Harry and Sam talk and talk, but get nowhere

And that's about what happened Thursday night at the opening of Heller Theater's production of "The Harry and Sam Dialogues." Good night, folks, thanks for coming.

OK, there's a little more to Karen Ellison's play than that, but not much more. This amusing little trifle seems more like an interesting 70-minute acting exercise than a full-fledged play about two buddies who have serious communication problems -- except when it comes to spouting off-the-wall inanities at each other.

"Of all the comic-strip women, who's the hottest?" Harry asks of Sam, his grease monkey co- worker, while both are inebriated. "Do gay men have more fun than us?" Harry asks on another occasion. There's more -- if one man is talking to a deaf man, do they have a dialogue? -- and more to come.

But it's transparent from the start that these two friends tackle these seemingly inconsequential subjects not only because they revel in it, but also in order to avoid talking about their real lives. A closer examination re veals that all of these subjects, no matter how odd at face value, are rooted in their problem areas: relationships and communication.

Sam (played by Jason Watts) is 30, single, awkwardly looking for love and increasingly finding solace in self-help books. Harry (played by Tony Batchelder) is a bit older, married to Marge and looking for love himself. In the show's 14 individual scenes, we're often issued updates on his marital relations by learning where Harry's sleeping -- on the edge of the bed, on the sofa, at Sam's house, "in the next state."

This whole affair is simplistic enough that you might already see where a bone of contention is eventually going to flare up between this pair. If you don't, you might want to check out director George Addison's breezy, fast-paced production, which leaves one smiling pretty much throughout and laughing occasionally.

Both actors are good, but especially Batchelder, who seems more assured in his body language and range of facial expressions than Watts. It's a good pairing of two friends, whose re al-life chemistry translates onstage.

Heller Theater's production of "The Harry and Sam Dialogues," presented in part through the Oklahoma Arts Council, continues with an 8 p.m. show Saturday, a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday and 8 p.m. performances Thursday, Friday and March 15. Tickets are $5-$7 and may be reserved by calling 746-5065. All performances are at Heller Theater, 5328 S. Wheeling Ave.

Michael Smith, World entertainment writer, can be reached at 581-8334 or via e-mail at michael.smith@tulsaworld.com .