It's been said that familiarity breeds contempt, and that's a good thing for Heller Theater's production of "Trust," a dramatic look at the back-stage happenings and personal- life backstabbings of a rock musician and those close to him.

It seems that only people who know each other well offstage should be able to make hurting each other on stage look so authentic, as happened in this show's Thursday night opening.

Steven Dietz likely envisioned his play about six people who continue to cross paths, in ways both probable and implausible, as a tapestry that would in the end have something grandly important to say about relationships or life in general. That doesn't happen.

But while "Trust" treads on some very familiar territory, it's witty enough to often be an engaging look at coupling and uncoupling, and it's aided by quality performances by several Heller regulars under the direction of Heller artistic director Julie Tattershall.

Cody Brown (played well with an often subdued indifference by Dale Sams) is popular and oft- pursued as a young rocker in the midst of his first national tour. Becca (George Romero) is his fiancee back home, a smart working woman who seems well- grounded and an ill-match for a man whose appetite for public and personal adoration continues to grow.

Cody wants to come off as jaded about the whole fame thing, but the master of this attitude is Leah Barnett (Paula Kelley), who a decade earlier was Cody: the Next Big Thing. Leah, now opening small clubs for a comic, is still an idol to Cody, and when they meet during the tour, a series of sexual trysts begins.

Meanwhile, Becca is being measured for her wedding gown. The dressmaker, Gretchen (Sherry Zyskowski), is a former roommate of Leah's -- before the fame -- who lives with regrets from unrequited love for Leah.

Thrown haphazardly into this mix is Roy, a nerdy public radio announcer, and Holly, a 20-ish groupie who's infatuated with Cody -- or any other musician -- and can't see herself settling for a geek who loves her. Roy at one point conducts an on-air interview with Cody and Leah, which makes sense. Holly ap pears out of nowhere and is having drinks with Leah and Gretchen, talking as if they've known one another for years. Huh?

It's not the only point that seems glossed over without explanation, and the Roy-Holly story line seems tacked on just to make a certain connection at the end of the play. But the exceptional performances of Aimee Fields and Anthony Batchelder make the tale of these two characters at times outshine the main story line.

It doesn't hurt that they've got some of the play's best lines. "I think about going to college," Holly says when Roy asks her "What do you do?" "She dressed me with her eyes," Roy says of an odd glance Holly gives him before they meet.

There is also some real heat generated between several characters, and the actors deliver on that adage of a fine line between love and hate. Cody and Becca turn up the temperature when they talk of their real and perceived infidelities. Their relationship hits the rocks, which leads to one of the most sensual scenes as Cody shaves Becca's legs.

A nice touch comes in the form of spoken titles with each fade-in, voiced by characters who will not appear in a particular scene, as they throw a white towel on the floor or a white tablecloth over a table, then retreat from the stage.

At play's end, there are plenty of couplings, but not a healthy relationship among the bunch. We approach questions touching on real love, infidelities and insecurities, but we jump in and out of scenes so fast that specific answers never come.

The result is a bit messy, but then so is love at times. Happy Valentine's Day from Heller!

"Trust," which contains mature subject matter, continues with 8 p.m. performances set for Saturday and Feb. 15-17 at Heller Theater, 5328 S. Wheeling Ave. Tickets are $5-$7 and may be reserved by calling 746-5065. Michael Smith, World entertainment writer, can be reached at 581-8334 or via e-mail at michael.smith@tulsaworld.com.