`TOYS' GIVES HELLMAN HER DUE.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

OVER THE PAST year, major local stages have given us more creative material about Lillian Hellman than by her. Which, given that Hellman remains one of our nation's most significant playwrights, is kind of unfortunate.

Don't get me wrong. As enjoyable as it was to watching Swoosie Kurtz's Lily bitchily battling Cherry Jones' Mary McCarthy in ``Imaginary Friends'' or experiencing Jane Alexander as a Hellman stand-in in ``Rose and Walsh,'' Hellman's plays are treasures on their own merit. Especially when performed with the dangerous edginess that actors like Nancy Linehan Charles and Jane Longenecker bring to the proceedings.

If Charles and Longenecker are the supporting players of Hellman's ``Toys in the Attic'' at Burbank's Colony Theatre, you can only imagine how much of a firecracker the production must be. Expertly cast and directed by Jessica Kubzansky, ``Toys'' showcases the always-strong Colony performers. More important, it puts Hellman's writing back on stage where it belongs.

I don't pretend to know which elements of ``Toys in the Attic,'' Hellman's 1960 play that became a movie in 1963, are autobiographical. The story is set in the fairly progressive New Orleans of 1957. A pair of spinster sisters have devoted too much of their lives to propping up their screw-up of a brother, Julian. Meanwhile, the well-heeled mother of Julian's new bride is sleeping with her black chauffeur and coming up with some very astute observations about the kinds of things money can and can't buy.

As we open, the very working-class Berniers sisters, Anna (played by Caryn West) and Carrie (Bonita Friedericy), are sitting down to another dinner of limited prospects and a dream of an unmanageable trip to Europe, when they learn that brother Julian has returned. Instead of sporting his usual tale of debts and failure, however, Julian (Donald Sage Mackay) arrives with wads of cash, expensive gifts and a few damaging secrets which - in the wrong hands - could ruin the entire deal.

Julian's young bride Lily (Longenecker) may come from money, but she'd rather be broke if it means keeping Julian's love. Plus, she's nosy, a touch mentally unbalanced and too suspicious of Julian's arrangement.

Under Kubzansky's guidance, the play seems to shift tones with the introduction of each new character. Mackay's unbound life force as Julian is a stark contrast to Longenecker's self-destructive and overanxious Lily. As the particulars of Julian's deal become apparent, even the two sisters (most notably Friedericy's Carrie) start taking on new hues. And Charles' Albertine Prine, all icy practicality in a landscape of dreamers, is outstanding.

There are moments in ``Toys in the Attic'' - more than a few, in fact - that likely would have drawn gasps from the audience in 1960. It's to the credit of Kubzansky and her marvelous cast that ``Toys in the Attic'' still has that capability more than 40 years later.

It's also a testament to Lillian Hellman, whose writings really should visit these parts more often.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

TOYS IN THE ATTIC - three and one half stars

Where: Colony Theatre Company, 555 N. Third St., Burbank.

When: 8 p.m. Friday, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through Sept. 14.

Tickets: $26 to $32. Call [phone].

In a nutshell: The Lillian Hellman play you don't know - but should - gets an electric treatment in Burbank.

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Jane Longenecker, left, Donald Sage Mackay, Bonita Friedericy and Caryn West star in ``Toys in the Attic'' at the Colony Theatre in Burbank.