'Cakewalk' will touch Hellman fans

CAKEWALK, PYGMALION PRODUCTIONS, Rose Wagner Center, through Feb. 27 (355-2787). Running time: two hours, 15 minutes (one intermission)

Like someone trying to paint a portrait of Picasso, there is an inherent danger of comparison when anyone tries to portray a master in that master's own artistic medium.

Pygmalion Production's regional premiere of "Cakewalk" about famed playwright Lillian Hellman is not equal to Hellman's own work (nor does it claim to be), but the interesting story and fine acting allow the audience to have its cake and enjoy it, too.

"Cakewalk" is the mostly true story of the 25-year relationship between Hellman (Reb Fleming) and Peter Feibleman (Lane Richins) — the author of "Cakewalk." They met in 1958 when he was 28 and she was 53.

At the time, Hellman had already long established her reputation with such successful plays as "The Little Foxes" and "The Children's Hour," while Peter (who in the play is called "Cuff") had recently returned from living in Spain and had published one well-received novel.

The first act is set in Hellman's home on Martha's Vineyard, where Lillian has invited Cuff to stay and work on his next novel. Lilly is intelligent, tough-talking, hard-drinking, and outspoken, while Cuff comes across at first as more reserved, even stuttering when nervous. Over the course of their months living and working together, their mutual attraction becomes undeniable.

While the first half of the play spans only a few months' time, the second half follows the two throughout the course of their on-again-off-again relationship over the next 25 years, through Lilly's death in 1984.

Fleming is given a peach of a role in Hellman, and she does a marvelous job with it, making her as interesting as one would imagine she was in real life, and both fiery and vulnerable. Even more impressive, in the second half of the play Fleming gradually ages 25 years, making each increment of aging small but significant.

Richins, in the role of Cuff, also does a fine job. While outwardly Cuff does not seem to age as much throughout the play — considering he is still the commitment-phobic, sexually omnivorous man at the end that he is at the beginning — Richins still lets the audience see and feel the emotional journey Cuff goes through while not overly sanding his rough edges.

Fleming and Richins have a smooth chemistry between them that shines, especially in humorous scenes, such as one in which Cuff, much to his frustration, is beaten handily at Scrabble by Lilly.