Kudos to Dale Morris, the founder/executive director/artistic director of the Compass Theatre, at 6th and Pennsylvania in Hillcrest. He’s making a terrific effort to bring low-cost-low-budget serious theatre to San Diego. And, in Compass’ current production, “Bad Night in a Men’s Room off Sunset Boulevard,” he also turns in a first-rate performance as an actor in a show that still needs some work.

“Bad Night” hasn’t been labeled as a world premiere, but apparently it has been worked on in rehearsal by the company. Penned by “Ira Bateman-Gold” (a name that Mr. Morris has used for his writing activity in the past), the story is set on the stage of a struggling regional theatre in an unnamed heartland state. The time is 1982, and Michael (Douglas Myers), a Hollywood movie star, has returned home to appear in an Irish play that his mother, Esther (marilyn Wolf) is directing. Michael has recently been in the news because he was arrested while having sex with a transvestite in a men’s room off of Sunset Boulevard, and his wife, kids, and all of Hollywood, including his manager, Morty (O. P. Hadlock) have deserted him.

Photo credit: Paul Savage

If Michael’s situation wasn’t bad enough, a local church group has gathered outside of the theatre to protest his presence in town, and his alcoholic father, Jake (Mr. Morris), who is estranged from his mother, is nevertheless playing his father in the Irish play. And, the theatre’s tech person/hanger-on is a transgendered man named Jamie (Eduard Cao), who is considering sexual reassignment surgery and who also has nurtured a crush on Michael since high school.

In Act I, everyone’s pretty unhappy, except for Jamie. Esther feels stuck and unfulfilled at the theatre, and she’s upset that the only reason anyone is paying attention to her play is that her disgraced movie star son is appearing in it. Michael’s world is crumbling, and he’s unhappy that he had to go home to face his homophobic father and a continuing protest against his presence. Jake is grouchy about having to work with his estranged wife and a son who says he’s not gay but doesn’t seem sure about his statement. Morty is unhappy about losing a meal ticket. Only Jamie is thrilled to have the high school boy of his fantasies back in town. And, once Jamie dresses as a woman, Michael takes notice.

Act II focuses the relationships among Michael, Jake, and Esther, with Jamie’s presence, dressed as a woman, hovering over the proceedings. Some truths are told, but mostly hurts are exposed and resolved. The writing becomes crisper, the humor lands better here than in Act I, and the characters come into greater focus, under J. Marcus Newman’s direction. Mr. Morris, in particular, gives a fully-realized portrayal of a man torn by conflict between the people he loves, his love for the theatre and for making plays come to life, and his debilitating addiction to alcohol.

The play still needs a considerable amount of work. There are a number of anachronisms in the text that don’t jibe with social conditions in 1982. Most particularly, we never discover why Michael is so attracted to transvestites that he becomes willing to sacrifice everything in his life for the sexual thrill of being with one; in fact, the character of Michael remains somewhat opaque throughout, and Mr. Myers seemed somewhat uncertain about how to play his contradictions on opening night. But, there is humor, pathos, and grains of truth here, particularly in Act II. And, there is the pleasure of watching Mr. Morris create a most moving performance.

“Bad Night in a Men’s Room off Sunset Boulevard,” continues through June 28. It performs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm. The show contains nudity, adult situations, and considerable foul language.

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