MEET LYNN REDGRAVE'S GRANDMOTHER ... IN A WAY.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

That the lady could hold the stage has never been in question. As a playwright, Lynn Redgrave has proven herself a storyteller of some ability as well.

The name, of course, makes for a considerable draw. Her acting family (father Michael Redgrave and mother Rachel Kempson) served as the inspiration for Lynn's first two plays: ``Shakespeare for My Father'' and ``The Mandrake Root.'' By now, you have to wonder whether sister Vanessa and niece Natasha Richardson don't begin their phone calls to Auntie Lynn with, ``So, what's in your word processor these days? Got a part for me?''

For her newest work, Lynn Redgrave has delved one generation further into the past: to her maternal grandmother, Beatrice Kempson, a woman with no celebrity, someone Lynn didn't know well. Discovering that the name on Mrs. Kempson's headstone had been washed away by acid rain, a saddened Lynn Redgrave reflects on themes of impermanence and insignificance and decides to ``bring back'' her grandmother.

Redgrave alert

This she does via ``Nightingale,'' an 85-minute solo piece in its American premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, directed by Joseph Hardy. Clearly the best enticement is that the play is performed by the playwright-actress herself. When a Redgrave takes the stage, theatergoers tend to take notice.

Or at least that should be its enticement. Apart from a prologue during which Redgrave sets up -- in sketchy details -- what has brought her to her grandmother's grave and to this tale, ``Nightingale'' isn't really a personal family story at all.

Beatrice Kempson's alter ego -- a woman named Mildred Asher -- is essentially a reinvention, a woman fabricated from a series of recollections. And despite the vibrancy with which Redgrave the actress infuses her, Mildred is a character intended to be remarkable for her unremarkableness. Well and good. We shouldn't need the dishings of Billy Crystal, Mark Twain, Golda Meier or (name your celebrity) to pass a compelling evening.

The other woman

That said, in lowering the recognition stakes, hasn't Lynn Redgrave perhaps cheated a bit? If Mildred Asher's loneliness, missed opportunities and losses are largely made up, does ``Nightingale'' count as a Redgrave tale? Why have the prologue at all? Will ``Nightingale'' performers other than Redgrave (the play premiered in London with good friend Caroline John performing it) wax over ``Beanie'' and the sugar mice she stingily begrudged her grandchildren on Christmas Eve?

I can't answer these questions. What I do know is that Redgrave (last seen 'round these parts last season as Lady Bracknell in a joyless ``Importance of Being Earnest'') smoothly takes Mildred from age 8 to dowager, sprinkling ample doses of laughs and poignancy along the way. The lady's sexual initiation passes from comic to a rather chilly resolution. Mildred favors her son over her attention-seeking daughter, misses out on her best chance at passion and, ultimately, sustains a devastating loss.

Between each of her scenes, Redgrave weaves behind the projection-decorated flats (lighting is by Rui Rita) and out onto one of three seating areas (set designer Tobin Ost). The story is told chronologically, and Redgrave -- enacting several characters, male and female -- delivers each stage of Mildred's life with no shortage of interest.

Through it all, she offers the image of the nightingale, the winged emblem of neglect that often sings alone or for the unnoticed. Well, few theatergoers are ever going to ignore Lynn Redgrave. Her half-real creation may not be so lucky without Redgrave to bring her to life.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

[e-mail]

NIGHTINGALE - Three stars

Where: Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; through Nov. 19.

Tickets: $42 to $55. [phone].

In a nutshell: An unexamined branch of the Redgrave family tree. Sort of.

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Lynn Redgrave evokes the memory of her grandmother in a one-woman play, ``Nightingale,'' at the Mark Taper Forum.