LA Review: 'Mine'

Bekah Brunstetter's romantic comedy "Mine" gives new meaning to the term "subdued." This piffle of a script feels like a sitcom in which the dialogue has been scientifically programmed to ensure that it never elicits anything beyond mild titters. Meanwhile, the formulaic plot suggests that the playwright was concerned that anything fresh or remotely idiosyncratic might be too much for audiences to fathom. No one could accuse director Dep Kirkland of doing anything to energize the low-key material. Aside from some attractive rear projections and a few appealing songs, this triangular love story trods along dutifully, with no muss or fuss and nothing remotely resembling a surprise.

In Manhattan, gamine Annie (Kieren van den Blink) is a wannabe poet who works as a barista in a coffeehouse, where she flirts with wannabe singer-guitarist Sam (Sam Daly). Yet her steady date is Doug (Adam Harrington), a square but solid businessman, who has the chance to accept a great new job in Philadelphia and wants Annie to move there with him. Should Annie go for the sexy bohemian or the straight-arrow yuppie? When you're a poet with writer's block and an appetite for the good things in life, you have to keep reminding yourself of Lorelei Lee's advice about a girl's best friend.

Van den Blink capably fills the role of the capricious coquette, and Harrington elicits mild empathy as the dull but sensitive yuppie. Daly appears to be at ease inhabiting the role of a pompous slacker while crooning occasional tunes that bring the thin narrative to a screeching halt. Add a few more songs, cast Zach Efron as the cocksure musician, and this curiously flat piece might find its true niche as a frothy Off-Broadway tuner.

Presented by Little Beast Theatre Company at the Elephant Lab Theatre, 6324 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Feb. 9–March 10. Thu.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m. (323) 960-7788 or www.plays411.com.