit fly"), manages to set off some sparks, bringing a welcome groundedness and believability to her character's contradictory behavior.

It's perfectly clear that "Erosion" is a labor of love, which makes its lack of success so dispiriting. Personally, I think Linnehan won't lick the play until he discovers the reasons behind Donny's desperate "love" for Will. Whatever Donny feels, it certainly isn't love. When Linnehan recognizes that and digs deeper, he may at last have a play.

Presented by Identity Productions and Nicholas A. Linnehan at Nicu's Spoon Theater, 38 W. 38th St., 5th floor, NYC. Jan. 14–30. Wed.–Sat., 8 p.m. (212) 352-3101, (866) 811-4111, www.theatermania.com, or www.spoontheater.org.