Go! review

According to the program notes for “The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead,” playwright Robert Hewett was inspired to write the one-woman show for an un-named (but apparently well-known and struggling for money) actress that she could “produce and perform, then tuck away in her bag, ready to be pulled out whenever the coffers were getting a bit low.”

His friend never performed the show, but it’s become something of an international hit and now on the boards for one of its first American productions at the Playhouse in the Park.

But with the uneven performance of Annalee Jefferies, making her Playhouse debut, one has to wonder what it might have been like in the hands of Hewett’s anonymous actress friend.

What Jefferies does well is create very distinctive characters, seven of them altogether, in a series of monologues that tells the story of how one woman, Rhonda the redhead, gets herself into a world of trouble when she tries to confront her estranged husband’s lover. That in itself is no small feat, as the characters not only have divergent hair color, but range in age from 4 to very elderly, and include Rhonda’s errant husband, Graham.

The transformations between characters take place semi-transparently behind a scrim that allows the audience to watch as Jefferies changes her look while clever overhead projections provide some ambient music and visual imagery.

In that regard, “The Blonde...” is an enjoyable tour de force and it’s interesting to get a glimpse of the process, like watching a chef at one of those restaurants where they cook at the table.

What’s not so interesting is to get a glimpse of the actress’ inner process as she struggles to remember her lines. It may be that on opening night Jefferies was just a few run-throughs shy of getting it nailed, but her performance was at times smooth and polished but there were significant sections when the pace slowed and she seemed to take halting pauses as if digging deep for the next word or sentence.

Such a distraction only makes the problems in the script itself more noticeable, and I’m not sure that even a perfect performance would have justified the presence of two of the peripheral characters, whose monologues don’t contribute to the story, but may have been included to play to the actress’ strengths.

• WHAT: “The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead” by Robert Hewett
• WHERE: Marx Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
• WHEN: through Feb. 15
• COST: $39-$52
• MORE INFO: (513) 421-3888; www.cincyplay.com