`M*A*S*H' at Stageloft engaging, scathing, funny.

Byline: Paul Kolas

COLUMN: THEATER REVIEW

STURBRIDGE - Even a somewhat censored version of "M*A*S*H" can't noticeably tame the wild beast at the heart of Richard Hooker's scathingly funny anti-war novel, Robert Altman's subversively entertaining film adaptation, or the sharply written and acted TV series.

Stageloft Repertory Theater did all it could to wring laughs out of Tim Kelly's 1973 play Saturday night, courtesy of director Edward Cornely's crisp pacing, his large cast's engaging performances, and an authentically constructed set consisting of canvas tents, cots and props befitting a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War.

In fact, much like Altman's trademark use of overlapping dialogue in the movie, Cornely uses his triptych set as a canvas to stage simultaneously occurring events. John McGonigle, who is hilarious as the cross-dressing Pvt. Klinger, might be silently sampling a pink dress for size in the nurses' quarters, while Jeremy Woloski and Todd Darling, well suited to play the fun-loving and authority-undermining Capt. "Hawkeye" Pierce and Capt. "Duke" Forrest, will be pleading with Col. Blake (Mark Bourdeau) to get rid of the surgically inferior and religiously obsessed Capt. Frank Burns (Rip Pellaton) on the opposite side of the stage.

Complementing this feeling of spontaneity is the appreciable verisimilitude of Rich Dussault's sound effects, an effective employment of gunshots, explosions, whirling helicopters, and air raid sirens.

This edition of "M*A*S*H" omits the sexual explicitness, expletive language and bursts of savagely dark tone of the movie, and even rounds the edges of the TV show's biting humor and occasionally mordant seriousness. Sorry, guys, but you won't see Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Dianne Pellaton) revealed in all her naked glory taking a shower. What you will see, though, is the basic story line still intact.

"Hawkeye" and "Duke" arrive at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, ready to turn the military establishment on its head with their insouciant behavior, ogling the ladies while they drive Frank Burns nuts and give Henry (they insist on first name informality) Blake a continuous headache.

Around these two scalawags swirl a variety of characters, the most endearing one being Ho-Lin, a young Korean girl who dreams of going to medical school in the States. Paige Pellaton pulls heartstrings in the role, a diminutive picture of sweetness diluting the bitter pill of war. Talent seems to run in her family, with Rip Pellaton making a juicy target for derision as the unstable Burns. Dianne Pellaton's slightly tentative take on Maj. Houlihan, on the other hand, could use a bit more disciplinary zeal.

Another real-life couple, Rob and Bethany Killeen, also excel as Capt. John "Ugly" Black and Lt. Janice Fury. Frank Bartucca is amusingly pompous as Gen. Hamilton Hammond, and has one of the funniest exit lines in the show. Bourdeau defines Col. Blake with good-hearted authority.

Sturdy ensemble turns come from Patrick Lynch's depressed, suicidal Capt. Walt Waldowski, Neal Martel's boyishly enthusiastic Capt. John "Trapper John" McIntyre, Stacie Beland (Capt. Bridget McCarthy), Christine Taylor (Lt. Louise Kimble), Rose Gage (Lt. Nancy Phillips), Erik Johnsen (Sgt. Devine), Peter Arsenault (Cpl. "Radar" O'Reilly), and Karen Wentworth (Dean Mercy Lodge).

Comic relief is served up by Cate D'Angelo (Mitzi), Katt Copeland (Fritzi), and Nicole Marchand (Agnes), a trio of attractive young ladies who delight the guys and disgust the nurses with their giggly, "morale-boosting" visit to the surgical unit. War may be hell, but Stageloft's "M*A*S*H" is pure fun.

M*A*S*H

* * *-1/2

Written by Tim Kelly, directed by Edward Cornely. Presented by Stageloft Repertory Theater, 450A Main St., Sturbridge. Performances at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 8. Tickets: $16, $14 for age 65 and up, $9 for students under 14. Call [phone] or visit www.stageloft.com online.

Key to the Stars

* * * * ... Hot Stuff

* * * ... Good Job

* * ... Not Bad

* ... Never Mind