A LOUD MESSAGE IN AIDS PLAY.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

FOR ITS NEXT STEP in its five-year faith-based theater cycle, the Cornerstone Theater Company promised a ``Black AIDS/Black faith'' project. They've produced Tracey Scott Wilson's gospel-laced opus, ``Order My Steps.'' So mission accomplished.

But despite the guidance of respected TV director Paris Barclay (who co- directs with Mark Valdez), the preachy and dramatically thin ``Steps'' feels like a play born out of a need to spread a message. Phill Wilson of the Black AIDS Institute - ``Steps' '' co-producer - concludes his program introduction with the hope that ``most importantly ... this evening will inspire you to get informed, get tested and get involved in the fight against AIDS.'' A worthy goal, certainly, but not the reason most of us go to the theater.

It's not even so much the statistical data strewn throughout Scott's dialogue as it is the characters who have to utter it. The main character, a playwright and parishioner named Selena (played by Adina Porter) hears the ominous phrase, ``I have the results of your test,'' in the play's first five minutes. From then on, Selena is a character entirely defined by her virus. She's ``Order My Steps' '' infected mouthpiece. And she's largely one-dimensional.

Selena had been tapped to write a church play about AIDS to appeal to some of the congregation's less-traditional members. She gets an HIV test, she claims, to acquaint herself with how an HIV-positive person feels. When she learns of her test results, an unbelieving Selena balks. She's not a drug user, has never had a blood transfusion, and she's been in a monogamous relationship with her husband of seven years, the church's rising young deacon Malik (Quentin Drew). So if Selena's clean, that means the culprit must be ...

Red-robed gospel singers flank Donna Marquet's three-sided stage at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee. Often the chorus sings - with fluctuating sound quality and some scratchy microphones - directly to Selena. The songs by Barclay, Wilson and Kevin Flournoy carry such titles as ``God Is Love'' and ``The Lord Is There for You.''

Interspersed between Selena's struggle is some occasionally comic interplay between the church's Rev. Howard (George W. Gant) and his ambitious Deacon Franklin (Morgan Freeman sound-alike Jeris Lee Poindexter). Apparently, the Selena/Malik feud is splintering the church, making things ripe for a Franklin-orchestrated power play.

Even with a profusion of tears shed by any number of characters, this is largely facile material. Scott adds a late revelation to muddy the playing field. That people - and institutions - need to learn a little something about tolerance, acceptance and forgiveness seems the ultimate thematic slam dunk. Cornerstone, of all companies, should dig deeper.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

ORDER MY STEPS - Two stars

Where: Watts Labor Community Action Committee, 10950 Central Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays to July 13.

Tickets: $20. [phone], Ext. 33.

In a nutshell: Too ``on the nose'' message play about tolerance.