MYSTERY LOVES YOUR COMPANY IN 'ACCOMPLICE'.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

THERE ARE so many twists, turns and evasions in Rupert Holmes' ``Accomplice'' that the notion of solid footing never really exists. Think you've got it? You're probably wrong, or if you're right, it's only temporary, since Holmes - a mystery novelist/playwright as well as the writer of ``Escape (the Pina Colada song)'' will just shuffle the deck again.

Simon Levy's production at the Colony has four performers who are enthusiastically game for the Ira Levin-meets-Noel Coward style of performance Holmes' play calls for. Apart from a bogged-down interlude early in the play's second act (kind of an extended ``what's my motivation'' scene), Levy and his quartet of actors finesse the material with an easy grace. A long way from high art, ``Accomplice'' sits several notches above guilty-pleasure theater as well.

Also present in Burbank is that live stage intangible that the Colony routinely brings to its productions: solid technical resources. Visually and technically, ``Accomplice'' is an ambitious and complicated show. With people like Kathi O'Donohue (lighting designer), Drew Dalzell (sound) and Desma Murphy (sets) working their respective magic, there's no risk of an audience being sucked out of the world of the play. Which is particularly important in a production like this one.

Smaller theaters can and often do attempt this play, but they'll rarely make it look this spiffy and elegant. Someone's supposed to be electrocuted? Well, those sparks and smoke sure look like the genuine article.

Perhaps I've already said too much. Shrouded in a ``please don't tell, please don't divulge'' air of secrecy (fair enough - we'll guard the twists), ``Accomplice'' suggests that a murder will be committed and asks its audience to finger the accomplice. Holmes used a variant of the same guessing game in his Tony Award-winning musical version of Charles Dickens' unfinished ``The Mystery of Edwin Drood,'' during which nightly audiences actually voted for their own ending. The vote concluded, the playwright pulled the carpet from under our feet.

Anyway, a wife in an English moorland cottage appears hellbent on bumping off her husband in order to (a) inherit the fortunes of his business and (b) find sexual happiness with her husband's business partner. Except the hubby seems to have an inkling of what's going on and counterplots accordingly. Few people are who they seem to be. So who's helping who kill whom? And why? And where does what we're watching end and what's actually happening begin? Not that it's that deep. Let the guessing begin.

Lisa Pelikan vamps and schemes with dipsomaniacal gusto as the plotting wife. Larry Cedar and J. Paul Boehmer are the men in her life. Samantha Raddock, playing the eye-candy role, is a late addition to the proceedings - but a key one. There's a fifth, uncredited player as well. Like I said, ``Accomplice'' enjoys its games. And at the Colony, we can delight in the games' execution. So to speak.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

ACCOMPLICE - Three stars

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

When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, additional performances Feb. 26, March 3 and 10; through March 13.

Tickets: $26 to $36. Call [phone].

In a nutshell: A murder mystery thriller that practically out-twists even itself. An especially technically impressive production.